| 100% | STEPHENCOLBERT | 14 | Author of a satirical book whose title consists of five U.S. state abbreviations (and is hidden in this puzzle) |
| 37% | JAMESMICHENER | 13 | Author of the novels whose titles are the starts of nine answers in this puzzle |
| 37% | DONUT | 5 | Treat whose varieties appear at the starts of four long answers and are represented a dozen times in this puzzle |
| 35% | ROUNDOFAPPLAUSE | 15 | Acknowledgement of success--four are hidden in this puzzle, each adjacent to a black square |
| 35% | POE | 3 | "Tamarlane and Other Poems" author, whose name is hidden in this clue |
| 35% | JOYDIVISION | 11 | “Love Will Tear Us Apart” band . . . and a hint to each set of circled letters in this puzzle |
| 35% | WRITERSBLOCK | 12 | Problem for a wordsmith, and a clue to five figures hidden in this puzzle |
| 34% | YOUREMISSINGOUT | 15 | "That's a lost opportunity," and what can be said to the writer of four clues in this puzzle |
| 34% | TARA | 4 | Author Westover whose memoir is spelled out in the first letters of this puzzle's eight circled schools |
| 34% | GEARSHIFT | 9 | Auto part, and a clue to what's going on in five rows of this puzzle |
| 34% | SOAPBUBBLES | 11 | Products of a child's wand, and what are literally rising in this puzzle's circles |
| 34% | MALAWI | 6 | African nation whose name consists of three U.S. state postal abbreviations |
| 34% | ACITYONAHILL | 12 | Metaphor for America's standing as a beacon of hope, and what can literally be found four times in this puzzle |
| 34% | PURPLE | 6 | "Harold and the ___ Crayon," film adaptation of a children's book, whose release date is in 2023 |
| 34% | TORISPELLING | 12 | Author of a bestselling 2008 autobiography, and a hint to some pictographs in this puzzle |
| 34% | ERNESTHEMINGWAY | 15 | Author of the book whose title is circled in the grid |
| 33% | CIRCLEOFLIFE | 12 | Song that opens and closes 23-Down and whose title is literally described in this puzzle's center |
| 33% | PIE | 3 | "American ___," teen film starring Jason Biggs ... and a traditional Thanksgiving dessert whose ingredients can be found in this puzzle |
| 33% | PER | 3 | A pop, and what's hiding in this puzzle's four longest answers |
| 33% | ITSONTHEHOUSE | 13 | "No charge," and a description of five places in this puzzle |
| 33% | HQS | 3 | Command ctrs., and a description of five answers in this puzzle |
| 33% | ROADS | 5 | There are four hidden in this puzzle, which together suggest a familiar five-word saying (3,5,4,2,4) |
| 33% | ADDAMS | 6 | Surname of a family whose members can be found in nine rows in this puzzle ... and whose names contain circled letters that, reading down, spell a word describing them |
| 33% | PRIVATELY | 9 | "Between us"... or the word hidden between U and S in this puzzle's theme entries |
| 33% | FLAGDAY | 7 | June 14 celebration in all 50 U.S. states, which is hinted at in the names of the state trees in this puzzle (2 wds.) |
| 33% | IOO | 3 | Arabic equivalent of C hidden in this puzzle's five longest answers |
| 33% | KEEPITPG | 8 | "Tone down that PDA, there are kids around," and a hint to five answers in this puzzle |
| 33% | CORNERSTONE | 11 | Place to find a date ... and any one of four in this puzzle (circled letters are hints) |
| 32% | GREATWALL | 9 | Landmark that, in a way, is a border feature of this puzzle and a hint to what's missing from 10 answers |
| 32% | SUB | 3 | Type of vessel that went missing in June 2023 ... and is missing in five answers in this puzzle |