| 100% | JOS | 3 | "___ Boys" (1886 novel) |
| 74% | JOSBOYS | 7 | 1886 novel by Louisa M Alcott |
| 74% | JOS | 3 | "___ Boys" (Alcott novel) |
| 70% | BOSTONIANS | 10 | The —, 1886 novel by Henry James |
| 67% | JOS | 3 | "___ Boys" (Louisa May Alcott novel) |
| 65% | OLIVERTWIST | 11 | Novel subtitled "The Parish Boy's Progress" |
| 62% | KIM | 3 | Kipling novel about an orphan boy |
| 61% | HIS | 3 | "The Horse and ___ Boy" (Narnia-set novel) |
| 59% | BEHAN | 5 | Brendan —, author of 1958 autobiographical novel Borstal Boy |
| 59% | HIS | 3 | C.S. Lewis novel "The Horse and ___ Boy" |
| 58% | JOS | 3 | "___ Boys" (1886 sequel) |
| 57% | IVE | 3 | "To All the Boys ___ Loved Before" (Jenny Han novel) |
| 57% | ZEPHANIAH | 9 | Benjamin —, poet; author of novels Refugee Boy and Face |
| 56% | KIDNAPPED | 9 | Adventure novel by 27-Across/46-Across published in 1886 |
| 55% | MASTERKEY | 9 | The __, L. Frank Baum novel about a boy called Rob |
| 55% | SMIKE | 5 | Maltreated servant boy in 1839 Charles Dickens novel Nicholas Nickleby |
| 55% | KELMAN | 6 | James —, author of novels A Disaffection and Kieron Smith, Boy |
| 54% | IVE | 3 | "To All the Boys ___ Loved Before" (best-selling young adult novel) |
| 54% | LORD | 4 | "___ of the Flies" (dystopian novel about boys marooned on an island) |
| 54% | IRALEVIN | 8 | Author of novels The Boys from Brazil and The Stepford Wives |
| 54% | FIELDING | 8 | Helen —, author of 2013 novel Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy |
| 54% | ERAGON | 6 | Christopher Paolini novel about a boy who rides the dragon Saphira |
| 54% | ABOUT | 5 | "___ a Boy" (Hugh Grant film based on a Nick Hornby novel) |
| 53% | NICKHORNBY | 10 | Author of novels About A Boy and A Long Way Down |
| 52% | THELITTLELIAR | 13 | Novel by 43-Across about a boy who always tells the truth (3 wds.) |
| 52% | FARFRAE | 7 | Donald —, Scottish character in 1886 Thomas Hardy novel The Mayor of Casterbridge |
| 52% | IRALEVIN | 8 | Author of the novels The Boys from Brazil and The Stepford Wives |
| 52% | TONYPARSONS | 11 | Author of novels Men from the Boys and One for My Baby |