| 100% | MELANIA | 7 | “___ and Me,” book sourced in part from surreptitious recordings of conversations with the First Lady (September, 2020) |
| 45% | MELANIA | 7 | "___ and Me," 2020 book by Stephanie Winston Wolkoff about the author's friendship with the former first lady of the USA |
| 32% | SOONG | 5 | ___ Mei-ling, former First Lady of China who was the TIME "Man and Wife of the Year" in 1937 along with her husband Chiang Kai-shek |
| 32% | RAIN | 4 | "___ On Me," song by Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande that won the MTV Video Music Award for Song of the Year in 2020 |
| 32% | SANTA | 5 | With the first parts of 17- and 52-Across and 11- and 25-Down, four California cities |
| 31% | GOT | 3 | First book in the series "A Song of Ice and Fire," familiarly |
| 31% | THROAT | 6 | Part of the body that's with ear and nose in ENT |
| 30% | JACKIE | 6 | Some call her the First Lady of American athletics and has won several Olympic medals in heptathlon and long jump |
| 30% | MICHELLE | 8 | ___ Obama, former first lady of the United States who cameoed in an episode of "Parks and Recreation" |
| 29% | DANCEMONKEY | 11 | 2019 hit for Tones and I with a sign of the Chinese zodiac in its title: 2 wds. |
| 29% | EVAPERON | 8 | The first lady of Argentina from 1946 to 1952 |
| 29% | LEGALIZED | 9 | With 20 Across, what the people of AZ, NJ, MT, and SD voted for by proposition in 2020 |
| 29% | SHERYL | 6 | I wrote "Lean In" and became the first woman to join Facebook's board of directors |
| 28% | CHICAGO | 7 | "If You Leave Me Now" rock band and recipient of the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2020 |
| 28% | ELLA | 4 | ___ Fitzgerald, singer dubbed the "First Lady of Song" with 14 Grammy Awards and is considered one of the most influential figures in jazz |
| 28% | EVAPERON | 8 | First lady of the 1940s and 1950s |
| 28% | EVAPERON | 8 | First Lady of the forties and fifties |
| 28% | WARS | 4 | Word after “Trade” and “Class,” in the title of a 2020 book on how economic inequality threatens international peace |
| 28% | IMELDAMARCOS | 12 | First Lady of the Philippines from 1965-86 |
| 27% | ANGLE | 5 | Member of a people from north Germany who invaded and settled large parts of England in the 5th and 6th centuries |
| 27% | HAND | 4 | Body part with fingers ... and something one uses to brush off imaginary dust from their shoulder in a gesture of confidence |
| 27% | JAMESJOYCE | 10 | The first part of his ''Ulysses'' was published in 1918 |
| 27% | ADAM | 4 | First human in the Book of Genesis |
| 27% | SEED | 4 | "I begin with the ___ of an emotion, a place, and then move from there" (Joy Harjo) |
| 27% | SALLY | 5 | I wrote "Conversations with Friends" and won the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year |
| 27% | ABBA | 4 | The first band in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, alphabetically |
| 26% | EVE | 3 | First woman mentioned in the Book of Genesis |
| 26% | ERGONOMICCHAIR | 14 | Source of comfort and support in the office |
| 26% | JOHN | 4 | I wrote "The Fault in Our Stars" and two of my books have been adapted into films |
| 26% | ACL | 3 | Part of HHS created in 2012 that aims to "maximize the independence, well-being, and health of older adults and people with disabilities" among others (abbr.) |