| THESEA | Winner of the 2005 Booker prize (or half the winner of the 1978 Booker prize) |
| MURDOCH | Iris, winner of the 1978 Booker Prize with The Sea, the Sea (7) |
| BOOK | Candidate for the Man Booker Prize or Newbery Medal |
| JOHNBANVILLE | 2005 Booker Prize winner for the novel The Sea (4,8) |
| LABOR | Familiar 26-across or half the house? (5) |
| IRIS | Murdoch who received the 1978 Booker Prize for "The Sea, the Sea" |
| IRISMURDOCH | Her novel The Sea, The Sea won the 1978 Booker Prize |
| SINGER | Isaac Bashevis --, winner of the 1978 Nobel Prize in Literature (6) |
| SADAT | Anwar, Egyptian president who was a co-winner of the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize (5) |
| BAKSHI | Animator Ralph of the 1978 version of "The Lord of the Rings" |
| AOKI | Isao ...., Japanese golfer; winner of the 1978 Work! Match Play an 1993 Panasonic European Open tournaments (4) |
| AGUTTER | Jenny ___, winner of the 1978 Best Supporting Actress Bafta for her performance in Equus (7) |
| ROBINSON | Marilynne ?, author of 2004 novel Gilead; winner of the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction |
| GHANA | Hosts and winners of the 1978 African Cup of Nations (5) |
| THESEATHESEA | 1978 Booker prize-winning novel by Iris Murdoch (3,3,3,3) |
| THE | 1978 Booker prize-winning novel by Iris Murdoch (3,3,3,3) |
| SEA | 1978 Booker prize-winning novel by Iris Murdoch (3,3,3,3) |
| ANDRETTI | Mario ___, winner of the 1978 F1 World Championship (8) |
| MAHAFFEY | John ?, US winner of the 1978 PGA Championship (8) |
| SOLON | Laura ?, winner of the 2005 Perrier Comedy Award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (5) |
