| 100% | ELLERYQUEEN | 11 | Classic detective fiction pseudonym with a namesake literary award that contains the name of a chess piece (2 wds.) |
| 37% | STEPHENKING | 11 | "Mr. Mercedes" Edgar Award winner whose name contains a chess piece (2 wds.) |
| 37% | MICHAELBISHOP | 13 | "No Enemy But Time" Nebula Award winner whose name contains a chess piece (2 wds.) |
| 35% | DONKEYKONG | 10 | Classic arcade game released by Nintendo in 1981 that features the adventures of a gorilla character: 2 wds. |
| 33% | THEPINK | 7 | With 50-Across, comedy film series in which Peter Sellers originated the role of a bumbling detective: 2 wds. |
| 33% | SEARCHPARTY | 11 | HBO Max series that opened with the main characters investigating the disappearance of a college friend: 2 wds. |
| 32% | PAWNSTARS | 9 | History Channel reality show with a chess piece in its name: 2 wds. |
| 32% | ROSEMARY | 8 | Aromatic herb that contains the names of 2 women |
| 32% | BISHOP | 6 | Chess piece with a deep groove that shares its name with a position in the clergy |
| 31% | SUGARPLUM | 9 | Christmas treat that's also the name of a fairy in "The Nutcracker" (2 wds.) |
| 31% | SCUBADIVING | 11 | Adventure sport that employs the use of a "self-contained underwater breathing apparatus": 2 wds. |
| 31% | HANDMAIDSTALE | 13 | With "The," Hulu drama that featured a cameo by Margaret Atwood, author of the source material: 2 wds. |
| 31% | CRIMESCENE | 10 | "CSI: ___," with 31-Across, the name of a TV show Liev Schreiber - whose birthday it is today - guest starred in as Michael Keppler: 2 wds. |
| 31% | THEINCREDIBLES | 14 | Pixar film about a family of superheroes that won the 2005 Annie Award for Best Animated Feature: 2 wds. |
| 31% | JASONMOTT | 9 | Author who won the 2021 National Book Award for Fiction for "Hell of a Book": 2 wds. |
| 31% | ONEMISSISSIPPI | 14 | 2021 Kane Brown song with a state in its name that hit the top 40: 2 wds. |
| 31% | GREENGABLES | 11 | Name of the Cuthbert farmstead in Lucy Maud Montgomery's classic novel that 18-Across is based on: 2 wds. |
| 30% | BASKETCASE | 10 | Novel by 44-Across that highlights a song by the same name cowritten with Warren Zevon: 2 wds. |
| 30% | DAISYBUCHANAN | 13 | Woman with a botanical name in a classic novel set in the Roaring Twenties (2 wds.) |
| 30% | COOLHANDLUKE | 12 | 1967 Paul Newman prison drama title that includes the name of a body part: 3 wds. |
| 30% | LESMISERABLES | 13 | Musical with the song "I Dreamed a Dream" which was also the name of Scottish singer Susan Boyle's (birthday today) debut album: 2 wds. |
| 30% | DONKEYKONG | 10 | Video game with a gorilla that first featured the main character of 43-Across (2 wds.) |
| 30% | IWON | 4 | The name of a hit 2014 single by Future and Kanye West: 2 wds. |
| 30% | WAGONEER | 8 | Jeep vehicle that starts with the name of a kid's vehicle |
| 30% | SKIMASK | 7 | Item that can warm the face of a winter athlete: 2 wds. |
| 30% | CINDYCRAWFORD | 13 | Supermodel with a trademark mole above her lip and a line of exercise videos that begin with her name: 2 wds. |
| 29% | PRINCESSBRIDE | 13 | With "The," 1987 fantasy-comedy-romance movie that's become a cult classic: 2 wds. |
| 29% | RICHARDWRIGHT | 13 | Pink Floyd keyboardist who shares a name with the author of "Native Son" (2 wds.) |
| 29% | FORMULAONE | 10 | A sport that is the highest class of single seat auto racing, with former racers such as Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher: 2 wds |
| 29% | LEGEND | 6 | Folklore tale, or word that starts with the name of a walking limb |