| 100% | HAIKU | 5 | "What Richard Wright wrote" could be the first line of one |
| 46% | WINTER | 6 | Season mentioned in the first line of Richard III |
| 45% | WOODROW | 7 | First name of a former president ... or, read another way, what each of the circled lines is |
| 44% | RINGLEADER | 10 | Mastermind, and what the first word of 16-, 23-, 35-, or 45-Across can be |
| 44% | RINGLEADERS | 11 | Crime bosses, or what the first words of the starred answers can be |
| 42% | OLYMPIC | 7 | The first modern one of these games was in Greece |
| 41% | ELM | 3 | What the first London Bridge was made of |
| 41% | FLATFINISH | 10 | Paint choice ... and what the first word of the answers to starred clues can literally be |
| 41% | JUMPSTART | 9 | Battery boost ... and what the first part of the answers to starred clues can literally be |
| 41% | BANKSY | 6 | Anonymous graffiti artist who wrote, “A wall is a very big weapon. It’s one of the nastiest things you can hit someone with” |
| 41% | KOAN | 4 | What is the sound of one hand clapping?, say |
| 41% | RUNNINGMATE | 11 | Vice presidential hopeful, and what the first part of the answer to each starred clue can be |
| 40% | DOG | 3 | President Trump is the first president in over 100 years not to have one of these |
| 40% | ATOMICPILE | 10 | The first one of these was built by Fermi and his team in 1942 |
| 40% | GOREVIDALNOVELS | 15 | What the first words of eight long answers in this puzzle are |
| 40% | APE | 3 | What one of the combatants in "Godzilla vs. Kong" is |
| 40% | GERE | 4 | Richard who was the first man featured on the cover of American Vogue |
| 40% | NEXT | 4 | What one at the head of a line likes to hear |
| 40% | ILHAN | 5 | First name of the This Is What America Looks Like memoirist |
| 40% | WHOSTHERE | 9 | The first line of Shakespeare's Hamlet |
| 39% | SEALS | 5 | Animals whose habitat can be found in the first three letters of their name |
| 39% | STRAW | 5 | What the first of the Three Little Pigs' houses was made of |
| 39% | TWENTIETHCENTURY | 16 | One of the first Buicks to roll off the line? |
| 39% | WAR | 3 | What truth is said to be the first casualty of |
| 39% | PSALM | 5 | The first one begins "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly" |
| 39% | VCR | 3 | The first commercial one of these was introduced by Ampex in 1956 and cost roughly $50,000 |
| 39% | JET | 3 | The Lippisch Ente was the first one of these to fly, in 1928 |
| 39% | USATODAYSECTION | 15 | One can be found at the starts of 17-, 29- and 45-Across |
| 38% | KNOWABILITY | 11 | The realm of what can be sensed |
| 38% | OGDEN | 5 | First name of the poet who wrote “Candy / Is dandy / But liquor / Is quicker” |