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I think 1 is ringleader.

Yes, a "tom" is a dame on the game.

brilliant peterm (and jolan too) - i spent most of my effort on that trying to find a synonym for 'knocks out'.
@chrise - yes a tom is a prostitute (i'm thinking london in the 40's or 50's but may be very wrong).

Thanks rusty

RINGLEADER looks good, peterm - RINGER around LEAD (which I was trying to put in the wrong place)

Thanks too trevor

Nice one Peterm was looking at that for ages.

Brilliant you folk! Peterm cracked #1, Trevor 4/4 and Rusty - ..... and a frail for sale :-)) The poetry is really flowing (hmmmm!).

Chris, it wuz 'stand' (I can't bear/stand the pain) and 'stand fast' is defined in Chambers whereas 'stick fast' is not.

Here is my working (in the absence of AB):-

1. twin = ringer (short for dead ringer C.O.D); lead = precedence (Chambers def); “takes” gives “ring(lead)er” = RINGLEADER = ‘colloq.’ brains (Chambers Thes)

2. bears = stands; go without food = fast; STANDS FAST = remains unmoved (from Chambers def).

3. ends = g. e. s. t. = GEST or geste (obs = outmoded) = an exploit (Chambers def)

4. pit = a bed (inf) {Chambers and C.O.D. def}; anag (wild) of “narcissi” = “cairniss”; light = land; “catches” = pit + cairnis(land)s = PITCAIRN ISLANDS (in South Pacific)


5. dick = a detective (Chambers def); tom = a prostitute (Chambers def); see a detective following a prostitute = tom + dick; with = and; badger = harry; TOM, DICK, AND HARRY = anybody (Chambers def)

Thank you Jolan enjoyed the clues.

Thank you Andy. And thank you all. Dunno how you do it "cold turkey" (apologies to Ari :-).
See you next week hopefully
Have a happy and healthy week.
J

"sticks fast like a limpet", jolan?

Thanks again - I enjoyed battling with these.