| NORTHAMPTON | Man, pot thorn in a market town in the East Midlands! (11) |
| MOORE | Author of many rural-themed books including The Brensham Trilogy, his portrait of English country life in a market town in Tewkesbury (5) |
| WARWICKSHIRE | Irish wrack we removed from part of the Midlands! (12) |
| PAW | Part of a lion from which Androcles removed a thorn in a folktale |
| DISSIDENT | Thorn in a dictator's side |
| BRIDLINGTON | Seaside town in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England (11) |
| STOURBRIDGE | Market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley that was the centre of British glass making during the Industrial Revolution (11) |
| NEWTONABBOT | Market town in the Teignbridge District of Devon that has a racecourse |
| STALLHOLDER | Person who runs a booth in a market (11) |
| CARDIGAN | One of the two garments forming a twinset; or, a market town in Ceredigion whose castle was the location of the first eisteddfod (8) |
| LUDLOW | A market town in Shropshire, site of a castle founded in the 11th Century (6) |
| DERBY | Cathedral city in the East Midlands on the banks of the River Derwent (5) |
| LINCOLN | Cathedral city in the East Midlands; a shade of green; or, the 16th US president (7) |
| MACCLESFIELD | A market town in Cheshire, a former centre of the silk industry (12) |
| BEDFORD | A market town in south-east central England, on the River Great Ouse (7) |
| ECCLESCAKE | A pastry with a filling of dried fruit named after a market town in Greater Manchester (6,4) |
| SOAR | Major tributary of the River Trent in the East Midlands (4) |
| NEWARK | Industrial city in New Jersey or UK Parliament constituency in the East Midlands (6) |
| SUGARBEET | Food crop primarily grown in the East Midlands and East Anglia (5,4) |
| BURYSTEDMUNDS | A market town in Suffolk and birthplace of the late Bob Hoskins (4,2,7) |
