| GRADATE | Make a subtle transformation, as in color |
| THROWSHADE | Make a subtle insult, or a hint to four highlighted groups of letters in this puzzle |
| SLIPOUT | Make a subtle exit |
| BEACON | Peachlike as in color or texture / beautiful |
| OVERINDULGE | Undergo vile transformation as one may do at Christmas (11) |
| HEARTIER | I rate her transformation as more robust (8) |
| NICETY | Certainty about rat being removed makes a subtle difference (6) |
| SAD | Blue, but not as in color |
| PLUMMY | Word meaning damson-rich or mellow, as in colour, flavour or a somewhat aristocratic voice (6) |
| QUIRK | Word for a subtle verbal trick originally, later a quibble; an artful evasion; a sudden twist or turn; an eccentricity, foible or peculiarity; or, a flourish in handwriting (5) |
| NUANCE | A subtle difference in or a shade of meaning, feelings, color, etc. |
| MISSIT | Fail to catch a subtle joke in a movie, e.g. |
| AMBULATES | Walks in a subtle manner in the morning (9) |
| HITON | There's nothing in a subtle hint to make you get the idea (3,2) |
| NUISANCE | A pain in the neck, but there's a subtle difference about one shilling (8) |
| BLENDER | Device with a goblet for mixing or liquidising food; or, a subtle fabric used in quilting or patchwork (7) |
| SFUMATO | From the Italian for "gone up in smoke", a subtle blending of colours and tones in painting, of which Leonardo was the chief exponent (7) |
| TINT | Affect in a subtle way |
| ETHEREALLY | Point to article, genuinely in a subtle way (10) |
| AROMA | In Figaro, Marcellina's part shows a subtle quality |
