| 100% | BEHINDBLUEEYES | 14 | 1971 hit from the Who that begins "No one knows what it's like to be the bad man" |
| 65% | NOONE | 5 | Who "knows what it's like to be the bad man," according to a 1971 hit by the Who |
| 46% | NOONE | 5 | "___ knows what it's like, to be a bad man": 2 wds |
| 38% | TINA | 4 | ___ Turner, former member of the duo with Ike who is known for her solo hits like "What's Love Got To Do with It" and "Private Dancer" |
| 34% | MRDARCY | 7 | To whom it is said, “I had not known you a month before I felt that you were the last man in the world whom I could ever be prevailed on to marry” |
| 33% | GAYE | 4 | Marvin ___, former member of Harvey and the New Moonglows who is known for his solo hits like "Let's Get It On" and "What's Going On" |
| 32% | MYRRH | 5 | Gum-resin gift from one of the Three Wise Men that has no vowels in it |
| 32% | HER | 3 | "Tell ___ About It," 1983 hit by Billy Joel that peaked at number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 from his album "An Innocent Man" |
| 31% | REF | 3 | One who knows what it means to travel |
| 31% | GERIHALLIWELL | 13 | Singer who had four #1 hits in the UK from 1999 to 2001, including "It's Raining Men": 2 wds. |
| 31% | ORAL | 4 | Like a contract that's said to be "not worth the paper it's written on" |
| 31% | TABOOBOOBOO | 11 | Injury that's so embarrassing no one is allowed to mention it? |
| 30% | AHAB | 4 | Literary captain who says, "I know not all that may be coming, but be it what it will, I'll go to it laughing" |
| 30% | ONLY | 4 | "It is ___ with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye." —The Little Prince |
| 30% | ARMSTRONG | 9 | American astronaut Neil, who is known to be the first man to walk on the moon |
| 30% | DOG | 3 | Jake the ___, from "Adventure Time" reminds you this New Year that "being bad at something is the first step to being sorta good at it" |
| 30% | ADAMSMITH | 9 | Thinker who wrote, “There is no art which one government sooner learns of another than that of draining money from the pockets of the people” |
| 29% | ROCKANDROLL | 11 | "It's Still ___ To Me," 1980 hit by Billy Joel that peaked at number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 from his album "Glass Houses": 3 wds. |
| 29% | ESPY | 4 | Award whose name is one letter different from the channel that originated it |
| 29% | RANDO | 5 | That guy at a party whom no one seems to know |
| 29% | REARENDED | 9 | Hit from behind ... and what the answers to starred clues are? |
| 29% | OLEG | 4 | Man's name that becomes a toy when its first letter is moved to the end |
| 29% | MICHAELSTEELE | 13 | American bassist who was a part of one of the first all-female rock groups, "The Bangles" that created hits like "Manic Monday": 2 wds. |
| 29% | CANOE | 5 | "The water races look so interesting. What is that kayak-like craft called? It's going to have a new extreme slalom!" |
| 29% | ANGER | 5 | "Inside Out" emotion who says "We should lock the door and scream that curse word we know. It's a good one!" |
| 29% | CARBONOFFSETS | 13 | They fund projects that remove a gas from the atmosphere, which is a hint to what's happening in four Across answers |
| 29% | LIGHTMYFIRE | 11 | 1967 hit that begins "You know that it would be untrue" |
| 29% | GODS | 4 | "Men Like ___," 1923 novel by H.G. Wells that was one of the first to feature the idea of parallel universes |
| 28% | SHY | 3 | Like someone who's unlikely to be the life of the party |
| 28% | OLIVIA | 6 | Laing who wrote “Everybody: A Book About Freedom,” which asks the reader to “imagine, for a minute, what it would be like to inhabit a body without fear” (April, 2021) |