| 100% | SEDATED | 7 | What the Ramones wanted to be in a 1978 hit song |
| 56% | LAW | 3 | What the bill wants to be, in "I'm Just a Bill" |
| 47% | HAND | 4 | "I Want to Hold Your ___," 1963 song by The Beatles which was their first number 1 hit in America |
| 46% | THEBOSS | 7 | What James Brown “paid the cost to be,” in a 1973 song |
| 44% | SEDATED | 7 | The Ramones want to be this |
| 43% | HIP | 3 | "___ to be square," a hit song by Huey Lewis and the News |
| 43% | CLOSETOYOU | 10 | Where the Carpenters "long to be" in a 1970 #1 hit |
| 42% | YMCA | 4 | Song that was a hit for a spell in the 1970s? |
| 41% | ROAR | 4 | Hit song by Katy Perry that was nominated for a Grammy for Song of the Year in 2014 |
| 41% | FIREWORK | 8 | Hit song by Katy Perry that was nominated for a Grammy for Record of the Year in 2012 |
| 41% | DONTYOUWANTME | 13 | The Human League song that was a No. 1 hit in 1982 (4 wds.) |
| 41% | SEXY | 4 | What Justin Timberlake is bringing back, in a 2006 hit song |
| 41% | BREAK | 5 | "I Want to ___ Free," 1984 song by Queen which is a part of the album "The Works" |
| 41% | FREEDOM | 7 | A hit song by Pharrell Williams that was used in the film "Despicable Me 3" |
| 40% | IRIS | 4 | Hit song for the Goo Goo Dolls with the repeated line "I just want you to know who I am" |
| 40% | CASTLES | 7 | "___ in the Air," 1971 song by Don McLean that was a Billboard Top 40 hit |
| 40% | WILDHORSES | 10 | 1971 Stones hit, or what can be found in the answers to starred clues |
| 40% | WHITE | 5 | What the color of Bing Crosby's Christmas is, in a 1942 song? |
| 40% | ROW | 3 | You don't want to be in the last one |
| 40% | THATGUY | 7 | Fellow you don't want to be, in a phrase |
| 40% | HARDEST | 7 | "Sorry Seems to Be the ___ Word," a hit by Elton John, that was covered by Blue in "One Love" |
| 40% | DIE | 3 | What the Ramones were "Too Tough to" do |
| 40% | HEREWITHME | 10 | 2019 hit song by 17-Down featuring Chvrches with the lyrics "You're saying the words that I want you to say / There's a pain in my heart and it won't go away" (3 wds.) |
| 40% | EBB | 3 | With 15-Across, 1953 song that was a hit for the Righteous Brothers in 1965 |
| 40% | SEALED | 6 | What the Go-Go's lips are in a 1981 song |
| 40% | BOX | 3 | Container (and, in a way, what you will find outlined by this year's clues related to the mega-meta) |
| 39% | SHEEPDOG | 8 | What Babe wants to be in "Babe" |
| 39% | MEMORY | 6 | Answer to the riddle "I form in an instant and last a lifetime. What am I?" |
| 39% | JENNY | 5 | Woman in a 1982 hit who can be reached using the starts of the answers to the starred clues |
| 39% | SCARY | 5 | What the monsters in "Monsters, Inc." want to be |