| EARLY | Opening or almost not opening |
| LIGHTS | Old or poetic word for eyes; amber, green or red traffic signals; openings or windows for admitting sunshine; or, flames, matches or sparks that ignite or kindle (6) |
| FEW | Not very many or almost none |
| SWITCH | Tassel-like tuft on the tip of a cow's tail; a device for opening or closing a circuit; or a whisk for whipping cream or eggs (6) |
| THROAT | The body's gullet or "red lane"; said passage when sore; one's voice; the opening or fauces of a flower's corolla; or, something narrow, such as the neck of a vase (6) |
| HARDACTTOFOLLOW | Almost incomparable or almost incomprehensible, like any part of a Beckett play, some might say (4,3,2,6) |
| NIPANDTUCK | Close or almost even in a race or competition (3,3,4) |
| GLOBE | Word once used to describe a cannonball, comet, eyeball, mass of people or almost anything spherical, later the more specific ball-shaped map of Earth or the heavens (5) |
| PORE | Place's opening or closing? Opening (4) |
| GATED | Barred opening or passageway through a fence or wall |
| OUTLET | An opening or vent permitting escape or release. (6) |
| INAUDIBLE | Silent, or almost so |
| IMPIOUS | Blaspheming French or almost wicked cases (7) |
| CAP | Hat or almost a coat |
| NEXTDOORTO | A neighbour -- or almost (4,4,2) |
| ATOM | Bread supplier stocks nothing, or almost nothing |
| ALLBUT | Except or almost |
| ASGOODASGOLD | Well-behaved, or almost, to start with |
| FREEVERSE | Poetry without rhyme or almost ever so? (4,5) |
| ALPHABETICALLY | How pieces of chintz are ordered -- or almost! (14) |
