| WELTY | US author of 1972 novel The Optimist's Daughter (6,5) |
| EUDORA | US author of 1972 novel The Optimist's Daughter (6,5) |
| LEVIN | Ira ***** , US author who wrote the 1972 novel 'The Stepford Wives' (5) |
| EUDORAWELTY | American author whose novel The Optimist's Daughter won the Pulitzer Prize in 1973 (6,5) |
| NOVELLA | Welty's "The Optimist's Daughter," e.g. |
| PEARLSGIRLS | And 17 1972 novel by P G Wodehouse (6,5,3,5,6) |
| MURDERBEING | And 14 1972 novel by Ruth Rendell (6,5,4,4) |
| THEOSTERMAN | 1972 novel by Robert Ludlum (3,8,7) |
| THESETTLERS | 1972 novel by Meyer Levin |
| HOPEANDFAITH | Bob with Percy at the Optimists' Club |
| STARRY | Like the optimist's eyes or the sky at night (6) |
| HOPED | What the optimist did when he'd got out of work (5) |
| EIGER | "The _____ Sanction" (1975 movie of the 1972 novel by the same name) |
| ENNREITEL | Scottish actor who played the title role in 1980s television comedy series Mog and The Optimist |
| PANGLOSS | The optimist's optimist from Candide (8) |
| GEESE | Refugees' escape reveals swans to the optimist! (5) |
| TUNNEL | The optimist sees 9 at its end (6) |
| CHEERFULLY | Completely appalled how the optimist behaves (10) |
| ADAMS | Author of the 1972 novel Watership Down, Richard _ (5) |
| RICHARDADAMS | English author of the 1972 novel Watership Down (7,5) |
