| 100% | MORRISON | 8 | Toni ___, Nobel laureate behind works like "The Bluest Eye" and "Home" who passed away in 2019 |
| 37% | TONIMORRISON | 12 | 1993 Nobel Laureate in Literature who passed away August 5, 2019 (2 wds.) |
| 34% | MORRISON | 8 | Toni who wrote Beloved and The Bluest Eye |
| 34% | ENGEL | 5 | "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" actress Georgia who passed away in 2019 |
| 32% | GEORGIA | 7 | ___ Engel, Emmy-winning actress from "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" who passed away in 2019 |
| 31% | JOHNSINGLETON | 13 | Director of 18-Across and 40-Across who passed away in 2019 (2 wds.) |
| 30% | PAUL | 4 | ___ Walker, "Fast and the Furious" star who passed away in a car crash |
| 28% | SNAILS | 6 | Jeremy, who passed away in 2017, unfortunately turned the wrong way, unlike the millions of these relatives that turned the right way |
| 28% | ANNIEERNAUX | 11 | Winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature who described her prose in the novel “Les Armoires Vides” as “brutally direct, working-class and sometimes obscene” (October, 2022) |
| 28% | PEI | 3 | I.M. ___, Pritzker Prize-winning architect behind the Louvre in Paris who passed away at the age of 102 in 2019 |
| 27% | LOU | 3 | Rocker Reed who passed away in 2013 |
| 27% | TERI | 4 | Actor Garr who passed away in 2024 |
| 27% | IVANKA | 6 | The Trump who wrote "The Trump Card: Playing to Win in Work and Life" |
| 27% | SOSA | 4 | Sammy who was the NL home run leader in 2000 and 2002 |
| 27% | PETEALONSO | 10 | N.Y. Mets rookie first baseman who won the 2019 Home Run Derby and drove in two of the National League's runs in the 2019 13-Across (2 wds.) |
| 27% | ANNAN | 5 | Kofi ____, Nobel Prize recipient who passed away in 2018 |
| 27% | DON | 3 | Insult comic Rickles who passed away in 2017 |
| 27% | CLEM | 4 | Blondie drummer Burke who passed away in 2025 |
| 27% | FRANKSINATRA | 12 | Singer/actor known as "Ol’ Blue Eyes" who hosted the 35th Academy Awards in 1963 (2 wds.) |
| 27% | DEM | 3 | Like the blue side, in brief |
| 27% | DENNYHAMLIN | 11 | Racecar driver who won the Daytona 500 in 2016 and 2019 (2 wds.) |
| 27% | DMX | 3 | "Ruff Ryders' Anthem" rapper who passed away in 2021 |
| 27% | PELE | 4 | Brazilian soccer legend who passed away in late 2022 |
| 27% | EARL | 4 | James ___ Jones (actor who passed away in September, 2024) |
| 27% | SAD | 3 | Like the blue emotion in "Inside Out" |
| 27% | JENNIFER | 8 | ___ Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier, biochemists who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2020 |
| 27% | LINUS | 5 | ___ Pauling, American chemist and peace activist who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1962 |
| 27% | ELLIS | 5 | Coach Jill who won the FIFA Women's World Cup in 2015 and 2019 |
| 26% | OLSEN | 5 | Twins Mary-Kate ___ and Ashley ___, who have worked in many films together and own brands like "Dualstar" and "The Row" |
| 26% | ELIEWIESEL | 10 | "Night" memoirist and political activist who won the Nobel 43-Across in 1986 (2 wds.) |