| MANUALLABOR | Work contrasted with a desk job |
| OFFICER | High-ranking man with a desk job? (7) |
| ALGORITHM | Logical procedure for solving a mathematical or computational problem, as contrasted with a heuristic (trial-and-error) approach (9) |
| MOLE | Snitch contrasted with a rat, in the "Poker Face" episode "Whack-a-___" |
| SCALAR | Quantity contrasted with a vector, in physics |
| RIDEA | "___ desk" (spend a lot of time on a desk job) |
| STAINER | Worker doing a desk job? |
| CARREL | From an old word for a round dance, a term for a study in a monastic cloister, thus an alcove or niche with a desk in a library for private reading (6) |
| VIOLETS | Flowers contrasted with roses in a traditional love rhyme |
| MAINLAND | The largest part of a country, contrasted with the islands around it (8) |
| ICEBERG | Type of lettuce whose lifespan was contrasted with that of a recent Prime Minister (7) |
| NURTURE | Based on "feed, cherish" and often contrasted with "nature", a word for fostering care, nourishment, rearing, training or upbringing (7) |
| ICTUS | Metrical or rhythmic stress in verse as contrasted with natural speech patterns; from Latin, 'a blow' (5) |
| MICE | Animals (contrasted with men) (4) |
| EVERGREEN | Often contrasted with deciduous (9) |
| AGAPE | Christian love, especially as contrasted with erotic love (5) |
| THAN | When contrasted with |
| BEAST | Animal contrasted with beauty in the nursery (5) |
| YANG | Active male principle of the universe (contrasted with 'yin') (4) |
| MODAL | Type of harmony contrasted with tonal harmony, in music |
