| GARGANTUA | Titular giant of a 1534 novel by French author Francois Rabelais; the father of Pantagruel (9) |
| PANTAGRUEL | A gigantic prince in a 1534 Rabelais satire |
| RENE | Author Francois-___ de Chateaubriand |
| RIVERKWAI | Waterway in the title of a 1952 war novel by French author Pierre Boulle (5,4) |
| DARTAGNAN | Young protagonist in The Three Musketeers, adventure novel by French author Alexandre Dumas (9) |
| NEWSSTAND | Where to obtain reading matter ___ novel by French author around street (9) |
| DRUNKARDS | "There are more old ___ than old physicians": Francois Rabelais (9) |
| ERIK | Name of the phantom in a gothic novel by French author Gaston Leroux (4) |
| SANDPAPER | Smooth publication by French author |
| INVERNESS | Scottish place favoured by French writer on ship (9) |
| ABJECTION | Shabby state trial about book by French writer (9) |
| RABELAIS | Francois ?, French author of 16th-century pentalogy The Life of Gargantua and of Pantagruel |
| OPERA | The Phantom Of The _, novel by French author, Gaston Leroux (5) |
| FOGG | Phileas, hero of Around the World in Eighty Days, 1872 novel by French author Jules Verne (4) |
| LESMISERABLES | 1862 historical novel by French author Victor Hugo banned by the Catholic church until 1959 (3,10) |
| PHANTOM | The Of The Opera, 1910 novel by French writer Gaston Leroux (7) |
| LABOHEME | 1896 opera by Giacomo Puccini based on an 1851 novel by French author Henri Murger (2,6) |
| EIGHTY | Around the World in ____ Days, adventure novel by French author Jules Verne (6) |
| NEVERNEVERLAND | Most of novel by French writer, avoiding the sea, heading off for imaginary territory |
| PAPILLON | Autobiographical jailbreak novel by French author Henri Charriere adapted for film in 1973 and 2017 (8) |
