| AMIR | Protagonist of "The Kite Runner" |
| ABDALLA | Played Amir Qadiri in the film adaptation of The Kite Runner, Khalid - (7) |
| HOSSEINI | Khaled ---, Afghan-born author of The Kite Runner |
| BABA | Amir's father in "The Kite Runner" |
| KHALID | ___ Hosseini, The Kite Runner author (6) |
| FORYOU | ___ a thousand times over (line from The Kite Runner): 2 wds. |
| KABUL | Home city that Amir flees from in The Kite Runner |
| AFGHANISTAN | Country where Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner is largely set |
| ORANGE | In orienteering, the colour code of the courses with medium navigational difficulty rating, or the colour with white of the kites/flags at the control points (6) |
| MILVIAN | Roman bridge (of the kite?) takes motorway left by way of the north (7) |
| ELANETS | Birds of the kite family |
| ELPHABA | Titular protagonist of the 1995 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by US author Gregory Maguire (7,6) |
| THROPP | Titular protagonist of the 1995 novel Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by US author Gregory Maguire (7,6) |
| HANK | First name of the protagonist of the animated TV series King of the Hill |
| TODD | Titular protagonist of the 1847 play The String of Pearls; or, The Fiend of Fleet Street by English dramatist George Dibdin Pitt (7,4) |
| SWEENEY | Titular protagonist of the 1847 play The String of Pearls; or, The Fiend of Fleet Street by English dramatist George Dibdin Pitt (7,4) |
| FLYING | Fellow telling tales of getting the kite up (6) |
| SIMBA | Protagonist of the 1994 film The Lion King, and the son of Mufasa. This word means 'lion' in Swahili. |
| LINK | Protagonist of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild |
| DONJUAN | Protagonist of the 17th-century Spanish play El burlador de Sevilla y convidado de piedra ("The Seducer of Seville and the Stone Guest"), attributed to Tirso de Molina (3,4) |
