| 100% | WHEATLEY | 8 | Phillis who wrote the poem “On Being Brought from Africa to America” |
| 60% | PHILLISWHEATLEY | 15 | "On Being Brought From Africa to America" writer, 1768 |
| 45% | VOLTAIRE | 8 | Philosopher who wrote "It is difficult to free fools from the chains they revere" |
| 43% | GRACEPALEY | 10 | Author and activist who wrote, “It is the poet’s responsibility to learn the truth from the powerless” |
| 41% | MBEKI | 5 | South African president who was instrumental in bringing the FIFA World Cup to Africa for the first time |
| 40% | MARIOPUZO | 9 | Author who wrote the novel 15-Across was based on: 2 wds. |
| 39% | ZOLA | 4 | Émile who wrote "Truth is on the march" |
| 39% | ANAISNIN | 8 | Who wrote "The only abnormality is the incapacity to love" |
| 39% | SUNTZU | 6 | Who wrote "The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting" |
| 39% | AYNRAND | 7 | Who wrote "Wealth is the product of man's capacity to think" |
| 38% | CARLHIAASEN | 11 | "Squeeze Me" author who wrote the novel that 49-Across is based on (2 wds.) |
| 38% | LORDE | 5 | Singer from New Zealand who was the youngest solo artist to achieve a number-one single on the US Billboard Hot 100 since 1987 |
| 38% | SHOLEM | 6 | Aleichem who wrote the stories on which Fiddler on the Roof is based |
| 38% | ADRIENNERICH | 12 | Poet and feminist who wrote “The moment of change is the only poem” |
| 38% | ANITA | 5 | Hill who wrote “There is no way to redo 1991, but there are ways to do better,” in a Times essay on the Kavanaugh confirmation hearings |
| 38% | JUNE | 4 | Jordan who wrote, "I will not walk politely on the pavements anymore" |
| 37% | GILLIANFLYNN | 12 | Author who wrote the novels from which 17-Across and 29-/31-Across were adapted: 2 wds. |
| 37% | AYN | 3 | Rand who wrote "Civilization is the process of setting man free from men" |
| 37% | ZOLA | 4 | French author who wrote, “Truth is on the march, and nothing will stop it” |
| 37% | EDA | 3 | LeShan who wrote "It's Better to Be Over the Hill Than Under It" |
| 37% | LESHAN | 6 | Eda who wrote "It's Better to Be Over the Hill Than Under It" |
| 37% | SARDOU | 6 | Victorien who wrote “La Tosca,” on which the Puccini opera is based |
| 37% | BASCO | 5 | Actor Dante who wrote the memoir “From Rufio to Zuko” |
| 37% | COAL | 4 | What Santa brings those who are on the naughty list |
| 37% | EMMALAZARUS | 11 | Female US poet who wrote "The New Colossus" (the poem on the Statue of Liberty): 2 wds. |
| 36% | SUE | 3 | Author Grafton who wrote books from "A Is for Alibi" to "Y Is for Yesterday" |
| 36% | ALAN | 4 | Bean who was the fourth man to walk on the moon |
| 36% | JESSICABRUDER | 13 | Journalist who wrote the nonfiction bestseller 45-Across, which is subtitled "Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century" (2 wds.) |
| 36% | LAILAALI | 8 | Retired boxer who wrote the cookbook "Food for Life: Delicious & Healthy Comfort Food from My Table to Yours!" (2 wds.) |
| 36% | IVANA | 5 | Trump who wrote "The Best Is Yet to Come" |