Possible Clues:

• Trees start to give it a start
• Rifts of supreme sort
• The Christmas tree, by the way, is second to none
• In winning position, grabbing rook?
• Before the rest
• Degree to which trees start to tremble
• The one that precedes all others, in time say
• Earliest bothersome strife curtailed
• The rock of 'rock, paper, scissors' keeps right on top
• Stir-frying half, chopped up beforehand