| 100% | KAJA | 4 | Kallas, became Estonian PM in January 2021 |
| 39% | BIDEN | 5 | With 10-Across, period that started in January 2021 |
| 35% | MEMESTOCK | 9 | AMC became one in 2021 |
| 34% | TURNBULL | 8 | Malcolm __, became Aussie PM in 2015 |
| 34% | MARIANORIVERA | 13 | In January, he became baseball's first unanimous Hall of Fame electee: 2 wds. |
| 33% | ALBANESE | 8 | Anthony, he became Australian PM in 2022 |
| 33% | SCHOLZ | 6 | Olaf, became German chancellor in December 2021 |
| 33% | JONOSSOFF | 9 | US Senate's youngest member (33) who was sworn in January 20, 2021 |
| 33% | DEB | 3 | Haaland who became secretary of the interior in 2021 |
| 33% | AMC | 3 | Theatre chain that became a meme stock in 2021 |
| 32% | JUNETEENTH | 10 | Commemoration of emancipation that became a federal holiday in 2021 |
| 32% | NETANYAHU | 9 | Benjamin, became Israeli PM again in 2022 |
| 30% | ELLE | 4 | Magazine whose pages became “fur-free” in 2021 |
| 29% | OSAKA | 5 | In 2021 she became the first tennis player to light the Olympic cauldron during the opening ceremony |
| 29% | GIRL | 4 | ___ Named Tom, musical group that became the first trio to win "The Voice" in 2021 |
| 28% | APRIL | 5 | Month in 2021 when NASA's Ingenuity became the first powered aircraft to fly on Mars |
| 28% | XXXXXXX | 7 | Actor who became an astronaut in 2021 at age 90 |
| 28% | BARBADOS | 8 | Caribbean island that became a republic in 2021 |
| 27% | LOIS | 4 | Smith who, in 2021, at the age of ninety, became the oldest winner of an acting Tony |
| 27% | EST | 3 | NJ hrs. in January |
| 27% | RAINY | 5 | Like Java in January |
| 27% | RARE | 4 | Like hurricanes in January |
| 27% | SLOW | 4 | Like molasses in January |
| 27% | NIPPIER | 7 | More biting, in January |
| 27% | HOT | 3 | Like Australia in January |
| 27% | SOLBERG | 7 | Erna, who became Norway's PM in 2013 |
| 27% | OBAMAERA | 8 | It ended in January 2017 |
| 27% | MLK | 3 | ___ Day (third Mon. in January) |
| 27% | ICY | 3 | Like some roads in January |
| 26% | ENERO | 5 | January, in Juárez |