Russian writer taking two attempts over line (5)
I believe the answer is:
gogol
'russian writer' is the definition.
(novelist Nikolai Gogol)
'taking two attempts over line' is the wordplay.
'two attempts' can mean two replacements for 'attempt'.
'taking' indicates putting letters inside.
'attempt' becomes 'go' (go is a kind of attempt).
'attempt' becomes 'go' (go is a kind of attempt).
'over line' becomes 'l' (used when specifying particular lines from a poem. I am not sure about the 'over' bit.).
'go'+'l'='gol'
'go' put inside 'gol' is 'GOGOL'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for gogol that I've seen before include "Nikolai -, Russian author (Dead Souls)" , "Russian author/playwright" , "Russian writer" , "Dead Souls Russ. author" , "Nineteenth century Russian author" .)