| HARDENED | Holmes commenced with A Study in Scarlet, describing some criminals |
| REDDENED | ... ends oddly with A Study in Scarlet getting flushed |
| SHERLOCK | Holmes who first appeared in "A Study in Scarlet" in 1887 |
| LESTRADE | Fictional Scotland Yard inspector in stories by Arthur Conan Doyle involving Sherlock Holmes who first appeared in A Study in Scarlet (8) |
| ARTHUR | Forename of a novelist who, in his 1887 work of fiction A Study in Scarlet, created the crime-solving duo Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson (6) |
| ASIS | Leads in "A Study in Scarlet" with all the obvious flaws (2,2) |
| WATSON | Dr -; Holmes' friend and assistant in stories including A Study in Scarlet and The Hound of the Baskervilles (6) |
| HOLMES | Surname of a fictional detective who features in four novels and 56 short stories including A Study in Scarlet and The Hound of the Baskervilles (6) |
| SHERLOCKHOLMES | Fictional detective whose first appearance came in A Study in Scarlet in 1887 (8,6) |
| TRADER | Dealer turning up A Study in Scarlet, perhaps? |
| DOYLE | Name on the spine of "A Study in Scarlet" |
| UTAH | A Study in Scarlet setting |
| CONANDOYLE | A Study in Scarlet author |
| CARREL | From an old word for a round dance, a term for a study in a monastic cloister, thus an alcove or niche with a desk in a library for private reading (6) |
| GANGS | Last man in suppresses some criminals. (5) |
| MIR | Some criminals taken up by a Russian space station (3) |
| STOP | Some criminals to parley in bar (4) |
| ALADDINSCAVE | Some criminal - add in scavengers - finding place with valuables |
| ARMED | ___ and dangerous (description of some criminals) |
| NOOSE | Rope's end quickly on back - that awaited some criminals |
