| 100% | SCOTTJOPLIN | 11 | US pianist and composer associated with the ragtime style who died in 1917 |
| 43% | KENTON | 6 | Stan —, US composer and pianist associated with the big band progressive jazz style of the 1950s |
| 43% | RIFKIN | 6 | Joshua —, US pianist and musicologist associated with a 1970s revival in interest in ragtime music |
| 40% | MONK | 4 | Thelonious —, US jazz pianist and composer who died in 1982 |
| 40% | RODHULL | 7 | Entertainer associated with the puppet Emu who died in 1999 |
| 39% | GRAINGER | 8 | Percy —, Australian pianist and composer who died in 1961 |
| 39% | SHEARING | 8 | George —, British jazz pianist and composer who died in 2011 |
| 38% | EVANS | 5 | Gil —, Toronto-born jazz pianist and composer who died in 1988 |
| 38% | HULL | 4 | Rod —, entertainer who died in 1999, associated with the puppet Emu |
| 38% | LAKER | 5 | Freddie —, entrepreneur associated with the Skytrain project who died in 2006 |
| 38% | EMMETT | 6 | Dan —, composer credited with the song Dixie who died in 1904 |
| 36% | SATIE | 5 | Composer who collaborated with Picasso and Cocteau on the 1917 ballet “Parade” |
| 34% | BELLE | 5 | US criminal associated with Jesse James and Cole Younger who married Jim Reed in 1866 |
| 34% | TIGER | 5 | With 31-Across, golfer who won both the Masters and the US Open in 2002 |
| 32% | MELTORME | 8 | Big band singer and composer nicknamed The Velvet Fog who died in 1999 |
| 32% | ABILENE | 7 | University city in central Texas, US associated with the agriculture and petroleum industries |
| 32% | STEN | 4 | Russian born actress Anna ___, brought to the US by Sam Goldwyn and who starred with Gary Cooper in "The Wedding Night" |
| 32% | COLTRANE | 8 | John —, US jazz saxophonist and composer who died in 1967 |
| 32% | TURKEY | 6 | Poultry bird associated with Thanksgiving in the US |
| 31% | MILEY | 5 | With 32-Across, "Party in the U.S.A." singer who was both the host and musical guest on 2013 and 2015 "SNL" episodes |
| 31% | ABILENE | 7 | University city in central Texas, US, associated with the agriculture and petroleum industries |
| 31% | PADEREWSKI | 10 | Ignace Jan —, pianist and composer who became Prime Minister of Poland in 1919 |
| 31% | DETECTIVESTORY | 14 | Literary genre often associated with the writer concealed in 16-, 32- and 40-Across |
| 31% | HENRYLYTTON | 11 | English actor associated with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company who was knighted in 1930 |
| 31% | PSY | 3 | South Korean rapper with the US hits "Gangnam Style" and "Gentleman" |
| 30% | ORR | 3 | The government department in the US dealing with Children and Families |
| 30% | OXNARD | 6 | US city in California associated with the strawberry industry |
| 29% | BOOWEEKLEY | 10 | US golfer who won the Verizon Heritage tournament in 2007 and 2008 |