| LASTGASP | Describing an action done immediately before a defeat or end of a contest (4,4) |
| ASSIST | A pass of the ball immediately before a teammate scores a goal in football (6) |
| REFLEXIVE | (Of an action) done without conscious thought |
| URGENT | Needing to be done immediately |
| MANDATORY | Describing an action or procedure which has to be done, because it is a rule or a law (9) |
| ADVERB | Word describing an action (6) |
| GESTURE | Action done for show |
| PAT | Action done while saying "Good dog" |
| RUSHHOUR | A time at the beginning or end of a working day when movement of traffic/people is at its peak (4,4) |
| ENDPAPER | A page at the beginning or end of a book, especially one fixed to the inside of the cover (8) |
| SEED | Word for a grain, kernel, nut, pip, stone or other sown propagule or embryo of a plant, thus a beginning, origin of an idea or a source; or, one of a contest's top contenders, scattered throughout a t |
| VIGNETTE | Small illustration at the beginning or end of a book (8) |
| NIGHTCAP | A drink taken at the end of the evening immediately before going to bed (8) |
| CLOSERUN | (Of a contest) decided by a small margin (5-3) |
| CHAMPION | Winner of a contest (8) |
| WATERLOO | Name of the battle in which Napoleon met his final defeat; or, the UK's busiest rail station (8) |
| UNBEATEN | With no defeats or like an egg still in the shell |
| TAILPIECE | Decorative design at the foot of a page or end of a chapter; any one of Thomas Bewick's woodblock engravings; or, an ebony or rosewood strip anchoring a violin's strings (9) |
| VANQUISH | Defeat or overcome someone (8) |
| SHELLACS | Handily defeats or puts a varnish on |
