Related Clues:

• Abated
• Obeyed a flasher
• Lost momentum
• Hit the brakes
• Decelerated
• Became fainter
• Went from 60 to 40, e.g.
• Applied the brakes
• Lost speed
• Put on the brakes
• Reduced speed
• Sounds as if the feathers were coloured, not waxed
• Was not so fast as 9 across, perhaps
• Unfastened?
• The fire finished when the feathers got changed a shade, it seems