Great novelist said to be what he was (5)
I believe the answer is:
scott
'great' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'novelist said to be what he was' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'said' could be 't' (I've seen this in other clues) and 't' is located in the answer.
'he' could be 'scot' and 'scot' is present in the answer.
No letters remain.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for scott that I've seen before include "See other clues" , "old novelist" , "He died leading Antarctic expedition" , "one wanting to explore?" , "Sir Walter -, author of Guy Mannering" .)