English student gets one over on cross novelist (5)
I believe the answer is:
eliot
'novelist' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'english student gets one over on cross' is the wordplay.
'english' becomes 'e' (abbreviation).
'student' becomes 'l' (as in L-plates for learner drivers).
'gets one over on' becomes 'io' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'cross' becomes 'T' (shape).
'e'+'l'+'io'+'t'='ELIOT'
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for eliot that I've seen before include "One of two writers" , "Four Quartets poet" , "British poet, d. 1965" , "Practical Cats author" , "Middlemarch author" .)