| 100% | CINDERELLATEAMS | 15 | What lower-seeded 51-Across participants hope to become |
| 42% | NFLSTAR | 7 | What a Heisman winner might hope to become |
| 36% | BAREXAM | 7 | Test taken by those hoping to become attorneys: 2 wds. |
| 36% | ASTRONOMER | 10 | A student hoping to become an ___ took a short-answer test... |
| 35% | PIG | 3 | What you might 51 Across at times |
| 35% | SPEAKTHEANSWERS | 15 | What to do with 14 Across |
| 34% | AISLE | 5 | What some politicians claim to reach across |
| 34% | NET | 3 | What 51-Down connects to, with "the" |
| 34% | SEEN | 4 | What a burglar hopes not to be |
| 34% | ASS | 3 | What Bottom became (appropriately!) thanks to Puck |
| 34% | FLAB | 4 | What dieters hope to lose |
| 34% | PAID | 4 | What creditors hope to be |
| 34% | ROLE | 4 | What auditioners hope to "land" |
| 34% | LAUGHS | 6 | What comedians hope to get |
| 34% | SPREADAWARENESS | 15 | What PSAs hope to do |
| 34% | FUNINTHESUN | 11 | What beachgoers hope to have |
| 34% | THEMAYFLOWER | 12 | English ship that brought the Pilgrims to what would become 32-Across (2 wds.) |
| 34% | LITTLEBOPEEP | 12 | COUNTRY GAL, petite, hopes to recapture what's been lost ... |
| 33% | SIMMER | 6 | Lower the heat to __ what you're cooking |
| 33% | INDEPENDENCE | 12 | What the battle led to, for 37 Across |
| 33% | JDS | 3 | What 1Ls hope to be: abbr. |
| 32% | ROAR | 4 | What participants in curling apparently do, according to its nickname |
| 32% | FATAL | 5 | What Alex Forrest's attraction to Dan Gallagher finally becomes |
| 32% | SPY | 3 | What Barbie becomes when she wants to emulate James Bond |
| 32% | SHORT | 5 | What word becomes shorter when you add letters to it? |
| 32% | AMUSE | 5 | What SNL usually hopes to do |
| 32% | AWAY | 4 | What a robber hopes to get? |
| 32% | RIDE | 4 | What a hitchhiker hopes to get |
| 32% | PREY | 4 | What a predator hopes to catch |
| 32% | ROLE | 4 | What an auditioner hopes to land |