| 100% | NEL | 3 | Dept. created in 1945 that directed Bathyscaphe Trieste on its 1960 dive of 35,000 feet plus into the Challenger Deep (abbr.) |
| 26% | DEEP | 4 | Challenger ___, location explored by James Cameron that's 35,000 feet below the surface of the Pacific Ocean |
| 24% | SSSS | 4 | Sound that might have caused panic on "Strato-Lab V" as it passed the 100,000 foot mark in 1961 |
| 24% | HEW | 3 | Dept. created on April 11, 1953 (until 1979) under the leadership of Oveta Culp Hobby who commanded the Women's Army Corps in WWII (abbr.) |
| 24% | OHS | 3 | Creation of Pres. Bush in Oct. 2001 headed up by Tom Ridge, that was made into a full dept. on November 25, 2002 (abbr.) |
| 23% | GLORIAESTEFAN | 13 | "Get On Your Feet" singer who was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2023: 2 wds. |
| 23% | IHOP | 4 | Popular breakfast chain in the USA that is known for flapjacks and has a smile on its logo: Abbr. |
| 23% | ANGELFALLS | 10 | Venezuela landmark that's the tallest of its kind in the world (3,212 feet) |
| 23% | EYE | 3 | Something involved in a Biblical exchange that, on the face of it, seem the same |
| 22% | LEU | 3 | Coin found in Tirasol that has the horn of an aurochs and a female figure of the moon on it |
| 22% | TIBER | 5 | Legend has it that Rome was founded in 753 BC on the banks of this river |
| 22% | CRATERLAKE | 10 | Attraction in 69-Across that's almost 2,000 feet deep |
| 22% | IPAD | 4 | Product that had sales of more than 300,000 on its first day in 2010 |
| 21% | LAKETAHOE | 9 | Landmark that's the second-deepest of its kind in the U.S. |
| 21% | POTSDAM | 7 | City in Germany on the Havel River that hosted a 1945 meeting of the principal Allies in World War II |
| 21% | METANALYSIS | 11 | Deep dive into the statistics of a NY slugger? |
| 21% | UNITED | 6 | Manchester ___ F.C., premier league club that features a ship in full sail on its crest and has one of the most FA Cup wins |
| 21% | ERA | 3 | The Postwar ___ (span of US history that began in 1945) |
| 21% | PURPLE | 6 | *Deep ___, "Smoke on the Water" band who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2016 |
| 21% | SUP | 3 | Publishing arm of the California school that admitted its first students in 1891 (abbr.) |
| 21% | CMA | 3 | Group that named "Buy Dirt" its 2022 Song of the Year: Abbr. |
| 20% | ENOLAGAY | 8 | Plane that dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima in 1945 |
| 20% | ILLER | 5 | River that flows into the Danube in the center of Ulm |
| 20% | OSS | 3 | Joint Chiefs of Staff agcy. that became the CIA in 1945 |
| 20% | ADELE | 5 | British singer of Rolling in the Deep |
| 20% | CMA | 3 | Group that voted Luke Combs its 2021 Entertainer of the Year: Abbr. |
| 20% | SPINALTAP | 9 | Fictional band that uses an umlaut on the "n" in its name |
| 20% | MAM | 3 | The org. that created outrage in 2015 by acquiring "Eggs Benedict", a portrait of the Pope made with colorful condoms (abbr.) |
| 20% | USSR | 4 | Superpower that splintered into multiple nations in the 1990s: Abbr. |
| 20% | MON | 3 | Day of the week that Presidents' Day falls on: Abbr. |