| DITTY | Verse by amateur handyman about abstainer (5) |
| DIY | Initials for an amateur handyman |
| REPAIRER | Handyman about to mend rapier |
| DRAMA | Drive shown by amateur acting in play (5) |
| VEENA | Instrument played even by amateur (5) |
| EURYA | ___ japonica, a white-flowering Asian shrub - held by amateur, Yarmouth (5) |
| PASTR | Italian delicacy finished by amateur at first (5) |
| PASTA | Italian delicacy finished by amateur at first (5) |
| CAVIL | Quibble about verse by the Italian (5) |
| SETAE | Interrupted by amateur soldiers, court bristles |
| ARCHY | Cockroach in various volumes of verse by Don Marquis (5) |
| VIRAL | Verse by terrible liar widely circulated (5) |
| WODWO | 1967 volume of prose and verse by Ted Hughes (5) |
| LYING | Bluffing, in a term used by amateurs* |
| JEWOF | The ___, drama in blank verse by Christopher Marlowe whose first recorded performance was in 1592 (3,2,5) |
| MALTA | The -, drama in blank verse by Christopher Marlowe whose first recorded performance was in 1592 (3,2,5) |
| OFTOM | The -, 1962 book of verse by J R R Tolkien (10,2,3,8) |
| LYTTON | Victorian author's only novel, about abstainer (6) |
| TITTLETATTLE | Singer let out story about abstainer - it's mere gossip |
| TATTLE | Anecdote about abstainer is gossip (6) |
