| 100% | OPERATIONCONDOR | 15 | Mid-70's U.S. backed campaign of political repression by S. American right-wing dictatorships (ending in a four under) |
| 26% | LAW | 3 | Betteridge’s ___ of headlines (“Any headline which ends in a question mark can be answered by the word ‘no’ ”) |
| 26% | PNC | 3 | American financial services provider, that is the fifth-largest bank in the U.S., by number of branches |
| 24% | FLYLIKEANEAGLE | 14 | What the U.S. Postal Service used to do (ending in a two under) |
| 24% | DOROTHYHEIGHT | 13 | Presidential Medal of Freedom-winning civil rights activist honored with a Black Heritage U.S. postage stamp in 2017 (2 wds.) |
| 24% | TICKLEMEELMO | 12 | By the end of 1996, one million of this toy was sold in a shopping frenzy |
| 24% | STALEMATERIAL | 13 | Dated jokes ... and what the ends of four Across answers are, in a way |
| 23% | WATERGATE | 9 | US political scandal ending in Nixon's resignation |
| 23% | VIA | 3 | By way of, in a traveler's itinerary |
| 23% | EASTERNCOUGAR | 13 | A subspecies of puma from North America which was formally declared extinct by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2018: 2 wds. |
| 23% | TUBA | 4 | It has a solo near the end of "An American in Paris" |
| 23% | ACIS | 4 | Lover of Galatea in Greek mythology crushed under a boulder by Polyphemus |
| 23% | TOUCHDOWN | 9 | Six-point score in American football made by being in possession of the ball in the opposing team's end zone |
| 23% | PARTY | 5 | "___ in the U.S.A," hit song by Miley Cyrus from her album "The Time of Our Lives" |
| 23% | TEAT | 4 | One of four in a kangaroo’s pouch |
| 23% | EEOC | 4 | U.S. agency created by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 |
| 23% | BUREN | 5 | End of a three-word U.S. president name |
| 23% | SIX | 3 | Number of years in a US senator's term |
| 22% | FAA | 3 | U.S. regulating org. with a wing in its logo |
| 22% | GOV | 3 | Ending of a U.S. state's web address (Abbr.) |
| 22% | THIRD | 5 | Jefferson's place in a chronological listing of US presidents |
| 22% | CAVEANIMAL | 10 | U.S.A. ___ of the Year (award given to the little brown bat by the National Speleological Society, in 2022) |
| 22% | DDT | 3 | Target of a 1972 ban in the U.S. |
| 22% | REFORMPARTY | 11 | Political organization founded in 1995 by 35-Down ... and a literal hint to each set of circled letters |
| 22% | GRANT | 5 | Ulysses S. ___, 18th President of the U.S.A. and the second to sport a beard in office |
| 22% | CHEROKEE | 8 | Member of a Native American people formerly of the southern US now living chiefly in Oklahoma |
| 22% | PEA | 3 | Item placed under a stack of mattresses, in a children's story |
| 22% | RED | 3 | With 14-Down, part of a U.S. political map |
| 22% | CITY | 4 | Word in the names of four U.S. state capitals |
| 22% | INC | 3 | Abbr. at the end of many a U.S. company |