| ASH | Fraxinus excelsior, third most abundant tree in Britain |
| UNLIT | One of the rarest kinds of Christmas tree in UK homes this week |
| NORDMANNFIR | This shapely, needlefast conifer is one of the most popular Christmas trees in Britain (8,3) |
| ALBERTS | Watch chains named after Queen Victoria's consort who popularised the tradition of Christmas trees in Britain (7) |
| INLEAF | Description not currently applying to many deciduous trees in Britain |
| ASHEN | Pallid colour - of Fraxinus excelsior tree? (5) |
| ASHTREES | Woody plants known by their binomial name Fraxinus excelsior, currently under threat of the Chalara fraxinea disease in the UK (3,5) |
| ALUMINIUM | Third most abundant element in the earth's crust, and the most abundant metal (9) |
| ARGON | Noble gas, No.18 in the Periodic Table, third most abundant gas in Earth's atmosphere (5) |
| OXYGEN | Accounting for 65 per cent of the mass of the human body, the third-most abundant element in the universe, atomic number eight (6) |
| ASHKEYS | Winged seeds of a tree in the genus Fraxinus (3,4) |
| SULU | USS Excelsior captain in "Star Trek VI" |
| ASHKEY | The winged fruit of a deciduous tree in the genus Fraxinus (3,3) |
| ASHY | Of a pale greyish colour, rather like a fraxinus tree! (4) |
| ASHES | Deciduous trees in the genus Fraxinus (5) |
| GREENASH | Common name for the tree Fraxinus pennsylvanica |
| ASG | Tree of the genus Fraxinus (3) |
| NYS | "Excelsior" is its motto: Abbr. |
| DEVICE | 'A banner with the strange ___, Excelsior!' (Longfellow) (6) |
| REFER | Judge presented with case of Excelsior guide (5) |
