1. Region
5. One less than ten
9. Retired person
10. Sodium chloride
11. Jewels
12. A Great Lake
13. Enemy
14. Brusque
16. Homer Simpson's favorite word
18. Be in need
21. Within
23. Slender woodwind instrument
24. Forever
25. A note
26. T T T T
1. A vaulted recess on a building
2. The back end
3. Illuminate
4. Anagram of "Stare"
5. A wooden peg
6. Defying expression
7. Fictional captain
8. Gaelic
15. Adrift on a liquid's surface
16. Weight-loss program
17. Anagram of "Toon"
19. A type of cabbage
20. Used to unlock things
22. Mineral bearing rock