| VICES | Faults, perhaps, but they can be gripping! |
| ATHLETESFOOT | Foot fault perhaps for tennis player sore on one's toes (7'1,4) |
| SPIKES | Underfoot, they can be gripping |
| PAPERCLIP | Essay excerpt could be gripping! (9) |
| TALON | Short story being broadcast - it could be gripping! |
| GIMLETS | They're put to good use but they can be so boring! |
| ODDS | Very large keys have split: but they can be fixed |
| EELS | Slippery, but they can be trapped (4) |
| DEPTHS | Drive past houses vacated - but they can be plumbed |
| VICE | A bad habit can be gripping |
| KIWIS | They can't fly but they can play (5) |
| ABSTAINERS | In bar seats, perhaps, but they won't be drinking |
| BUTTS | They might be ridiculed but they can hold a lot of wine (5) |
| ROSES | They're fragrant but they can produce sores (5) |
| OILMEN | Boring chaps perhaps, but they keep us going |
| PINUPS | Pretty girls, perhaps, but they go to the wall (3-3) |
| SENTENCES | Only a few words, perhaps, but they carry conviction (9) |
| IRONIES | Noisier perhaps but they are wryly amusing (7) |
| FORWARD | Owls can only see straight ___, but they can turn their heads almost all the way around |
| FIREMEN | Of service, but they can go to blazes! |
