| 100% | APLEA | 5 | Cop ___ (confess in return for lighter punishment) |
| 49% | APLEA | 5 | Cop ___ (confess for a lighter sentence) |
| 46% | SELLS | 5 | Gets money in return for |
| 46% | EARNS | 5 | Receives in return for effort |
| 46% | AVENGE | 6 | Inflict harm in return for |
| 45% | AVENGED | 7 | Harmed in return for harm caused |
| 45% | EARN | 4 | Get money in return for labour |
| 45% | EARN | 4 | Obtain money in return for labour |
| 45% | REWARDS | 7 | Things given in return for good acts |
| 44% | EARN | 4 | Obtain money in return for labor or services |
| 44% | BRIBING | 7 | Gifting money in return for an illegal benefit |
| 44% | BLACKMAIL | 9 | Demand money in return for not releasing info |
| 44% | PRO | 3 | "Quid ___ Quo" (favor granted in return for something) |
| 43% | EMBLEM | 6 | Yours truly twice getting pound in return for symbol |
| 43% | EARNER | 6 | Someone who obtains wages in return for their labor |
| 43% | SELL | 4 | To exchange something with someone in return for money |
| 42% | RINKRAT | 7 | Kid who does chores in return for free skating time |
| 42% | AVENGE | 6 | Get payback in return for a wrong done to another |
| 42% | APERTURE | 8 | Opening for light in a camera |
| 41% | CATSEYES | 8 | Feline nickname for lighting devices in roads |
| 41% | APLEA | 5 | Cop ___ (negotiate for a lighter sentence) |
| 40% | LAPS | 4 | Punishment for goofing off in practice, perhaps |
| 37% | PINE | 4 | Long for sleuth to return in French style |
| 36% | ROME | 4 | Setting for Broadway's "The Light in the Piazza" |
| 36% | CANDLES | 7 | Items in a 59-Across lit for 61-Across |
| 36% | SONYA | 5 | Whom Raskolnikov confesses his crime to in "Crime and Punishment" |
| 36% | COLOGNE | 7 | Type of light fragrance named for a city in Germany |
| 35% | UNNA | 4 | City in Germany; home of the Centre for International Light Art |
| 34% | IDOL | 4 | Talent show that returned in 2018, for short |
| 34% | SLAP | 4 | Light punishment |