| 100% | LUIGI | 5 | Dramatist Pirandello who wrote "Six Characters in Search of an Author" |
| 69% | LUIGIPIRANDELLO | 15 | "Six Characters in Search of an Author" dramatist |
| 69% | LUIGI | 5 | "Six Characters in Search of an Author" author Pirandello |
| 39% | CIARDI | 6 | Poet John who wrote "Lives of X," an autobiography in verse |
| 38% | TOLKIEN | 7 | Author who wrote "Do not meddle in the affairs of wizards" |
| 38% | ANWARSADAT | 10 | Egyptian president who wrote "In Search of Identity" in 1978 |
| 37% | AUSTEN | 6 | Author who wrote "Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance" |
| 36% | STOWE | 5 | Who wrote in an 1852 novel “Any mind that is capable of a real sorrow is capable of good” |
| 35% | GANDALF | 7 | Ian McKellen's character in "The Lord of the Rings" series who sports an iconic long white beard |
| 35% | C3PO | 4 | Sci-fi character who claims fluency in more than six million forms of communication |
| 34% | ELAINEBENES | 11 | Character played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus in "Seinfeld", who is an ex-girlfriend of 32-Across: 2 wds. |
| 34% | ALAIN | 5 | Author ___ de Botton who wrote "Essays in Love" (anagram of "nalai") |
| 34% | STUART | 6 | First name of an E. B. White character who says that “a misspelled word is an abomination in the sight of everyone” |
| 34% | CALVIN | 6 | Comics title character who says "Getting an inch of snow is like winning 10 cents in the lottery" |
| 33% | TONIMORRISON | 12 | Author who received the Nobel Prize in Literature on the basis of her first six novels, all featured in this puzzle |
| 32% | KAREEMABDUL | 11 | ___-Jabbar, the six-time NBA MVP who received an honorary degree from New York Institute of Technology in 2011: 2 wds. |
| 32% | AESOP | 5 | Fabulist who wrote of an also-ran hare |
| 32% | STEELE | 6 | Shelby who wrote "The Content of Our Character" |
| 32% | JOURNAL | 7 | Written thoughts, perhaps in search of a meaning |
| 32% | ANAUTHOR | 8 | Six Pirandello characters searched for one |
| 32% | DANTE | 5 | Poet who wrote of Beatrice in "Divine Comedy" |
| 32% | ANNE | 4 | Moody who wrote "Coming of Age in Mississippi" |
| 32% | TONIMORRISON | 12 | Author who died in 2019 and was, as David Remnick wrote, “unsparing in her depiction of people who would use language to evil ends” |
| 32% | OBAMA | 5 | President who wrote "The Audacity of Hope" in 2006 |
| 32% | MARGINS | 7 | Edges of an exercise book for writing comments in |
| 32% | SEUSS | 5 | Author of six books retired in 2021 |
| 31% | PARIS | 5 | Conrad's great-granddaughter who wrote "Confessions of an Heiress" |
| 31% | BAUM | 4 | Author who wrote about the Land of Oz |
| 31% | OUT | 3 | One of six in an inning |
| 31% | DANA | 4 | Author Spiotta who wrote “Wayward,” about a woman who flees her suburban family life in the wake of the 2016 Presidential election (July, 2021) |