| 100% | JOHN | 4 | ___ Henry, steel-driving hero in American folklore whose story is told in a classic blues song |
| 38% | PAUL | 4 | ___ Bunyan, giant lumberjack in American folklore whose companion is Babe the Blue Ox |
| 37% | ROSA | 4 | Parks whose story is told in Faith Ringgold’s book “If a Bus Could Talk” |
| 36% | BROWNEYES | 9 | About which it was asked "Why are you blue?," in a classic song |
| 34% | SOLOMON | 7 | With 18-Across, free New York black man abducted into slavery whose true story is told in "12 Years a Slave" |
| 32% | KRISHNA | 7 | In Hinduism, the most celebrated of the deities whose story is told in the Mahabharata |
| 32% | ELABORATEDETAIL | 15 | A story might be told in it |
| 32% | GRAZIANO | 8 | Rocky —, boxer whose story is told in 1956 biopic Somebody Up There Likes Me |
| 31% | NATTURNER | 9 | He led a slave rebellion in 1831, and his story was told in a 2016 film: 2 wds. |
| 30% | HARRIETTUBMAN | 13 | She was a conductor on the Underground Railroad, and her story was told in a 2019 film: 2 wds. |
| 30% | ILOVELUCY | 9 | Classic sitcom whose title was written in cursive over a heart (3 wds.) |
| 29% | SET | 3 | Word whose "430 definitions" are used in a song, in a Girls5eva gag |
| 29% | ABBA | 4 | Band whose songs are featured in a hit 2001 musical and 2018 movie |
| 29% | REDROOSTER | 10 | "Little" barnyard bird with an alliterative name in a classic Willie Dixon blues song |
| 29% | EMO | 3 | Aesthetic whose spelled-out name is rhymed with piano in a Childish Gambino song |
| 28% | MAMA | 4 | Bear whose bed is too soft, in a children's story |
| 28% | PAPA | 4 | Bear whose bed was too hard, in a children's story |
| 27% | MRKITE | 6 | Character for whose benefit there will be a show tonight, in a Beatles song |
| 27% | ANANG | 5 | Character who’s told “hear my words” in a They Might Be Giants song |
| 27% | ONME | 4 | "Take ___" (1984 song with a classic synth riff that is now in your head) |
| 27% | WAP | 3 | 2020 song whose title is rhymed with bucket and a mop in its lyrics |
| 27% | TINATURNER | 10 | American singer whose Maracana Stadium concert in 1988 is the third highest-attended ticketed concert for a single artist: 2 wds. |
| 27% | GEORGIAOKEEFFE | 14 | American artist whose house in Abiquiu, New Mexico has been converted to a house museum: 2 wds. |
| 27% | ROBOTO | 6 | Surname in a classic Styx song |
| 27% | EMMA | 4 | 1815 classic whose title character is played by Anya Taylor-Joy in a 2020 film |
| 27% | REDNOSED | 8 | Facial description in a classic holiday song |
| 27% | RODDY | 5 | With 32-Across, American rapper whose "The Box" was the #3 song on Spotify in 2020 |
| 27% | EVER | 4 | "If you're ___ in a jam, here I am" (first line of the classic song "Friendship") |
| 27% | JANETJACKSON | 12 | Singer whose "Escapade" was a #1 song for three weeks in 1990 (2 wds.) |
| 26% | KEYS | 4 | Singer Alicia whose debut album was "Songs in A Minor" |