| 100% | SALLY | 5 | Author Rooney, whose novel “Normal People” was adapted for television |
| 44% | SALLY | 5 | ___ Rooney, millennial author known for her novel "Normal People" |
| 39% | ANON | 4 | Author whose name is never mentioned, for short |
| 39% | HARDY | 5 | Author Thomas, whose novels are set in Wessex |
| 38% | NADINE | 6 | Gordimer whose novel “July’s People” was banned in apartheid South Africa |
| 38% | DENTIST | 7 | Person whose job is to care for people's teeth |
| 36% | AUSTEN | 6 | Author whose first novel was anonymously published under the byline “By a Lady” |
| 36% | OMOO | 4 | 1847 novel whose title is a Polynesian term for a rover |
| 36% | ROGET | 5 | 19th-century author whose works are still read word for word |
| 36% | XXXXXXXXXX | 10 | Thriller author whose novels are set in Kindle County |
| 36% | BALDWIN | 7 | James ___, queer writer whose novel "If Beale Street Could Talk" was adapted into film in 2018 |
| 35% | ALISMITH | 8 | Author whose novel “Summer” is the final book in her Seasonal Quartet (August, 2020) |
| 35% | SEWELL | 6 | English author Anna ___ whose only novel "Black Beauty" is a bestseller |
| 35% | CHUCKPALAHNIUK | 14 | Writer whose novel "Fight Club" was adapted as a 1999 film of the same name (2 wds.) |
| 35% | NORMAL | 6 | "___ People," psychological drama TV series that was adapted from Sally Rooney's banned novel |
| 35% | ELMORELEONARD | 13 | Crime writer whose 1990 novel is the inspiration for 13-Down: 2 wds. |
| 35% | OCEAN | 5 | ___ Vuong, millennial author known for his novel "On Earth We Are Briefly Gorgeous" |
| 34% | SHIRLEYJACKSON | 14 | Writer whose novel "The Haunting of Hill House" was adapted as the 1999 film "The Haunting" (2 wds.) |
| 34% | QUINN | 5 | Author Julia whose Bridgerton series of novels is an upcoming Netflix costume drama with Julie Andrews |
| 34% | DAVIDMITCHELL | 13 | Author of the novel that was adapted into the 2012 film 7-/49-Across |
| 34% | PHILIPPMEYER | 12 | 46-Across novelist whose novel "The Son" was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize (2 wds.) |
| 34% | RICHARDFORD | 11 | "The Sportswriter" novelist whose novel 47-Across was adapted into a film by 14-Across (2 wds.) |
| 34% | JAMESMICHENER | 13 | Author of the novels whose titles are the starts of nine answers in this puzzle |
| 33% | LINDY | 5 | West whose book “Shrill” was adapted for TV |
| 33% | OKLA | 4 | State whose name is Choctaw for "honored people" (Abbr.) |
| 33% | SEANANMCGUIRE | 13 | Writer whose "Middlegame" was a finalist for the 2020 Hugo Award for Best Novel (2 wds.) |
| 33% | ROWLING | 7 | Best-selling author who was a runner-up for Time's 2007 Person of the Year |
| 33% | HOSTAGE | 7 | Person being held for ransom |
| 33% | GRAHAM | 6 | With 35-Across, writer whose novel "The End of the Affair" was adapted as a 1999 film of the same name |
| 32% | COLE | 4 | Alyssa ___, author known for best-selling romance novels like "A Hope Divided" and "That Could Be Enough" |