| OUDRY | French rococo painter and tapestry designer who drew inspiration from the fables of Jean de La Fontaine for his paintings for the apartment of Louis XV's son, the Dauphin, in the Palace of Versailles |
| BOUCHER | French Rococo artist and tapestry designer noted for portraits of Madame de Pompadour and pastoral scenes including The Billet-Doux, Landscape with a Watermill and The Dovecote (7) |
| MOLIERE | Comedic contemporary of Jean de La Fontaine |
| BURNETT | Novelist who drew inspiration from the walled rose parterre at her former home Great Maytham Hall when she wrote The Secret Garden (7) |
| SLY | Like a fox from the fables |
| REBECCA | Novel adapted into a film by Alfred Hitchcock starring the actor mentioned in 43 Down and Joan Fonta |
| NUNEATON | Town noted for its connections to George Eliot, who was born locally on the Arbury Estate and drew inspiration from the area for her novels (8) |
| AESOP | Fables of ___ (The Ant and the Grasshopper author) |
| REM | Fables of the Reconstruction band |
| BRUIN | Name of the bear in the fable of Reynard the Fox |
| EDITH | Forename of the novelist Wharton who drew inspiration from her experiences within the elite circles of New York's high society during the Gilded Age, becoming the first woman to win a Pulitzer Prize ( |
| ESCHER | Dutch artist who drew inspiration from science and nature by way of birds, cascades, impossible figures, lichen, reptiles, tessellation etc (6) |
| DAHL | Author who recalls Mrs Pratchett's Sweet Shop, Llandaff in Boy and drew inspiration from said childhood haunt when writing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and other tales (4) |
| MERRILL | "Divine Comedies" poet who drew inspiration from a Ouija board |
| METHODISM | Protestant Christian movement deriving its inspiration from the life and teachings of John Wesley (9 |
| WATTEAU | Jean-Antoine -, seventeenth to eighteenth century French rococo painter |
| FRAGONARD | French rococo painter (The Swing) |
| SATISFYING | "He is very foolish who aims at ____ all the world and his father" (Jean de la Fontaine) |
| KERRICOLBY | "RuPaul's Drag Race" Season 14 contestant who takes inspiration from the Kardashians |
| ANTOINE | French rococo painter Watteau |
