| ANNAKARENINA | An inane nark, annoying at first, transformed into classic work |
| ANILE | Like an inane nana |
| BUNK | One of a pair of single berths or shelflike beds, one above the other; or, from the name of a North Carolinian county alluded to in an inane speech, a word for claptrap, humbug or tedious nonsense (4) |
| SOA | "___ _ guy walks into..." (Classic joke intro) |
| ITCHING | Desirous of putting time into classic Chinese text (7) |
| HOLYROMANEMPIRE | Blessed capitalist me, ripe for changing into classic state? (4,5,6) |
| LITERARYDORKS | Awkward sorts who are into classic novels? |
| WALNUT | With timber traditionally used for cabinetry and gunstocks, a tree in the genus Juglans with kernels eaten pickled with goat's cheese or stirred into classic coffee or carrot cakes (6) |
| THEGULAG | Solzhenitsyn's classic work, first published in 1973 (3,5,11) |
| LEAVESOFGRASS | Classic work from a guy named Walt, first published in 1855 |
| ENDANGER | Object to nark being put at risk (8) |
| RISIBLE | Ludicrous nark turning prelate in: hard work to get free |
| PIQUE | Nark's pressing question into the scoring of more ecstasy |
| NAILED | Nark's first troubled being arrested (6) |
| THEARTOFWAR | Classic work with chapters titled "Attack by Stratagem" and "Maneuvering an Army" |
| TAO | "___ Te Ching" (classic work by Lao-Tzu) |
| IROBOT | Classic work of fiction that popularized the Three Laws |
| ROBINSONCRUSOE | Steal cruelly connoisseur's classic work |
| SUPEREGO | Return of classic work featuring film star Richard as a self-critic (8) |
| IVANHOE | Classic work I have on, playing (7) |
