| CHARLESDICKENS | Spooner's poultry kept by Roald, a classic author (7,7) |
| FANTASTICMRFOX | Children's novel by Roald Dahl published in 1970, later adapted into a film (9,2,3) |
| AESOP | Take a stance over classic author |
| ANDERSEN | Classic author who was the subject of a 1952 film musical |
| HARDYANNUALS | Christmas books by classic author describing flowers |
| GOLDSMITH | Classic author or forger? (9) |
| CERVANTES | Classic author surely, once, eclipsing those in front |
| DICKENS | Classic author, Charles ... |
| AUSTEN | Jane -, classic author (6) |
| DANIEL | Classic author Defoe |
| ELEMENTSOFSTYLE | Classic writer's manual, and an alternate title for this puzzle |
| HOMER | Classic writer in front of regime (5) |
| REDFOX | An animal with a brush for a tail, depicted in the Reynard cycle, several of Aesop's fables, a tale by Beatrix Potter and a story by Roald Dahl (3,3) |
| CROCODILE | Depicted in a children's story by Roald Dahl, an animal known collectively as a bask or a float (9) |
| MATILDA | A 1988 book by Roald Dahl about a telekinetic child, later adapted as a musical (7) |
| TWICE | You Only Live ___, a 1967 film with a screenplay by Roald Dahl (5) |
| GEORGE | Protagonist in a book by Roald Dah based on a marvellous medicine (6) |
| BFG | The ___ children's novel written by Roald Dahl in 1982 about a young girl named Sophie who meets a colossal man |
| ESIOTROT | Children's novel by Roald Dahl, illustrated by Quentin Blake (4,4) |
| JAMES | Orphan boy in the title of a 1961 story by Roald Dahl (5) |
