| 100% | HARPERLEE | 9 | Alabaman who wrote the Best Novel of the Century, according to a 1999 Library Journal poll |
| 38% | EULER | 5 | Mathematician Leonard of the 18th century who first wrote f(x) to denote a function |
| 37% | ALI | 3 | Sportsman of the Century, according to "Sports Illustrated" in 1999 |
| 36% | DARIN | 5 | Strauss who wrote the 2020 novel "The Queen of Tuesday: A Lucille Ball Story" |
| 36% | WILLIAM | 7 | ___ Faulkner, author of "The Sound and the Fury" who once wrote the entire outline to a novel on his office walls |
| 33% | EATALONE | 8 | What to "never" do, according to the title of a 2005 best seller |
| 33% | JIMTHORPE | 9 | The Greatest Athlete of the 20th Century, according to an ABC Wide World of Sports poll in 2001: 2 wds. |
| 32% | CAROLEKING | 10 | Frequent collaborator of 42-Across who wrote the song "You've Got a Friend" as a response to 18-Across (2 wds.) |
| 32% | STOWE | 5 | Who wrote in an 1852 novel “Any mind that is capable of a real sorrow is capable of good” |
| 32% | VARIETY | 7 | The spice of life, according to a saying |
| 32% | ELON | 4 | Musk who set a record for the largest loss of personal fortune in history, according to Guinness |
| 32% | DANTE | 5 | Poet who wrote "In the middle of the journey of our life I came to myself within a dark wood where the straight way was lost" |
| 32% | KEN | 3 | Follett who wrote the 2014 novel "Edge of Eternity" |
| 32% | EZRA | 4 | Pound who wrote "In a Station of the Metro" |
| 31% | SUEGRAFTON | 10 | Mystery author who wrote the 2015 novel “X” (the twenty-fourth in a series) |
| 31% | PLATH | 5 | Poet who wrote "I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart. I am, I am, I am" |
| 31% | WALTERBENJAMIN | 14 | German philosopher who wrote, “The only way of knowing a person is to love them without hope” |
| 31% | LAWSON | 6 | TV personality Nigella ___ who wrote the best-seller "How to Eat" |
| 31% | ALEC | 4 | Greven who wrote the 2008 best seller "How to Talk to Girls" |
| 30% | DAVIDBALDACCI | 13 | Former lawyer who wrote the bestselling 2018 novel "The Long Road to Mercy" (2 wds.) |
| 30% | GREEN | 5 | John ___, American author and YouTuber who wrote the best-selling novel "Paper Towns" |
| 30% | DAVIDBALDACCI | 13 | Former lawyer who wrote the bestselling novel "Long Road to Mercy" (2 wds.) |
| 30% | CHRISTIE | 8 | English author Agatha who created Hercule Poirot, and is the best-selling novelist of all time, according to the Guinness World Records |
| 30% | SONDHEIM | 8 | Composer who wrote, about crosswords, "A good clue can give you all the pleasures of being duped that a mystery story can" |
| 30% | BALDACCI | 8 | Best-selling author David who writes the “King and Maxwell” novels |
| 30% | MONET | 5 | Well-known artist who repainted some of his paintings in a bluer hue due to the effects of cataract surgery |
| 30% | HONESTY | 7 | The best policy, according to a saying |
| 30% | SUNTZU | 6 | Who wrote "The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting" |
| 30% | HUME | 4 | Enlightenment philosopher who wrote a best-selling history of England |
| 30% | CALL | 4 | "The ___ of the Wild," short adventure novel by Jack London about a pet dog who has to survive the frozen wilderness along the Yukon Trail |