| 100% | NEGATIVENUMBERS | 15 | Figures whose squares are positive |
| 58% | CUBE | 4 | Three-dimensional figure whose faces are squares |
| 49% | CPA | 3 | Figure whose job is working with figures, briefly |
| 49% | {BUD}DHA | 8 | Figure whose reincarnations are documented in the Jātakas |
| 49% | SANTA | 5 | Figure whose Canadian postal code is H0H 0H0 |
| 48% | EMOTICON | 8 | Figure whose colon might be part of his face? |
| 48% | MRCLEAN | 7 | Advertising figure whose first name is Veritably |
| 46% | SANTA | 5 | Legendary figure whose annual journey is “tracked” by NORAD |
| 46% | AREAS | 5 | Figures that are sometimes expressed in square feet |
| 45% | MAO | 3 | Chairman whose figure overlooks Tiananmen Square |
| 44% | NOAH | 4 | Biblical figure whose sons were Ham, Shem, and Japheth |
| 44% | TASTER | 6 | Court figure whose job is to detect 36-Across |
| 44% | TIRANE | 6 | Capital whose central plaza is Skanderbeg Square |
| 44% | ABSALOM | 7 | Biblical figure whose name is repeated in a Faulkner title |
| 43% | BUDDHA | 6 | Religious figure whose teachings are followed by about 500 million Asians |
| 42% | EARHART | 7 | Historical figure whose home-town airport, in Atchison, Kansas, is named in her honor |
| 42% | ACHRISTMASCAROL | 15 | Novella whose final words are found in the circled squares |
| 42% | POE | 3 | Literary figure whose name is a letter short of something he wrote |
| 42% | AXEL | 4 | Figure-skating jump whose quadruple version has never been landed in competition |
| 42% | ERIE | 4 | Great Lake whose surface area is 9,910 square miles |
| 41% | TANGRAM | 7 | Chinese puzzle in which a square is cut into seven pieces and formed into figures |
| 41% | ICARUS | 6 | Mythological figure whose ill-fated trajectory is suggested by 19-, 34-, 41- and 56-Across |
| 41% | CHIP | 4 | Technological device whose current shortage is depicted in the circled squares |
| 41% | ELMARIACHI | 10 | 1992 Robert Rodriguez film whose title figure is a travelling guitarist |
| 41% | CUBE | 4 | Solid shape whose sides are all squares |
| 40% | THESTARSPANGLEDBANNER | 21 | This puzzle's theme, whose first notes are indicated by shaded squares |
| 40% | WHITEHEAD | 9 | Colson whose 2021 novel "Harlem Shuffle" is represented in the circled squares |
| 40% | NPR | 3 | Broadcaster whose rectangular logo is divided into red, black, and blue squares |
| 40% | NYKNICK | 7 | NBA player whose home court is in Madison Square Garden (2 wds.) |
| 40% | THEWICKERMAN | 12 | 1973 horror film whose title figure is burned in a pagan ritual |