| ARCHILOCHUS | Greek poet regarded as the first of the lyric poets (11) |
| THESPIAN | Word, from the name of the Greek poet regarded as the founder of tragic drama, for an actor (8) |
| THESPIS | Greek poet, regarded as the founder of Greek tragedy (7) |
| MINNESINGER | Member of the German medieval school of mainly aristocratic lyric poets and musicians |
| TROUBADOURS | Lyric poets who flourished in Provence and Italy from the 11th to the 13th centuries (11) |
| ADALOVELACE | Nineteenth-century mathematician regarded as the first computer programmer |
| INKALAMAZOO | End of the lyric |
| ROBERT | Forename of either the polymath discoverer of the law of elasticity, the inventor of the Bunsen burner or the Royal Society co-founder regarded as the first modern chemist (6) |
| PUSHKIN | Russian poet, regarded as the founder of modern Russian literature (7) |
| BENJONSON | 17th Century English playwright and poet regarded as the second most important dramatist after William Shakespeare (3,6) |
| PETRINE | Of or relating to the leader of the Apostles, traditionally regarded as the first Pope (7) |
| COLLINS | Author of The Woman in White, No Name and Poor Miss Finch whose book The Moonstone is generally regarded as the first detective novel (7) |
| SCRAWL | Dash off as the first of the strings bow and scrape (6) |
| ROBERTBURNS | Scottish lyric poet whose best known poems include Auld Lang Syne and Tam o' Shanter |
| MRED | Subject of the lyric "A horse is a horse, of course, of course" |
| TROUBADOUR | Any of a class of lyric poets who flourished in Provence and N. Italy from the 11c to the 13c (10) |
| ANACREON | One of the canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece (8) |
| TESTCASE | Suit seen as the first of many looking similar |
| EARLIEST | Rate lies as the first of many (8) |
| NEMEANLION | Mythological creature slayed and skinned by Heracles as the first of his twelve labours |
