Guardian Prize 28458 By Brendan

[Brightybot]

Real name, last but not first, of Oxford don.

L _ W _ S

The answer must be 'Lewis' as in 'C S Lewis' but I can't parse it. There is a general theme of names, pen names and writers.

[mallyh]

last letters of reaL namE ...thats as far as ive got

[Brightybot]

As Mallyh says the first part is last letters of reaL namE.

Which leave 'but not first' to be wis.

One idea I had is:
https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/iwis - iwis means 'certainly'. But can 'certainly' mean 'but'.

'Certainly, that is quite an obscure word' - it almost means 'but' in that context I think.

[Toorak]

Reference to cs lewis (real surname) and Lewis Carroll (nom de plume)

[Brightybot]

Thanks Toorak that makes much more sense than my convoluted attempts.