| 100% | ICBM | 4 | Long-range nuke that was the subject of the SALT treaty: Abbr. |
| 55% | WVA | 3 | American state that is the subject of the song "Country Roads": Abbr. |
| 54% | NBA | 3 | League that was the subject of the docuseries “Shut Up and Dribble”: Abbr. |
| 51% | REM | 3 | Sleep phase that might be the subject of a sleep study: Abbr. |
| 49% | DST | 3 | Observance that was the subject of a Last Week Tonight "How Is This Still a Thing?" segment: abbr. |
| 46% | EMU | 3 | Bird that was the subject of an Australian war |
| 46% | VERTIGO | 7 | 1958 film that is the subject of this puzzle |
| 45% | CIA | 3 | Grp. that was the subject of a recent WikiLeaks release |
| 45% | XIII | 4 | Apollo mission that was the subject of a 1995 film |
| 45% | NCAA | 4 | Group that's the subject of "bracketology": Abbr. |
| 45% | MALARIA | 7 | Disease that was the subject of the second Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (1902) |
| 45% | GTO | 3 | Car that was the subject of a 1964 top 10 hit |
| 45% | AOL | 3 | Tech company that was the subject of a 1997 Time cover |
| 45% | TOLEDO | 6 | Spanish city that was the subject of an El Greco painting |
| 45% | EMI | 3 | Co. that was the subject of a Sex Pistols diss track |
| 45% | CLONE | 5 | Biological duplicate that is the subject of many sci-fi movies |
| 45% | ANGORAS | 7 | Wool sources that were the subject of a 2013 PETA exposé |
| 45% | CNN | 3 | News channel that is the home of "The Situation Room": Abbr. |
| 44% | HERBALIFE | 9 | Controversial multilevel-marketing supplement company that was the subject of the 2016 documentary Betting on Zero |
| 44% | KATRINA | 7 | Hurricane that was the subject of 2006's "When the Levees Broke" |
| 44% | FYRE | 4 | Failed music festival that was the subject of two popular 2019 documentaries |
| 44% | NCAA | 4 | Org. that was the subject of a 2021 Supreme Court antitrust ruling |
| 44% | AFRICA | 6 | Continent with Nigeria that is the subject of a song by Toto |
| 44% | WMD | 3 | Big bombs that were a focus of the Iraq War: Abbr. |
| 44% | ARAL | 4 | Sea that's been the subject of restoration projects |
| 43% | IRS | 3 | Agency that's the subject of the book "Confessions of a Tax Collector": Abbr. |
| 43% | SASHA | 5 | ___ Fierce, Beyonce's onstage alter-ego that was the subject of her 2008 album |
| 43% | AREA | 4 | ___ 51, said to be a government facility that is the subject of UFO conspiracy theories |
| 43% | ELSA | 4 | Lion that was the subject of the book "Born Free" and that is buried in Kenya's Meru National Park |
| 42% | SNL | 3 | Show that was the source of "The Blues Brothers" and "Wayne's World": Abbr. |