| 100% | SUBMARINE | 9 | Vessel in the lyrics to "In the Navy" (HIT) |
| 56% | LITTLELIES | 10 | Fleetwood Mac hit with the lyric "I'll settle for one day to believe in you" |
| 55% | TEN | 3 | Highest number in the lyrics to Beyoncé’s “Countdown” |
| 54% | TRIPOLI | 7 | North African city in the lyrics to the "Marines' Hymn" |
| 54% | TIGER | 5 | Animal mentioned in the lyrics to Katy Perry's "Roar" |
| 54% | MOCHA | 5 | Color referenced in the lyrics to "Livin' La Vida Loca" |
| 53% | SHE | 3 | "___ Wolf" (Shakira hit with "lycanthropy" in the lyrics) |
| 53% | SEA | 3 | Word repeated in the lyric "From ___ to shining ___" |
| 52% | STP | 3 | Brand in the lyrics to "Slide Some Oil to Me" from "The Wiz" |
| 52% | BALL | 4 | "Wrecking ___" (Miley Cyrus hit with the lyrics "I never hit so hard in love / All I wanted was to break your walls") |
| 52% | EMU | 3 | Australian bird mentioned in the lyrics to Barenaked Ladies' "If I Had $1000000" |
| 52% | RAFT | 4 | Vessel in which to shoot the rapids |
| 52% | PLASTICINE | 10 | Oil-based paste mentioned in the lyrics to "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" |
| 51% | EBONYANDIVORY | 13 | 1982 #1 hit with the lyric "living in perfect harmony" |
| 51% | IWENT | 5 | “As ___ down in the river to pray” (gospel song lyric) |
| 51% | IBELIEVEICANFLY | 15 | R. Kelly hit whose last title word is aptly rhymed with "sky" in the lyrics ... and a hint to the starts of the other four longest puzzle answers |
| 51% | STRANDRUNNERS | 13 | Fail to hit in the clutch |
| 51% | NOONEIKNOW | 10 | Who "can seem to help me now" in the lyrics to Guns N' Roses' "Estranged" |
| 51% | RESPECT | 7 | #1 song hit whose title is spelled out in the lyrics |
| 51% | BABY | 4 | Justin Bieber hit whose title appears 56 times in the lyrics |
| 51% | RESPECT | 7 | 1967 #1 hit whose title is spelled out in the lyric |
| 50% | PIE | 3 | The first one to be filmed hitting someone in the face was in the 1909 film Mr. Flip |
| 49% | ODE | 3 | A lyric poem in the form of an address to a particular subject |
| 49% | SIRDUKE | 7 | Hit from "Songs in the Key of Life" dedicated to Ellington |
| 49% | BLOODY | 6 | To be hit in the face may cause this secreting nose |
| 49% | HMS | 3 | Prefix for the vessels in a monarch's navy |
| 49% | SARA | 4 | Fleetwood Mac song with the lyric "Drowning in the sea of love / Where everyone would love to drown" |
| 49% | LOB | 3 | High hit to the backcourt, in tennis |
| 49% | LOLA | 4 | The "she" in the lyric "She walked up to me and she asked me to dance" |
| 49% | CAHN | 4 | Sammy who wrote the lyrics to "Ain't That a Kick in the Head" |