British novelist omitting note about grave (7)
I believe the answer is:
austere
'grave' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'british novelist omitting note about' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'note' could be 'te' (musical note) and 'te' is found in the answer.
'about' could be 're' ('re' means regarding or about) and 're' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'aus' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for austere that I've seen before include "Lacking adornments" , "Serious" , "Without luxury or ornament" , "Severe; lacking luxuries" , "Bleak" .)