| YALE | Ivy League school known for the secret society Skull and Bones |
| JAMESTHURBER | American author and cartoonist best known for The Secret Life of Walter Mitty |
| ETON | School known for its collar |
| MONUMENTALMASON | Tombstone maker is a huge member of the secret society (10,5) |
| RAYS | Sunbeams; or, fishes in a class with skates and sharks that swim in a school known as a fever (4) |
| STORYLINES | Plots for The Secret Garden, for example, recited by actor (10) |
| ELEVATORKEY | Firefighter's term for the secret to rising in the ranks? |
| SECRETSOCIETY | Yale's Skull and Bones, for one |
| STASI | Common name for the secret police force of the former republic of East Germany, disbanded in 1990 (5) |
| GENOME | 6 taking drug for the secret of life (6) |
| CODENAME | One's entitlement to work for the Secret Service (4,4) |
| UTAH | Location for "The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives" |
| PENN | Ivy League school in Philadelphia, for short |
| UPENN | Ivy-league school in Philly, for short |
| ELIS | Skull and Bones Society members |
| YALIES | Skull and Bones members, for instance |
| ELI | Skull and Bones member, for one |
| YALEMAN | Every Skull and Bones member, until 1991 |
| TAFT | President whose father co-founded Yale's Skull and Bones |
| SPIED | Worked for the secret service (5) |
