| 100% | HELLRAISER | 10 | Horror film franchise whose main antagonist is Pinhead ... and an alternate title to the grid after observing the circled entries from the bottom up? |
| 25% | JOYTOTHEWORLD | 13 | Popular carol, whose first phrase can be hummed using the circled pitches (from top to bottom) |
| 24% | ERNESTHEMINGWAY | 15 | Author of the book whose title is circled in the grid |
| 23% | SCRIPTNOTES | 11 | Screenplay suggestions from the studio, and what's been added to the theme titles |
| 23% | COLDOPEN | 8 | Certain TV intro ... or a description of each of 12 letters in the grid (the starts of six Across entries and then six Down entries) that spell out an alternate title for this puzzle |
| 22% | GOOGLE | 6 | Company whose name is spelled with up to 10 O's toward the bottom of its webpages |
| 22% | THEFRIENDSWEMADEALONG | 21 | With 126/127 Across, companions on our life's journey who were more valuable to us than our destination ... and an alternate title for this puzzle |
| 22% | PHOTOFINISH | 11 | Race that's too close to call ... and an alternate title to this puzzle? |
| 22% | DOWNPAYMENT | 11 | Money up front, and an alternate title for this puzzle |
| 22% | MUDD | 4 | Roger whose 2008 memoir is titled "The Place to Be: Washington, CBS, and the Glory Days of Television News" |
| 22% | COSMONAUT | 9 | Someone like Yelena Serova, say, whose old job title was derived from the Greek words for "universe" and "sailor" |
| 22% | TOOTHLESS | 9 | Dragon from the 2010 film "How to Train Your Dragon" who is voiced by Randy Thom and Al Nelson |
| 22% | TELESCOPE | 9 | Notable invention from the 17th century, that is an assembly of lenses and allows us to look into space |
| 22% | CHEETA | 6 | Chimpanzee from Palm Springs who loves to paint and was featured in the "Tarzan" films |
| 22% | RUDOLPH | 7 | Who's depicted in this puzzle when the circled letters are connected from A to Z and back to A |
| 22% | ONEANDDONE | 10 | Never to be repeated ... or an apt pronouncement after following the instructions sequentially in 17-, 25-, 39- and 49-Across? |
| 22% | URSULA | 6 | Antagonist from Disney's 1989 animated film "The Little Mermaid" who was modeled after the drag queen, Divine |
| 22% | BENKINGSLEY | 11 | Actor whose birthday it is today who won an Academy Award for playing Gandhi in the titular film and was knighted in 2002: 2 wds. |
| 21% | DOWNSHIFTING | 12 | Changing to a lower gear, and an alternate title for this puzzle |
| 21% | GRACEKELLY | 10 | English singer Mika's song which is titled after "The Country Girl" actress and uses dialogue from the movie: 2 wds. |
| 21% | SELFREFERENTIAL | 15 | It is what it is, and an alternate puzzle title |
| 21% | LESLIE | 6 | ___ and Ben, fictional couple from "Parks and Recreation" whose iconic TV wedding episode was named after the couple |
| 21% | CORY | 4 | ___ and Topanga, fictional couple from "Boy Meets World" whose wedding was approved by ABC after an internet poll |
| 21% | LEIGH | 5 | Co-star of the film whose title is hidden sequentially in 20-, 34-, 41- and 52-Across |
| 21% | DESPICABLEME | 12 | Animated comedy film released in 2010 in which the title refers to the main character, Gru and his adopted daughters: 2 wds. |
| 21% | WEST | 4 | Word after "South" for an airline that is the third-largest in the world and can take you to your travel destination |
| 21% | LETO | 4 | Jared ___, I'm the frontman of 30 Seconds to Mars and a film star born the day after Christmas. Who am I? |
| 21% | ELM | 3 | Tree in the title of a horror film franchise |
| 21% | JAMES | 5 | Actor who played the title role in 1951 horror and sci-fi film The Thing from Another World |