| 100% | STEPHENSONDHEIM | 15 | Broadway composer (of 18-, 20-, and 57-Across) born 3/22/1930 |
| 47% | RESTORATION | 11 | Handyman's work suggested by the starts of 18-, 20-, 38- and 57-Across |
| 47% | HOUSE | 5 | Word that can follow both halves of 18-, 20-, 32-, 40-, 54- and 57-Across |
| 39% | SOMETHING | 9 | Word that can precede the starts of 18-, 20-, 53- and 58-Across |
| 37% | DROPPEDCALL | 11 | Weak signal result, and an apt description of a word hidden in 3-, 8-, 18- and 20-Down |
| 37% | FOURLETTERWORDS | 15 | Curses ... or what 18-, 20-, 26-, 48-, 57- and 63-Across are, literally? |
| 36% | ITWASTHEBEST | 12 | With 36 and 57 Across, ''A Tale of Two Cities'' beginning |
| 36% | OUTOF | 5 | Phrase that may precede each part of 18- and 58-Across and 3- and 25-Down |
| 36% | MADAMIMADAM | 11 | Palindromic introduction, and a hint to the ends of 18-, 20-, 53- and 57-Across |
| 35% | AUTOS | 5 | Ends of 20- and 57-Across and 11- and 34-Down |
| 35% | MIDDLE | 6 | With 44-Down, educational stage ... or a hint to the contents of 18-, 22-, 47- and 53-Across |
| 35% | RST | 3 | 18, 19 and 20 of a series |
| 35% | DIDYOUCATCHTHAT | 15 | "Someone say something?" or a hint to the ends of 18-, 20-, 54- and 59-Across |
| 35% | EYES | 4 | What the starts of 18-, 27-, 43- and 57-Across all have |
| 35% | CORNELIAFUNKE | 13 | Novelist of 18-Across and the "Inkheart" trilogy (2 wds.) |
| 35% | DENNISLEHANE | 12 | Writer of "Mystic River," 18-Across, and 32-Across who was born August 4, 1965 (2 wds.) |
| 34% | BEETHOVEN | 9 | Composer of 20-Across |
| 34% | KERN | 4 | Composer of Broadway's "Sunny" |
| 34% | VERDI | 5 | Composer of "Aida" and "Rigoletto" |
| 34% | ARNE | 4 | Composer of "Dido and Aeneas" |
| 34% | STYNE | 5 | Jule —, composer of the music for Broadway musicals Gypsy and Hallelujah, Baby! |
| 34% | SARAHJMAAS | 10 | Bestselling author of 18-Across, 31-Across, and the "Crescent City" and "A Court of Thorns and Roses" series (3 wds.) |
| 34% | THETARGETLADY | 13 | One of 18-Across's recurring "Saturday Night Live" characters: 3 wds. |
| 34% | MILAKUNIS | 9 | "That '70s Show," 15-Across, 3-Down, and 22-Down actress born August 14, 1983 (2 wds.) |
| 33% | ROSEMARYWOODS | 13 | President Nixon's secretary, who erased parts of taped discussions between 18-Across and Nixon: 3 wds. |
| 33% | WEILL | 5 | Kurt —, composer of 1930 opera Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny |
| 33% | KANIN | 5 | Garson ___, writer and director of Broadway's "Born Yesterday" |
| 33% | RST | 3 | Letters 18, 19, and 20 of the alphabet |
| 33% | VERDI | 5 | Composer of the operas "Aida" and "Otello" |
| 33% | GEORGEGERSHWIN | 14 | Composer of "Porgy and Bess": 2 wds. |