| 100% | WHERESWALDO | 11 | Popular children's book series ... whose protagonist is "hiding" in the circled letters |
| 46% | ISPY | 4 | Popular children's book series with hidden objects |
| 42% | MIDDLEENGLISH | 13 | "The Canterbury Tales" language, and what's hiding in the circled letters |
| 41% | BACKCHANNEL | 11 | Covert means of communication ... or what's hiding in the circled letters? |
| 38% | ERNESTHEMINGWAY | 15 | Author of the book whose title is circled in the grid |
| 38% | LONGWINDED | 10 | Verbose, and what the circled letters in this puzzle literally are? |
| 38% | TARA | 4 | Author Westover whose memoir is spelled out in the first letters of this puzzle's eight circled schools |
| 37% | NODDY | 5 | Popular children's book series by English author Enid Blyton |
| 37% | WORLD | 5 | "Where in the ___ is Carmen Sandiego?" popular PBS children's game show that won seven Daytime Emmys |
| 37% | THROWNFORALOOP | 14 | *Bamboozled ... and what the circled letters, when connected in the proper sequence, can be? |
| 37% | OUTOFORDER | 10 | Like a nonfunctioning vending machine, or what the circled letters are, in two ways |
| 36% | TIMMY | 5 | Dog in The Famous Five children's book series by Enid Blyton |
| 36% | BABAR | 5 | King of the elephants in a children's book series |
| 36% | ISPY | 4 | Children's book series with hidden objects: 2 wds. |
| 36% | ISPY | 4 | Children's book series for finding objects in photos |
| 36% | ISPY | 4 | Popular children's "find it" book series |
| 36% | KWAMEALEXANDER | 14 | Author whose children's book "The Crossover" won the Newbery Medal in 2015: 2 wds. |
| 36% | MILEYCYRUS | 10 | "Party in the U.S.A." singer whose first TV series lead role was on Disney's "Hannah Montana": 2 wds. |
| 36% | SPOT | 4 | Dog in the "Dick and Jane" children's book series |
| 35% | NAMECARDS | 9 | Labels at a dinner party ... or a hint to the circled letters hidden in the theme answers? |
| 35% | PURPLE | 6 | "Harold and the ___ Crayon," film adaptation of a children's book, whose release date is in 2023 |
| 35% | TRIVIA | 6 | "Hawaii and Tennessee are the only two U.S. states whose names end in doubled letters," e.g. |
| 35% | THEROGUECREW | 12 | Last book in the "Redwall" series of children's fantasy novels by 50-Across (3 wds.) |
| 35% | RLSTINE | 7 | Author referred to as "Stephen King of children's literature" who wrote the first book of the Goosebumps series in 1992 |
| 35% | ACHRISTMASCAROL | 15 | Novella whose final words are found in the circled squares |
| 35% | PIGLET | 6 | Children's book character whose favorite food is "haycorns" |
| 35% | DAVEEGGERS | 10 | Author whose children's book "The Eyes and the Impossible" won the Newbery Medal in 2024: 2 wds. |
| 35% | IRAN | 4 | Country whose last letters are hidden in "Tehran" |
| 34% | UTURN | 5 | Maneuver shown in the circled letters |
| 34% | GOD | 3 | What each set of circled letters is, relative to the first word in its answer |