| 100% | IMBAD | 5 | Michael Jackson boast, in a 1987 hit |
| 99% | IMBAD | 5 | Boast in a 1987 Michael Jackson hit |
| 96% | IMBAD | 5 | Michael Jackson boast, in a 1987 hit song (2 wds.) |
| 83% | IMBAD | 5 | Repeated Michael Jackson lyric in a 1987 hit |
| 82% | IMBAD | 5 | Repeated Michael Jackson lyric in a 1987 hit: 2 wds. |
| 78% | IMBAD | 5 | Repeated lyric in a 1987 Michael Jackson #1 hit |
| 73% | IMBAD | 5 | Repeated boast in a 1987 #1 hit |
| 69% | IMBAD | 5 | Boast in a #1 1987 hit |
| 57% | IMBAD | 5 | Michael Jackson boast of 1987 |
| 57% | BILLIEJEAN | 10 | Title woman in a 1983 hit single by Michael Jackson: 2 wds. |
| 54% | IMBAD | 5 | Michael Jackson's 1987 boast |
| 53% | EARTHSONG | 9 | Michael Jackson hit with a global theme |
| 51% | BEN | 3 | Michael Jackson's first #1 hit (about a rat!) |
| 51% | JEAN | 4 | Infamous Billie in a Michael Jackson song |
| 49% | BAD | 3 | Michael Jackson hit whose title is heard 88 times in the song |
| 49% | IMBAD | 5 | Repeated claim in the refrain of a Michael Jackson hit |
| 49% | SLENDERLY | 9 | How Little Susie was fashioned in a Michael Jackson song |
| 48% | BAD | 3 | 1987 Michael Jackson album that produced five #1 hits |
| 47% | EATIT | 5 | Yankovic parody of a Michael Jackson hit |
| 46% | LOS | 3 | ___ Lobos (band with a hit "La Bamba" cover in 1987) |
| 45% | BEATIT | 6 | Michael Jackson hit ... or what you can do to the start of each answer to a starred clue |
| 45% | ZAGATRATED | 10 | Boast in a restaurant window |
| 44% | BORDER | 6 | A R —, Australia Test cricketer who hit 205 against New Zealand in Adelaide in 1987 |
| 44% | MERCURYBLUES | 12 | Alan Jackson hit song with a 44-Down in its title (2 wds.) |
| 44% | EIGHTAMBLUE | 11 | Color that was also a Top Ten hit for Lou Gramm in 1987 |
| 43% | BAD | 3 | Michael Jackson hit |
| 43% | THRILLER | 8 | Michael Jackson hit |
| 43% | BEATIT | 6 | Michael Jackson hit |
| 43% | BEAT | 4 | Michael Jackson hit "___ it" |
| 42% | GLOVER | 6 | Mandela portrayer in a 1987 film |