| 100% | MIST | 4 | What Bridgton, Maine gets covered with according the narrator of this 1980 Stephen King story |
| 29% | FIRESTARTER | 11 | 1980 Stephen King novel, and what the answer to each starred clue literally has? |
| 28% | CROUCHEND | 9 | Area in the London Borough of Haringey that shares its name with a 1980 Stephen King short story |
| 25% | DEEPEN | 6 | What the Army Corps of Engineers got $85 million to do to the Mississippi this year |
| 25% | PESTO | 5 | What you get when you blend the results of this puzzle's recipe instructions |
| 25% | STAND | 5 | Stephen King novel, with The |
| 24% | CORN | 4 | Stephen King's "Children of the ___" |
| 24% | ROARS | 5 | What you hear in this conversation: "I'm the king of the jungle!" "No, I'm the king of the jungle!" |
| 24% | MEET | 4 | ___ and greet, what you'd do with potential employers at the crucial first stage of getting your dream job |
| 23% | CANDYSHOP | 9 | 50 Cent hit with the lyric “One taste of what I got / I’ll have you spending all you got” |
| 23% | PETSEMATARY | 11 | Stephen King novel with a misspelling in the title |
| 23% | FACEDTHEMUSIC | 13 | Accepted the consequences of one's actions, and what the artists did with the hits in this puzzle? |
| 23% | CASTING | 7 | With 146-Across, what the center of this puzzle is doing during a 125-Across |
| 23% | REA | 3 | Stephen of "Interview With the Vampire" |
| 23% | REA | 3 | Stephen ___ of "Interview With the Vampire" |
| 23% | AXE | 3 | What the king of diamonds holds |
| 23% | PUTTINGONAIRS | 13 | Acting affectedly ... and, based on what can go with the three parts of 20-, 32- and 43-Across, this puzzle's title |
| 22% | REA | 3 | Stephen of "Interview With the Vampire," 1994 |
| 22% | EARLY | 5 | This type of bird gets the worm |
| 22% | MICHAEL | 7 | With 37-Across, the King of Pop |
| 22% | POSTBAIL | 8 | Get out of the cooler, with "for" |
| 22% | THATWASNTON | 11 | With 70-Down, "Never would've predicted this scenario," and what can be said about the first word of the answer to each starred clue? |
| 22% | MASTS | 5 | Three of these came over with the Mayflower in 1620 |
| 22% | IGRAINE | 7 | The mother of King Arthur, according to legend |
| 22% | CRAB | 4 | The Alaskan king is this kind of animal |
| 22% | OTIS | 4 | With 72 Across, the King of Elevator Music? |
| 22% | BED | 3 | What you get out of in the morning |
| 22% | OBIE | 4 | What Dewhurst got for ''Taming of the Shrew'' |
| 22% | AIDA | 4 | Opera with the King of Egypt |
| 22% | GRASS | 5 | What makes up the green cover of a field |