| 100% | ABRAHAMLINCOLN | 14 | Historical figure whose son is the central character of a George Saunders novel mostly set in a temporary afterlife |
| 31% | GIFT | 4 | The —, Vladimir Nabokov novel originally published in serial form in 1938 whose central character is Fyodor Godunov-Cherdyntsev |
| 31% | THEGIFT | 7 | Vladimir Nabokov novel written in the 1930s whose central character is Fyodor Godunov-Cherdyntsev |
| 31% | SEINFELD | 8 | Sitcom whose four main characters are convicted of a crime in the final episode |
| 29% | OTRANTO | 7 | Italian city that is the title setting of a Walpole novel |
| 29% | RYU | 3 | Main character in Capcom's Street Fighter series whose "special move" was the subject of a scientific work last year |
| 29% | EMU | 3 | Bird whose name is also the initials of a school in Ypsilanti |
| 29% | WRATH | 5 | "The Grapes of ___," novel by John Steinbeck, set in the Great Depression, that was a major reason for him winning the Nobel Prize |
| 28% | TIGERWOODS | 10 | Considered one of the best in golf, he was central figure in a controversy that involved infidelity and ended in his divorce: 2 wds. |
| 28% | DANIELDERONDA | 13 | Last novel completed by George Eliot which is the only known novel by her set in the contemporary Victorian society of her time: 2 wds. |
| 28% | RASSENDYLL | 10 | Rudolf —, central character in 1894 Anthony Hope novel The Prisoner of Zenda |
| 28% | TELLWRIGHT | 10 | Anna —, central character in 1902 Arnold Bennett novel Anna of the Five Towns |
| 27% | FERMATA | 7 | The —, 1994 novel by Nicholson Baker whose central character is Arno Strine |
| 27% | JAMESMICHENER | 13 | Author of the novels whose titles are the starts of nine answers in this puzzle |
| 27% | MALORY | 6 | "___ Towers," series of novels by Enid Blyton that is set in a girls' boarding school |
| 27% | ANTIQUARY | 9 | The —, 1816 novel by Sir Walter Scott whose central character is Jonathan Oldbuck |
| 27% | THINMAN | 7 | The —, 1934 Dashiell Hammett novel whose central characters are Nick and Nora Charles |
| 27% | EYRE | 4 | "The ___ Affair" (murder mystery set in the universe of a Brontë novel) |
| 27% | ACLERGYMANS | 11 | & 12A 1935 George Orwell novel whose central character is Dorothy Hare |
| 27% | TIBETAN | 7 | The Dalai Lama is a central figure in __ Buddhism |
| 27% | BALLADOF | 8 | & 10A The —, 1960 Muriel Spark novel whose central character is Dougal Douglas |
| 27% | BADARTFRIEND | 12 | “Who Is the ___?” (viral Times Magazine article about a literary feud, whose theme of fictionalizing others’ lives without permission is also explored in Andrew Lipstein’s 2022 novel “Last Resort”) |
| 26% | PARADESEND | 10 | Tetralogy of novels by Ford Madox Ford whose central character is Christopher Tietjens |
| 26% | NAN | 3 | River in Thailand which is also the name of a "Game of Thrones" character |
| 26% | BACARDI | 7 | One of the oldest spirit companies in the world, whose logo is a bat |
| 26% | WEAPON | 6 | The "what" of a Clue accusation, whose identity is hinted at by the three circled answers in this quadrant |
| 26% | ROOM | 4 | The "where" of a Clue accusation, whose identity is hinted at by the three circled answers in this quadrant |
| 26% | SUSPECT | 7 | The "who" of a Clue accusation, whose identity is hinted at by the three circled answers in this quadrant |