How do books put over tragedy? (7)
I believe the answer is:
othello
'tragedy?' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'how do books put over' is the wordplay.
'how do' becomes 'hello' (I've seen this before).
'books' becomes 'OT' (Old Testament).
'put over' means one lot of letters go next to another (in a down clue, some letters go on top of others).
'hello' put after 'ot' is 'OTHELLO'.
(Other definitions for othello that I've seen before include "board game" , "drama!" , "Dramatic work" , "Will's hero" , "Shakespeare's tragic Moor of Venice" .)