| AGRICOLA | Roman governor of Britannia whose life and exploits are described in a biography by his son-in-law Tacitus (8) |
| SAXONS | Anglo -; peoples whose lives are described in a series of chronicles originally instituted by Alfred the Great (6) |
| THRALE | Also known as Mrs Piozzi, diarist whose books about her house guest of many years, Samuel Johnson, directly rivalled a biography by James Boswell (6) |
| MICHAELK | Whose life & times JM Coeteze recounted in his 1983 prize winner? (7,1) |
| RUSES | Tricks and exploits overseen by king (5) |
| SVENGALI | One who seduces and exploits young women - eg anvils (anag) (8) |
| ROBREINER | US filmmaker, actor, and political activist killed by his son in 2025 (3,6) |
| TWAIN | Shania ___, singer whose life and career was the subject of the 2022 documentary Not Just A Girl (5) |
| POIROT | Fastidious detective whose exploits are narrated by his companion Hastings |
| GILGAMESH | (GKN) Sumerian king whose exploits are chronicled in the world's oldest epic poem, dating from around 2100 BC (9) |
| POMPOUS | "Your exploits are so fascinating, ___" |
| ALADDIN | Depicted in illustrations by Edmund Dulac and animations by Disney, a character whose adventures are described by Scheherazade in the Arabian Nights (7) |
| PARIS | In 1.2, Old Capulet is courting a suitor for his daughter, Juliet. What is the name of the person Old Capulet would like to be his son-in-law? |
| POLO | Traveller whose adventures along the Silk Road and at the court of Kublai Khan are described in Il Milione (The Million), or Book of the Marvels of the World (4) |
| NOLLEKENS | A famously parsimonious and eccentric sculptor of busts, whose idiosyncrasies were so well-known that they were recorded in a biography penned by his former assistant, John Thomas "Antiquity" Smith (9 |
| SINBAD | Monster-slaying sailor and adventurer whose seven voyages are described in the One Thousand and One Nights (Arabian Nights)A tales (6) |
| LINDBERGH | The kidnapping and murder of his son in 1932 overshadowed, for a time, his achievements as a record-breaking flier (9) |
| TACITUS | This historian's first work was about his father-in-law Agricola, a Roman governor of Britain |
| LUDLOW | Market town in Shropshire, site of a partially ruined castle founded by Walter de Lacy and his sons in the 11th century (6) |
| SOLDSEPARATELY | How additional items are described in toy ads (and a hint to the circled letters) |
