| CHERRYTREE | Subject of a fictitious story about the boy and his hatchet |
| NOVEL | A book with a fictitious story |
| MYTH | My thoughts start in a fictitious story |
| AFFABLE | A fictitious story describing female as friendly |
| ATEAM | The 1980s TV drama about former members of a fictitious US Army Special Forces unit, The _-_ (1-4) |
| INVENTION | A fictitious story |
| ELDORADO | Name of a fictitious land once believed to be abounding in gold (2,6) |
| STORM | Colin Thiele's story about a boy and his pelican, ... Boy |
| ROBERT | Star of The Batman, adding his voice to animation The Boy And The Heron (6,9) |
| PATTINSON | Star of The Batman, adding his voice to animation The Boy And The Heron (6,9) |
| HERON | Oscar-winning 2023 movie "The Boy and the ___," featuring a tall bird resembling a crane |
| VANITY | Futility of a fictitious fair (6) |
| STEED | "The ___" (2019 film about a boy and his horse) |
| THECATCHERINTHERYE | Coming-of-age novel about a teenage boy and his isolation [1951, 1986] |
| HUGHGRANT | Actor in the "Bridget Jones" movies who appeared recently on Seth Meyers' show to promote the forthcoming fourth installment in the series, "Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy" |
| MALADY | Sickness produces a word of uncertainty about the boy (6) |
| ISLA | Actress Fisher of the upcoming movie Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy |
| QUARTERBACK | "The pizza is $9.75 ... he hands the $10 off to the boy and waits for the ___" |
| PETERANDTHEWOLF | A piece for the boy and the animal (5,3,3,4) |
| AESOP | "The Man, the Boy, and the Donkey" fable writer |
