| 100% | SCARLET | 7 | __ Letter, tale of adultery by Nathaniel Hawthorne |
| 56% | BOVARY | 6 | Madame __, a tale of adultery by Flaubert |
| 49% | EASYA | 5 | Emma Stone movie inspired by Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter": 2 wds. |
| 43% | THESCARLET | 10 | & 6D 1850 novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne |
| 43% | TWICETOLDTALES | 14 | 1837 short-story collection by Nathaniel Hawthorne |
| 43% | MARBLE | 6 | & 5D The —, 1860 novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne |
| 42% | MARBLEFAUN | 10 | The —, 1860 novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne |
| 40% | SCARLET | 7 | Color of the letter in Nathaniel Hawthorne's book |
| 37% | TSAR | 4 | "The Tale of ___ Saltan" (fairy tale by Alexander Pushkin) |
| 36% | SCARLET | 7 | "The ___ Letter," historical fiction novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne that was an inspiration for the film "Easy A" |
| 36% | OLGADAPOLGA | 11 | The Tales of —, 1971 children’s book by Michael Bond |
| 35% | HESTER | 6 | ___ Prynne, famous literary character from Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter" |
| 35% | DRED | 4 | "___: A Tale of the Great Dismal Swamp," novel by Harriet Stowe |
| 35% | SUTRA | 5 | "Kama ___: A Tale of Love" (1996 film directed by Mira Nair) |
| 35% | ALIBABA | 7 | Hero of a tale told by Scheherazade |
| 34% | STAMP | 5 | Part of a book used by letter writers |
| 34% | AERIE | 5 | Nest spelled by changing one letter of "eerie" |
| 34% | ANAGRAM | 7 | Word formed by rearranging the letters of another |
| 34% | ANAGRAM | 7 | Word formed by rearranging letters of another word |
| 34% | RUDGE | 5 | "Barnaby ___: A Tale of the Riots of Eighty," historical novel by Charles Dickens |
| 34% | HAWTHORNE | 9 | Nathaniel —, author of novels The Scarlet Letter and The Marble Faun |
| 34% | SPELT | 5 | Said letter by letter, in London (anagram of "pelts") |
| 33% | OWE | 3 | Word represented by the middle letter of 22-Down |
| 33% | STU | 3 | Nickname formed by three consecutive letters of the alphabet |
| 33% | TOOTHDECAY | 10 | Condition contributed to by a lack of [circled letters] |
| 33% | TIMES | 5 | ___ Square (landmark suggested by the groups of circled letters) |
| 33% | BLOOM | 5 | Sign of spring, as depicted by the circled letters |
| 33% | DUST | 4 | "___: A Tale of the Wired West," single-player video game published by GTE Entertainment |
| 33% | MUSIC | 5 | "The Storyteller: Tales of Life and ___" (memoir by Foo Fighters lead singer Dave Grohl) |