| 100% | MESSI | 5 | Lionel —, Argentina and Barcelona forward; six-time winner of the Ballon d'Or |
| 67% | MESSI | 5 | Lionel —, Argentina and Barcelona forward; 2010-12 and 2015 FIFA Ballon d'Or winner |
| 59% | MESSI | 5 | Winner of the Ballon d'Or seven times |
| 43% | MESSI | 5 | F.C. Barcelona star who has won the Ballon d’Or a record six times |
| 37% | WISCONSIN | 9 | Six-time winner of the NCAA's Frozen Four championship |
| 36% | RONALDO | 7 | Cristiano ___, Portuguese soccer player who has won the Ballon d'Or trophy five times |
| 35% | MICHEL | 6 | ___ Platini, French former soccer player who has won the Ballon d'Or trophy three times |
| 35% | KEVIN | 5 | ___ Keegan, English former soccer player who has won the Ballon d'Or trophy two times |
| 35% | CRUYFF | 6 | Johan ___, Dutch former soccer player who has won the Ballon d'Or trophy three times |
| 35% | FRANZ | 5 | ___ Beckenbauer, Dutch former soccer player who has won the Ballon d'Or trophy two times |
| 35% | GORDIEHOWE | 10 | Six-time winner of the N.H.L.'s Art Ross Trophy, born in Saskatchewan |
| 35% | SHOPLIFTERS | 11 | Japanese-language winner of the Palme d’Or (May, 2018) |
| 34% | MARKOMEARA | 10 | Winner of the 1998 Masters and British Open |
| 34% | NATIONALS | 9 | D.C. baseball players … or what the ends of 17-, 21-, 39- and 55-Across sound like |
| 34% | ALOMAR | 6 | 10-time Gold Glove winner of the 1990s and 2000s |
| 34% | AGASSI | 6 | Winner of the four tennis majors and Olympic 8-Down |
| 34% | ORR | 3 | Winner of the Norris Trophy for a record eight times |
| 33% | SATURDAYNIGHT | 13 | Popular date time ... or a phrase that can precede the starts of 20-, 33- and 40-Across |
| 33% | HELENMIRREN | 11 | Winner of the Triple Crown of Acting (Oscar, Tony and Emmy) |
| 33% | MARKSELBY | 9 | Winner of the World Snooker Championship in 2014, 2016 and 2017 |
| 33% | SOME | 4 | __ of the time (now and then) |
| 33% | SOME | 4 | ___ of the time (now and then) |
| 33% | OBAMA | 5 | Winner of the 2005 and 2007 Grammys for Best Spoken Word Album |
| 33% | SINGH | 5 | Vijay —, winner of the PGA Championship in 1998 and 2004 |
| 33% | ROSSI | 5 | Valentino —, winner of the 2008 and 2009 MotoGP World Championship |
| 32% | PENHALL | 7 | Bruce —, US winner of the 1981 and 1982 Speedway World Championships |
| 32% | WATTANA | 7 | James —, winner of the 1994 and 1995 Thailand Open snooker tournaments |
| 32% | HAKKINEN | 8 | Mika —, winner of the 1998 and 1999 F1 World Drivers' Championship |
| 32% | SAINZ | 5 | Carlos —, winner of the 1990 and 1992 World Rally Drivers' Championship |
| 32% | MCKAY | 5 | Heather —, winner of the 1976 and 1979 World Open squash championships |