| 100% | ENDGAME | 7 | Apt title of the last episode of The Queen's Gambit |
| 44% | ALDA | 4 | Director of the last "M*A*S*H" episode |
| 43% | GOODBYE | 7 | With 32-Across and 54-Across, title of the final episode of "M*A*S*H," which aired February 28, 1983 |
| 42% | TEVIS | 5 | Walter, author of The Queen's Gambit |
| 42% | SHUT | 4 | Last word in the title of Kubrick's last film |
| 42% | BETH | 4 | Chess savant Harmon of The Queen's Gambit |
| 40% | SKY | 3 | Preceder of "fall" in the title of the last 007 movie |
| 40% | FINALE | 6 | Term used to describe the last episode of a TV show |
| 40% | NICEGUYS | 8 | They "finish last," per the title of Leo Durocher's autobiography |
| 40% | LIGHTMYFIRE | 11 | The Doors single whose title contains the last word of the name of the "September" band (3 wds.) |
| 40% | ANYATAYLORJOY | 13 | "The Queen's Gambit" actress who plays Olga of the Birch Forest in 39-Across (2 wds.) |
| 40% | EVA | 3 | Marcille who finally "died" in the last 2017 episode of VH1's "Scared Famous" |
| 40% | MSGR | 4 | Title of the late Georg Ratzinger, elder brother of Pope emeritus Benedict XVI, briefly |
| 40% | MUM | 3 | Queen ___ (nickname for the late mother of Queen Elizabeth II) |
| 40% | ANYA | 4 | Portrayer of Beth in “The Queen’s Gambit” |
| 40% | CHARLES | 7 | Eldest son of the late Queen Elizabeth II |
| 40% | ANYATAYLORJOY | 13 | Star of "The Queen's Gambit" |
| 39% | SEN | 3 | Former title for four of the last seven VPs |
| 39% | III | 3 | Roman numeral in the last title of a trilogy |
| 39% | ANYATAYLORJOY | 13 | Actress who stars in the Netflix adaptation of the Walter Tevis novel "The Queen's Gambit" (2 wds.) |
| 39% | ANYA | 4 | Taylor-Joy of "The Queen's Gambit" |
| 39% | BETH | 4 | ___ Harmon, protagonist of "The Queen's Gambit" |
| 39% | ANYA | 4 | Actress Taylor-Joy of "The Queen's Gambit" |
| 39% | BETH | 4 | Chess prodigy protagonist of "The Queen's Gambit" |
| 38% | ALLISTRUE | 9 | Original title of Shakespeare's "Henry VIII" (the latter not used until the First Folio in 1623) |
| 38% | STORYTELLER | 11 | Someone who narrates a fairy tale ... or the title of Carrie Underwood's latest album |
| 38% | SAYONARA | 8 | Song played in the first and last episodes of "M*A*S*H" that's also called the "Japanese 32-Across Song" |
| 38% | ELIZABETH | 9 | The last English Queen of the House of Tudor |
| 38% | ARETHA | 6 | Title of three albums by the Queen of Soul |
| 38% | LEDGER | 6 | The last name of The Dark Knight's Joker |