| THIMBLES | Tiny metal treasures esteemed by digitabulists, seamstresses, fingers/ thumbs and Monopoly players alike (8) |
| HANDY | Conveniently in reach of the pinkies or remarkably dexterous with one's fingers/thumbs (5) |
| INDEX | ___ finger (thumb's neighbor) |
| EXTENSOR | Old mate's all fingers and thumbs -- and toes? Instead, perhaps, muscle (8) |
| CRABBE | A rector of Muston in the Vale of Belvoir as well as a surgeon, poet and coleopterist whose works such as The Village and The Borough were esteemed by Tennyson (6) |
| ORANGE | A hesperidium that moonlights as a colour, is related to the limes, famously lacks a perfect rhyme and whose delicate neroli-scented blossoms have been esteemed by brides since ancient times (6) |
| ELS | Shapes made by thumbs and index fingers |
| TOES | "... and cut off his thumbs and his great ___"(Judges 1:6) |
| ITSME | Potential follow-up to "Who has two thumbs and can be found solving a crossword right now?" |
| WAIN | Esteemed by Victorian artist Louis Wain and portrayed in his books, drawings, illustrations and paintings, felines also called grimalkins, kitties, moggies, tabbies, toms and torties, kept as pets or |
| LADYBIRD | Esteemed by gardeners, a spotted insect after which a children's book publisher took its name (8) |
| POWDER | Cosmetic in a compact, applied with a puff; or, fresh lightweight snow esteemed by skiers (6) |
| TIN | Smaller than a tiny metal box (3) |
| BOAST | One may begin, "Who's got two thumbs and ... " |
| NETTLES | Esteemed by tortoiseshells, red admirals and other butterflies, a foraged plant with leaves used for tea, soup or to wrap the Cornish cheese yarg (7) |
| FERN | Cryptogamous plant esteemed by pteridomaniacs and roosting nightjars and whose furled fronds are depicted at the heads of fiddles (4) |
| LOAM | Best soil type, thus esteemed by those with green fingers and recalled in Kipling's The Glory of the Garden (4) |
| ENDEAR | Cause to be esteemed by worried dean overwhelmed by hesitation (6) |
| HASBRO | Toy company that currently produces Candy Land and Monopoly |
| CHESS | Best-selling board game of all time, ahead of Checkers (#2), Backgammon (#3) and Monopoly (#4) |
