Novel Dahl wrote to stand up to examination (4,5)
I believe the answer is:
hold water
'stand up to examination' is the definition.
(both can mean to survive being scrutinised)
'novel dahl wrote' is the wordplay.
'novel' indicates anagramming the letters.
'dahl'+'wrote'='dahlwrote'
'dahlwrote' is an anagram of 'HOLD WATER'.
'to' is the link.
(Other definitions for hold water that I've seen before include "Butt may" , "Cistern is intended to" , "Kettle will usually" , "are worth examining" , "stand up" .)