| 100% | TREVORMACK | 10 | Tsilhqot'in filmmaker who directed "Portraits From a Fire" |
| 42% | AXED | 4 | Fired from a job, in slang |
| 41% | SACKED | 6 | Fired from a job in the uk |
| 41% | ORSON | 5 | ___ Welles, filmmaker who both starred in and directed "Citizen Kane" |
| 40% | ROTH | 4 | Eli who directed "The House With a Clock in Its Walls" |
| 40% | ACTOR | 5 | Person who's directed by a filmmaker |
| 40% | WHOOPIGOLDBERG | 14 | "Direct from Broadway" comedian who won a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album in 1986 (2 wds.) |
| 39% | ELI | 3 | Roth who directed 2018's "The House With a Clock in Its Walls" |
| 39% | DUVERNAY | 8 | Ava who directed Selma and A Wrinkle in Time |
| 39% | NOAH | 4 | Man who's saved from a flood in Genesis |
| 39% | CERAMIC | 7 | Something made from clay and fired in a kiln |
| 39% | MICE | 4 | Three Blind ___, characters from a nursery rhyme who are seen in the "Shrek" franchise |
| 39% | EMBER | 5 | Fire-powered character from "Elemental" who'd make a toasty winter pal |
| 38% | IOU | 3 | Letters in a note from someone who's borrowing money |
| 38% | ALIBABA | 7 | Character who stole from forty thieves, in a legendary tale |
| 38% | HITME | 5 | Request from someone who isn't standing in a casino? |
| 38% | MAY | 3 | Elaine —, actress who directed, co-wrote and co-starred in 1971 romcom A New Leaf |
| 38% | HARRYPOTTER | 11 | Boy who may see a goblet of fire in this grid |
| 38% | AVA | 3 | DuVernay who directed "A Wrinkle in Time" |
| 38% | AVA | 3 | ___ DuVernay who directed "A Wrinkle in Time" |
| 37% | GODZILLA | 8 | Movie monster from Tokyo who fights 15-Across in a 2021 film |
| 37% | SALLY | 5 | ___ Ride, American astronaut who earned a PhD in physics from Stanford University |
| 37% | COUPLE | 6 | Odd ___, people in a relationship who are very different from each other |
| 37% | ROSS | 4 | ___ Geller, NYU professor from "Friends" who has a Ph.D. in Paleontology |
| 37% | FINE | 4 | "This is ___," quote from a popular meme showing a cartoon dog sitting in a room on fire |
| 37% | BEAUTY | 6 | Sleeping ___, character from a fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm who is seen in the "Shrek" franchise |
| 37% | ASH | 3 | Residue from a fire |
| 37% | HEAT | 4 | Feeling from a fire |
| 37% | ASH | 3 | Remains from a fire |
| 37% | ASH | 3 | Powder from a fire |