2d. Minimum attendance halved- oddly, they quantify the damage. Q-O-E (quote?) 6d. Downgrade official position in a bad way. D-S-I-L I can only think of "distill", but don't understand why it should...
Last one. 19a. A host of animals received by dentist from recalcitrant patient? N-A-. I think it's Noah- I can see the animal host connection, but not the patient's dentist.