| CHARACTERSKETCH | Certain description in literature ... or the clue for 38- Across, 3- Down, 7- Down or 11- Down? |
| CREATURECOMFORT | Simple pleasure . . . or one way to describe 28-Across, 3-Down, 7-Down, or 11-Down |
| READING | Action of interpreting printed or written words; a narration; knowledge of literature; or, the study of books (7) |
| AMY | Character in "Little Women" or "The Clues" |
| CAR | What may have tins tied to it after a 38 Across (3) |
| CITY | See 93-Across or 11-Down |
| PATHOS | The quality or power, especially in literature or speech, of arousing feelings of pity or sorrow (6) |
| FLINTOFF | Andrew, England cricketer who took 3 for 38 in the sixth One-day International against India in 2002 (8) |
| MORBIUS | 2022 superhero film starring 15 Across, 3 Down, 7 Down & 22 Down (7) |
| THESCORE | 2022 musical heist film starring 21 Across, 3 Down, 7 Down and 23 Down (3,5) |
| BETHESDA | Healing pool in the Jerusalem of the New Testament at which Jesus cured a man disabled for 38 years (John 5:2-15) (8) |
| THEME | Topic; prevailing idea in literature or art; or, a Byzantine district (5) |
| HYPHEN | Mark joining words in literature or representing minus in maths (6) |
| LEITMOTIF | In literature or music, a recurring theme |
| ASKA | (and 23 across, 3 down, 6 down, 7 down, 20 down) Proverb saying that the quality of a response is dependent on the quality of the query (4) |
| CROWNED | King's description in Constant Wonder reworked (7) |
| ANCIENT | Very old description, in part, of some hymns (7) |
| MISREPRESENTING | Giving a false description in mergers in Sept order (15) |
| GERARD | Elizabethan botanist whose book Herball details some 1,000 plant species illustrated by around 2,500 woodcuts, including the first description in English of a potato (6) |
| DON | Pardo who announced Saturday Night Live for 38 seasons |
