| PHILO | Private detective creation of S S Van Dine who first appeared in 1926 novel The Benson Murder Case |
| VANCE | Private detective creation of S S Van Dine who first appeared in 1926 novel The Benson Murder Case (5,5) |
| DUPIN | C Auguste -, detective creation of Edgar Allan Poe who first appeared in 1841's The Murders in the Rue Morgue (5) |
| CHAN | Charlie ?, detective creation of Earl Biggers who first appeared in 1925 novel The House Without a Key (4) |
| CAMPION | Albert ?, detective creation of Margery Allingham who first appeared in 1929 novel The Crime At Black Dudley |
| ZEN | Aurelio ___, Italian detective creation of Michael Dibdin who first appeared in 1988 novel Ratking (3) |
| WINNIETHEPOOH | Children's character who first appeared in 1926 and was worth $50m a year by 1931 (6,3,4) |
| SSARA | S-_-___ (Slithery friend of S-s-sam at the Red-sided Garter Snakes statue in Inwood, Manitoba) |
| LAIRD | Bruce ..... , 1979-82 Australia Test opener who made an unbeaten 117 in the Benson & Hedges World Series Cup in 1981 against West Indies in Sydney (5) |
| PHILOVANCE | S.S. Van Dyne's detective |
| WICKEDCITY | ABC's new procedural drama, which in its first season, centers around a serial murder case in Los An |
| KEEBLE | DI Samantha __, police officer in charge of the Lucy Beale murder case in Walford (6) |
| SYS | Part of S.S.S.: Abbr. |
| SYST | Part of S.S.S.: Abbr. |
| DINE | Mystery author S. S. Van ___ |
| BIGLITTLELIES | 2017-2019 HBO series in which Reese Witherspoon played a wealthy mom caught up in a murder case: 3 wds. |
| MURDEROF | The ___, 1926 novel by Agatha Christie featuring detective Hercule Poirot (6,2,5,7) |
| FINAL | & 18D The -, 1926 novel by H C McNeile under the pseudonym Sapper (5,5) |
| COUNT | See 14Ac, The -, 1926 novel by H C McNeile under the pseudonym Sapper (5,5) |
| ROGERACKROYD | The ?, 1926 novel by Agatha Christie featuring detective Hercule Poirot (6,2,5,7) |
