| 100% | CUBANO | 6 | Sandwich at the center of a long-running rivalry between Miami and Tampa |
| 43% | HANA | 4 | Destination at the end of a long and winding Maui road |
| 42% | SUN | 3 | *Star at the center of our solar system, and a bright name for a newspaper |
| 41% | OPIUM | 5 | Drug at the center of two 19th-century conflicts between Western forces and China |
| 40% | MINOTAUR | 8 | Figure at the center of a maze |
| 40% | PIT | 3 | Stone at the center of a fruit |
| 40% | STAR | 4 | Symbol at the center of a Scrabble board |
| 40% | ENRON | 5 | Company at the center of a 2001 scandal |
| 40% | EYE | 3 | Calm region at the center of a storm |
| 40% | CATWALK | 7 | Platform at the center of a fashion show |
| 40% | NET | 3 | Item at the center of a pickleball court |
| 40% | GOT | 3 | "America's ___ Talent," a long running talent show featuring the likes of Nick Cannon and Sharon Osbourne |
| 39% | IRAN | 4 | Country at the center of a 2015 nuclear deal |
| 39% | ENRON | 5 | Houston company at the center of a 2001 scandal |
| 39% | EYE | 3 | Mostly calm weather at the center of a storm |
| 39% | NCAA | 4 | Sports org. at the center of a 2021 antitrust ruling |
| 39% | HEADLIGHTS | 10 | They're at the front of a car, and the other four longest Across answers |
| 39% | TULIP | 5 | Flower at the center of a financial bubble in the 1630s |
| 39% | TULIP | 5 | Flower at the center of a seventeenth-century Dutch market crash |
| 38% | WILLYOUPLEASE | 13 | Start of a run-together exchange between Clifton Webb and Dana Andrews in the film Laura |
| 38% | RUPP | 4 | ___ Arena, Kentucky sporting venue at the center of a 2020 renaming debate |
| 38% | UGGS | 4 | Boots at the center of a recent U.S./Australia trademark battle |
| 38% | MANHATTAN | 9 | Borough at the center of a beleaguered congestion-pricing plan in 2024 |
| 38% | IMAGINE | 7 | Word at the center of a mosaic in Central Park’s Strawberry Fields |
| 37% | ADAM | 4 | Guy at the front of a long line |
| 37% | NCAA | 4 | Org. at the center of modern "name, image and likeness" legislation |
| 37% | WEREHERE | 8 | Announcement at the end of a long car trip |
| 37% | IMBEAT | 6 | Comment at the end of a long, hard day |
| 37% | WEMADEIT | 8 | Cry at the end of a long road trip |
| 37% | APU | 3 | "The Simpsons" character at the center of a 2017 documentary about Indian stereotypes |