| STAFFORD | Town situated north of the Black Country and Wolverhampton, south of Stoke-on-Trent (8) |
| TARIM | Situated north of the Tibetan Plateau, the longest inland river in China (5) |
| DUDLEY | West Midlands town, capital of the Black Country (6) |
| TARNATION | Curse of the Black Country? (9) |
| BURSLEM | A town of Stoke-on-Trent and the birthplace of the pottery designer Josiah Wedgwood (7) |
| BASILDON | Essex town situated west of Southend-on-Sea (8) |
| POTTERIES | The six towns of Stoke on Trent collectively, where Burleigh, Doulton, Mintons, Wedgwood and Spode flourished in the 19th century (9) |
| NEWCASTLEUNDERLYME | Staffordshire town which resisted two 20th-century attempts to add it to the county borough of Stoke-on-Trent |
| BILSTON | Town on the Black Country Route in the West Midlands south-east of Wolverhampton (7) |
| THEVOICE | Newspaper article on immoral behaviour round centre of Stoke (3,5) |
| ETRURIA | Ancient region of central Italy, also a suburb of Stoke-on-Trent |
| WEDGWOOD | Pottery firm based in Stoke-on-Trent (8) |
| SUSPENSE | Doubt writers from America residing in outskirts of Stoke (8) |
| BOOKCLUB | Reading fans heckle the number 4 of Stoke FC? |
| ALEXNEIL | Scottish former midfielder appointed manager of Stoke City FC in 2022 (4,4) |
| STRIDENT | Noisy leader from Stoke-on-Trent? I had to intervene |
| HAVERGALBRIAN | Composer born in Dresden (a district of Stoke-on-Trent) |
| SCYTHIA | Ancient region of Europe and Asia, north of the Black Sea, that is now part of the Ukraine |
| FENTON | A deer-chasing dog of a 2011 viral video; one of Stoke-on-Trent’s six towns |
| ABERYSTWYTH | Town situated on the coast south of the Snowdonia National Park (11) |
