Competitors (11)
(Another definition for contestants that I've seen is " Rivals".)
<span class="explanation-format__ClueExplanation">'<span class="explanation-format__original">competitors</span>' is the definition.<br/ ><span class="explanation-format__explanation">('rival' can be a synonym of 'competitor')</span><br/ ><br/ >This is the entire clue.<br/ ></span>
(Other definitions for rivals that I've seen before include "Play by 1" , "Competitors or adversaries" , "Persons in competition with each other" , "Opponents or competitors" , "Opposing contestants" .)