| MANON | 1884 opera by Jules Massenet based on a 1731 novel by the Abbe Prevost |
| MANONLESCAUT | Puccini opera based on a 1731 novel by the Abbe Prevost (5,7) |
| LECID | Opera by Jules Massenet based on a play by Pierre Corneille, first performed in 1885 (2,3) |
| LESCAUT | Opera by Giacomo Puccini first performed in 1893 based on a novel by the Abbe Prevost (5,7) |
| THAIS | 1894 opera by Jules Massenet best known for the entr'acte Meditation (5) |
| HABEMUSPAPAM | The announcement which accompanied the white smoke on the election of Robert Prevost (7,5) |
| MASSENET | Jules, French composer of the 1884 opera Manon (8) |
| XIV | Robert Prevost adopted the name Leo ... on 8th May this year (3) |
| MARTHA | ____ Washington, the First Lady of the first U.S. president born in 1731 (6) |
| ERASMUS | Grandfather of English naturalist Charles Darwin, noted as a physician and a poet (1731-1802) (7) |
| IDA | 'Princess ___' (1884 opera) |
| XAVIERCUGAT | Spanish-American bandleader once married to Abbe Lane born on January 1, 1900 |
| LEO | Papal name chosen by Robert Prevost |
| WELSH | The ?, 1731 stage play by Henry Fielding (5,5) |
| OPERA | The -, 1731 stage play by Henry Fielding (5) |
| COWPER | William ___, English poet (1731-1800) and writer of hymns including God Moves in a Mysterious Way, which coined the titular proverb (6) |
| MASS | Henry Cavendish (1731-1810) calculated this property of the Earth |
| FOGGIA | City in Puglia, Italy that was partially destroyed by an earthquake in 1731 (6) |
| PAINE | American Revolutionary leader and signer of the Declaration of Independence (1731-1814). |
| LILLO | George ?, English dramatist whose The London Merchant was first staged in 1731 |
