| FEATHERS | Each year, after the mating season, the peacocks moult and lose their eye ___ on the tail |
| ANNUL | Abolish flower sown each year after a loss (5) |
| PEACOCKS | Male fowls whose ostentatious courtly swishing of their eye-spotted fans/trains inspired the pavane; or, vainglorious strutting individuals (8) |
| CBS | Their eye is on TV |
| BRATZDOLLS | Toys known for their eye shadow and glossy lips |
| RANSOME | Author of the Swallows and Amazons series as well as The Child's Book of the Seasons, The Things in our Garden and The Book of Friendship (7) |
| HIPPOS | "Poop-opotamus" romance: During their mating season, these heavyweight honchos spin their tails to hurl their turds at the objects of affection |
| RUT | Word, from the Latin for "roar" in reference to the clamour of stags when challenging rivals, for the annual mating season of said animals and other ruminant mammalians (3) |
| USSR | "Back in the ___" (song released in the sixth year after the Cuban Missile Crisis) |
| ICLAUDIUS | Novel with the line "My birth occurred in the 744th year after the foundation of Rome by Romulus" |
| STEAM | After the start of the season, the side produces a source of power (5) |
| OLLIE | In skateboarding and snowboarding, a jump into the air executed by stamping on the tail of the board (5) |
| ARGO | It won the Oscar for Best Picture the year after "The Artist" |
| FLOW | Nearly a year after the end of WWI, German skeleton crews left aboard 70 interned German naval craft managed to scuttle and sink all but a few to the bottom of Scapa ... |
| OPENING | A process of unwrapping a festive gift, perhaps secretly praying it's a pup; the birth of a celebrated season; the premiere of a Christmas pantomime run; or, ripping off the lid and filling one's cup, |
| EYESPOT | Any one of the markings on the tail or train of a peacock or the wings of the butterfly Aglais io (3-4) |
| JOANMIR | Winning rider of the opening race of the 2017 Moto3 season, the Qatar GP (4,3) |
| NOOSED | Snared ___ with a ring in the nose and 500 on the tail! (6) |
| ADAMS | Author of books including Watership Down, Nature Through the Seasons, The Tyger Voyage and The Ship's Cat (5) |
| EYES | Rounded markings on the tails of peacocks; or, the calm regions at the centre of cyclones or hurricanes (4) |
