| CENTRALEUROPE | Penny has a rule changed for the tug-of-war in the middle of the continent (7,6) |
| PULLHISWEIGHT | What the tug-of-war competitor should do (4,3,6) |
| OIL | OPEC product that is rarely an admitted reason for war in the Middle East |
| REGULATES | It governs how one gets a rule changed (9) |
| MIDWESTERN | In the middle of the continent (esp. U.S.) |
| UNITEDSTATES | It's in the middle of the continent |
| REIGNS | Rules changed for a singer (6) |
| ABDICATE | Be responsible for having the rule changed (8) |
| PANACHE | Penny has a longing for style (7) |
| POODLES | Penny has a lot of dogs (7) |
| PLAYOUT | Penny has a plan to complete (4,3) |
| LEMUR | Rule changed to accommodate married primate (5) |
| MAGINOT | Andre, French minister of war in the 1920s and 1930s who advocated for a line of defensive forts (7) |
| OYSTERCATCHER | Carrycot sheet is changed for the bird (13) |
| TELEVISIONSET | Novelette "Isis" changed for the box (10,3) |
| ARES | God of war in the game "God of War" |
| SUN | Chinese general and strategist credited with writing the 13-chapter military treatise The Art of War in the 5th century BC (3) |
| TZU | Chinese general and strategist credited with writing the 13-chapter military treatise The Art of War in the 5th century BC (3) |
| MARS | This planet was given the name of the Roman god of war. In Henry VI, Part 1 (act 1, scene 2), Charles, Dauphin of France says, "___ his moving, even as in the heavens / So in the earth, to this day is |
| ARGENTINA | Second- largest country of South America, occupying most of the southern half of the continent east of the Andes (9) |
