| 100% | NAL | 3 | Imprint of Penguin Random House that published "Ideal" in 2015, the first Ayn Rand novel to appear in more than fifty years (abbr.) |
| 28% | THRONES | 7 | "Game of ___," fantasy drama series that set a record for the most Emmy wins for a series in a single year in 2015 |
| 28% | CHAN | 4 | Charlie —, detective creation of Earl Biggers who first appeared in 1925 novel The House Without a Key |
| 27% | STY | 3 | "It was also more suited to the dignity of the Leader ... to live in a house than in a mere ___" (line from "Animal Farm") |
| 26% | SUP | 3 | Publishing arm of the California school that admitted its first students in 1891 (abbr.) |
| 26% | LADYNANCYASTOR | 14 | First woman to sit in the British House of Commons |
| 25% | WHICH | 5 | Publication of the Consumers' Association that first appeared in October 1957 |
| 25% | THESISSTATEMENT | 15 | Sentence that often appears in the first paragraph of an essay |
| 25% | NAME | 4 | Info to fill in on the first line of many forms |
| 25% | ALTEREDCARBON | 13 | Netflix series, based on a cyberpunk novel, set more than 300 years in the future: 2 wds. |
| 24% | EZRA | 4 | Book that begins "Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia ..." |
| 24% | ENERO | 5 | First month of the year, to many a 5-Down character |
| 24% | AARON | 5 | The other first name of Montgomery Ward of the mail order house that began in 1972 |
| 24% | MARCH | 5 | Month that was the first of the new year in early 3-Down calendars |
| 24% | RACERIOT | 8 | One of more than 150 that occurred in the US during the summer of 1967 |
| 24% | IPAD | 4 | Product that had sales of more than 300,000 on its first day in 2010 |
| 24% | CHAN | 4 | Charlie —, detective creation of Earl Biggers who first appeared in The House Without a Key |
| 24% | BOOKS | 5 | Things people resolve to read more of in the New Year |
| 24% | ISLEROYALE | 10 | Lake Superior locale that's the subject of a more than 60 year study of a unique moose-wolf relationship |
| 24% | ANT | 3 | Bug that the more than 1 million members of a certain Facebook group pretend to be |
| 24% | DOG | 3 | President Trump is the first president in over 100 years not to have one of these |
| 24% | CMA | 3 | Group that named Keith Urban Entertainer of the Year in 2018: Abbr. |
| 24% | ANDREWWIGGINS | 13 | 2015 NBA Rookie of the Year who was the first overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft (2 wds.) |
| 24% | HAMMER | 6 | "The ___ of God," 1993 sci-fi novel by Arthur C. Clarke that is set in the year 2109 |
| 24% | DOCSAVAGE | 9 | Fictional character created by Lester Dent who first appeared in 1933 pulp novel The Man of Bronze |
| 24% | CAMPION | 7 | Albert —, detective creation of Margery Allingham who first appeared in 1929 novel The Crime At Black Dudley |
| 24% | BLOOD | 5 | "Bad ___," song by Taylor Swift that won an MTV VMA for Video of the Year in 2015 |
| 23% | UCLA | 4 | West Coast school that's the most applied to in the US: Abbr. |
| 23% | ASTOR | 5 | Nancy —, first woman to sit as an MP in the House of Commons |