The clue is: "Bass avoiding miserable period making escape" I have the letters L-A-A-E The answer should be "musical" in some way. The best I can get is "leakage" which is close to "escape", but not...
I am totally confused by 8 Down - "Shia Muslims". I have "-s-s" but cannot find a solution joining it to a newspaper title. Please putme out of my misery!