| 100% | ELNINO | 6 | Nativity oratorio by John Adams first performed in 2000 |
| 44% | CREATION | 8 | The —, oratorio by Joseph Haydn first performed in Vienna in 1798 |
| 38% | TRIPLEAXEL | 10 | Skating feat first performed in competition by Vern Taylor |
| 36% | HOWL | 4 | Poem by Allen Ginsberg first performed in 1955 |
| 36% | GENOVEVA | 8 | Opera by Robert Schumann first performed in 1850 |
| 36% | GOYESCAS | 8 | Opera by Enrique Granados first performed in 1916 |
| 35% | ONDINE | 6 | Stage play by Jean Giraudoux first performed in 1939 |
| 35% | TURANDOT | 8 | Unfinished opera by Giacomo Puccini first performed in 1926 |
| 35% | BAAL | 4 | Stage play by Bertolt Brecht first performed in 1923 |
| 34% | LITTLEEYOLF | 11 | 1894 play by Henrik Ibsen first performed in the following year |
| 32% | EVA | 3 | Spacewalk performed by the first all-female team in 2019 (Abbr.) |
| 32% | RAPSODIE | 8 | & 11D Orchestral work by Maurice Ravel first performed in 1908 |
| 32% | GIOCONDA | 8 | La —, opera by Amilcare Ponchielli first performed in 1876 |
| 32% | DARKOFTHEMOON | 13 | First book in a series of novels by John Sandford featuring 46-Across (4 wds.) |
| 32% | ABIGAIL | 7 | John adams' first lady |
| 31% | NOSE | 4 | The —, opera by Dmitri Shostakovich first performed in full in 1930 |
| 31% | FINLANDIA | 9 | Symphonic poem for orchestra by Jean Sibelius first performed in 1900 |
| 31% | PINBALLWIZARD | 13 | Song performed by Elton John in the film adaptation of 31-Across: 2 wds. |
| 31% | INTERMEZZO | 10 | Two-act opera by Richard Strauss first performed in Dresden in 1924 |
| 31% | LARK | 4 | The —, stage play by Jean Anouilh first performed in 1953 |
| 30% | CATHEDRALPEAK | 13 | *Yosemite site first climbed by John Muir in 1869 |
| 30% | ELIAN | 5 | First name in 2000 news |
| 30% | ELIAN | 5 | First name in 2000 headlines |
| 30% | QUAD | 4 | Play without words by Samuel Beckett first performed on television in 1981 |
| 30% | BAAL | 4 | Bertolt Brecht stage play first performed in 1923 |