| STAYS | Wires or ropes used to brace masts (5) |
| LEASH | A line or rope used to walk or control a dog or other animal (5) |
| GUY | Cable, wire etc used to brace something (3) |
| BRAIL | (Naut.) One of the ropes used to truss up a sail (5) |
| COILS | From the Latin for "collect, gather together", a word for spirals, helices or twists, such as those observed in incense, ropes, snakes, springs or wires; or, figurative entanglements, hubbubs, perplex |
| STEEL | One may have to brace oneself to such metal (5) |
| CABLE | A line of wires or the message sent through them (5) |
| TACKS | Temporary basting stitches in dressmaking, tailoring and drapery; drawing pins; or, ropes regulating the angles of sails in relation to wind direction (5) |
| MOORS | Secures a boat with cables or ropes (5) |
| HOVER | Hang in midair, without wires or support |
| ALTER | It's hard to lose a rope used to lead an animal, but it has to change (5) |
| LONGE | Long rope used to train horses to fencer's attack (5) |
| BELTS | Alternatives to braces? (5) |
| KNOTS | Yacht talk: Nautical miles (or ropes' intentional tangles that secure them to the dock) |
| ONTHE | Words before rocks or ropes |
| OAKUM | Untwisted tarred ropes used as the traditional caulking material for old timber-framed ships (5) |
| LASSO | Long noosed rope used to catch animals (5) |
| RIATA | A long, noosed rope used to catch animals (5) |
| REATA | A long noosed rope used to catch animals (5) |
| NOOSE | Rope used to catch a ring in the prow of a ship |
