| 100% | ARREARS | 7 | In ____ (late with payment) |
| 95% | XXXXXXXXX | 9 | Late with payments |
| 86% | INARREARS | 9 | Late with one's payments |
| 79% | BEHIND | 6 | Late, as in making payments |
| 79% | TRENDY | 6 | In accordance with latest fashion |
| 75% | ECONOMICS | 9 | Latest Nobel prize with first winners in 1969 |
| 75% | UPDATE | 6 | Fill in with the latest information |
| 74% | DEBT | 4 | Late credit card payment consequence with a silent "b"? |
| 74% | THE | 3 | With 4-Down, last two words in a story |
| 74% | ONTREND | 7 | In fashion, up to date with the latest tendencies |
| 73% | HEP | 3 | With it, in last-century slang |
| 72% | PETER | 5 | With 7-Across, late actor who starred in "Easy Rider" |
| 72% | THE | 3 | With 39-Down, last words in many an old movie |
| 72% | DRAGON | 6 | Raya adventured with the last one in 2021 |
| 71% | INERT | 5 | With 79-Across, entry in the periodic table's last column |
| 70% | BANDWAGON | 9 | Jump on the __, join in with the latest trend |
| 70% | TARA | 4 | Last proper name in ''Gone with the Wind'' |
| 69% | THEICE | 6 | With 37-Across, drama set in New York's Last Chance Saloon |
| 68% | COMET | 5 | Halley's ___ (celestial body with a tail, last seen in '86) |
| 67% | ERA | 3 | Pitching statistic that Shane Bieber led the league in last year, with a 1.63: Abbr. |
| 66% | SUPER | 5 | With 16-Across, annual occasion for last-minute Christmas shopping (12/21 in 2024) |
| 66% | SOSA | 4 | Last name of the only player in MLB history with three 60-homer seasons |
| 66% | REAR | 4 | Prefix with "guard" to mean the last part in a military force |
| 65% | IBM | 3 | 49-Down, with each letter shifted one place later in the alphabet (coincidence?) |
| 65% | ISIAH | 5 | Thomas with a prominent role in the Michael Jordan documentary “The Last Dance” |
| 64% | RANDY | 5 | With 41-Across, "The Last Detail" actor who played Lester Marlow in "The Last Picture Show" |
| 64% | SALMA | 5 | With 37-Across, "Eternals" actress who plays Kitty Softpaws in "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish" |
| 63% | ETTA | 4 | Soul singer ___ James, who sang "At Last" on "Dancing with the Stars" in 2009 |
| 63% | FEDEX | 5 | Delivery company with an arrow hiding in the last two letters of its logo |
| 63% | TRENDY | 6 | In latest fashion |