| TOUCHING | ____ the Void, Joe Simpson's 1988 book about a mountaineering expedition |
| INTO | Nine Inch Nails "___ the Void" |
| BASECAMP | Set of tents or other shelters as a staging area for a mountaineering expedition (4,4) |
| YETI | Hoped-for sight on a mountaineering expedition, maybe |
| ASCENT | Half a mountaineering expedition |
| DESCENT | Half of a mountaineering expedition |
| ASCENDS | Does half of a mountaineering expedition |
| MATILDA | A 1988 book by Roald Dahl about a telekinetic child, later adapted as a musical (7) |
| BRIEFHISTORYOF | A ___Time 1988 book on cosmology by Stephen Hawking which is written in a non-technical way for the masses: 3 wds. |
| TOUCHINGTHE | 2003 documentary film based on a 1988 book by Joe Simpson (8,3,4) |
| VOID | 2003 documentary film based on a 1988 book by Joe Simpson (8,3,4) |
| COUNTER | A bar-like fitment/top over which business is conducted in a bank, cafe or shop; the void in an "O" that doesn't print; or, any one of a set of discs used in a board game or in tiddlywinks |
| TRIPUP | Bring a graceless halt to mountaineering expedition? (4,2) |
| SATANICVERSES | 'The ------ ', 1988 book by Salman Rushdie (7,6) |
| CHAOS | In Greek mythology, the void state preceding the creation of the universe (5) |
| KILIMANJARO | Tanzanian peak in the seven summits, one on each continent, regarded as a mountaineering challenge |
| PERU | Where the 2003 true-life film "Touching the Void" is set |
| MOOSE | The animal, with some difficulty, skirts the void |
| SPACE | Take a small stride to the void (5) |
| BRIDGE | Inside, be putting a movable grid to span the void (6) |
