Crossword Genius

Novelist related incomplete tale, not right (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

tolstoy

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'novelist' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'incomplete tale not right' is the wordplay.
'incomplete' becomes 'tol' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'tale' becomes 'story' (synonyms).
'not' suggests deleting specific letters.
'right' becomes 'r' (abbreviation).
'story' with 'r' removed is 'stoy'.
'tol'+'stoy'='TOLSTOY'

'related' acts as a link.
This may not be correct. It may be part of another bit of the clue.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for tolstoy that I've seen before include "Lost toy of the Russian author" , "He wrote Anna Karenina" , "Russian writer, 1828-1910" , "Russian novelist" , "Great Russian author of 'War and Peace'" .)

I've seen this clue in The Everyman puzzle in The Observer.
Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.