| ESCUTCHEON | The protective plate around a keyhole or door handle |
| SCUTUM | Latin word for "shield" that refers to a large oblong Roman example of said piece of armour; a constellation; or, one of the protective plates of an armadillo, insect or turtle (6) |
| DOOR | Keyhole, or what probably has one (4) |
| DIMINISH | Plate around one minute in sink (8) |
| ANIMAL | Thin plate around creature |
| NECKLINE | keyhole or sweetheart |
| PULSATE | Shifting plates around centre of Liguria move regularly in a beat (7) |
| PASTILLE | In France, he smashed plates around sweet (8) |
| CROCKERY | Plates around garden display |
| KNOB | Door handle that might have a keyhole |
| DROP | A small pear- or tear-shaped goutte of liquid; or, something resembling said globule, such as a chandelier crystal, a keyhole cover, a lemon/cherry sweet or a pendant (4) |
| EXOSKELETON | The protective or supporting structure covering the outside of the body of many animals, such as the thick cuticle of arthropods |
| HALO | The protective structure around the cockpit of a Formula One car (4) |
| UNBOLT | Have the UN leave in a hurry to loosen the door handle |
| NAILBED | Portion of skin underneath a digit's protective plate (4-3) |
| TELOMERE | Sometimes described as the biological equivalent of an aglet that prevents a shoelace from fraying, the protective tip of a chromosome (8) |
| SHELL | The protective case of a crustacean or mollusc (5) |
| ALARMED | Given a turn, as a door handle may be? |
| SNAG | Catch, like a sweater on a door handle |
| SHEFFIELDSHIELD | Protective plate for Antipodean contest? (9,6) |
