| 100% | BEARER | 6 | Be the ___ of bad news |
| 73% | ZEALAND | 7 | Wellington is the capital of New __ |
| 71% | CRANSTON | 8 | Bryan who was the star of Breaking Bad |
| 70% | BEST | 4 | “It was the ___ of times, it was the worst of times” |
| 69% | POLL | 4 | One might be the subject of an election news story |
| 69% | ERIC | 4 | Adams who is the current mayor of New York City |
| 68% | STENGEL | 7 | Casey who was the first manager of the New York Mets |
| 68% | ZEALAND | 7 | New __, place where Lord of the Rings was shot |
| 67% | ORLEANS | 7 | New __ is called "The Birthplace of Jazz" in the US |
| 66% | DELHI | 5 | New ___, capital of India which is famous for the Qutub Minar |
| 66% | RUSHHOUR | 8 | Time of the day when traffic is really bad |
| 65% | IFEAR | 5 | "The bad news is ... " |
| 65% | IFEAR | 5 | "The bad news is …" |
| 65% | OPENINGSENTENCE | 15 | "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times ...," e.g. |
| 65% | MARCH | 5 | Month that was the first of the new year in early 3-Down calendars |
| 65% | PAGE | 4 | "Tomorrow is the first ___ in a book of 365" (common New Year's phrase) |
| 65% | NEWS | 4 | The bad kind of this is said to travel faster than wildfire |
| 64% | INDIA | 5 | Country of which New Delhi is the capital |
| 64% | BEARER | 6 | ___ of bad news |
| 64% | MARV | 4 | ___ Albert, American sportscaster known for being "the voice of the New York Knicks" |
| 64% | ASHE | 4 | He was ___n-faced after hearing the news of the accident |
| 63% | XXXXXXX | 7 | Cox of "Orange Is the New Black" |
| 63% | LEA | 3 | DeLaria of "Orange Is the New Black" |
| 63% | LAURA | 5 | Prepon of "Orange Is the New Black" |
| 63% | ADUBA | 5 | Uzo of "Orange Is the New Black" |
| 63% | UZO | 3 | Aduba of "Orange Is the New Black" |
| 63% | COX | 3 | Laverne of "Orange Is the New Black" |
| 63% | LORI | 4 | Petty of "Orange Is the New Black" |
| 63% | XXXX | 4 | Petty of "Orange Is the New Black" |
| 63% | ALOU | 4 | Former MLB manager Felipe whose son Luis Rojas is the manager of the New York Mets |