| TIDILY | Part of brandy lid I tried twisting neatly |
| ALCOHOL | Intoxicating part of brandy, whiskey, etc. (7) |
| WHATSIT | Funny character securing lids, I forget the name |
| TENDRIL | Part of plant tried twisting round northern end of wall (7) |
| SOONBURNEDOUT | "At first I tried to become a barbecue guru, but I ___ ..." |
| AUDIT | A bit of fraud ___ I tried to check the books (5) |
| EFFORTS | Despite my best ___, although I tried as hard as I could (7) |
| HAIKU | I tried writing a / poem as an example / of this answer here |
| BADJOKE | "I tried to catch fog, but I mist," e.g. |
| SAMELOVE | 2013 Macklemore/Ryan Lewis hit with the lyric "And I can't change, even if I tried" |
| PUN | "I tried to take a photo of a wheat field but it turned out grainy," e.g. |
| CRACKEDAWINDOW | "What a miserable day of repairs! I tried to install new panes but accidentally ___" |
| ANAPHORA | In linguistics, use of a substitute word for something previously mentioned, e.g. 'it' in 'I tried the tea and liked it' (8) |
| ROSAPARKS | Activist who said "From the time I was a child, I tried to protest against disrespectful treatment" |
| RIPTIDE | I tried to swim around stern of ship - a danger at sea? (7) |
| PUNSTER | One who might say "I tried to catch fog yesterdayx mist." |
| TRIOXIDES | Chemicals like ratsbane are poisonous, so I tried swallowing ten (9) |
| TIDIER | I tried desperately to become more orderly |
| NOLUCK | "I tried but failed" |
| ERUDITION | I tried desperately to get in university, showing scholarship |
