| 100% | ERIC | 4 | With 1-Down, player of the Hulk in 2003's "Hulk" |
| 53% | SEAN | 4 | With 8-Down, Samwise Gamgee player in "The Lord of the Rings" |
| 52% | ERNIE | 5 | With 35-Across, baseball player who received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013 and died 1/23/15 |
| 51% | PEARL | 5 | With 4 Down, site of the attack that on today's date in 1941 lead to the US entering WWII |
| 50% | BIBLE | 5 | With 4-Down, much of the Southeast U.S. is in it |
| 50% | RODRIGUEZ | 9 | Surname of the American League's Most Valuable Player in 1999, 2003, 2005 and 2007 |
| 50% | TOM | 3 | With 3-Down, portrayer of Mister Rogers in 2019's "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood" |
| 49% | IRAQWAR | 7 | It started in 2003 with the bombing of Baghdad |
| 48% | BIG | 3 | With 61-Down, description of the 1-Across |
| 48% | PARTRIDGE | 9 | With the contents of this grid's circles, part of the refrain in 3-/6-/9-Down |
| 47% | DAVID | 5 | With 34-Across, Red Sox pitcher who won the MLB Comeback Player of the Year Award in 2018 |
| 47% | CAITLIN | 7 | With 1-Down, Iowa Hawkeyes player who recently became the NCAA's all-time scoring leader |
| 47% | BEER | 4 | With 1-Down, bit of litter in a man cave |
| 47% | WHALE | 5 | With 1-Down, largest fish in the ocean |
| 46% | STAR | 4 | With 56-Down, series that's the source of the movie line in the circles |
| 46% | NANCY | 5 | With 34-Across, she was LPGA Tour Player of the Year in 1978 as a rookie and received the Bob Jones Award in 1998 |
| 46% | TOBIN | 5 | Heath who was named U.S. Soccer Player of the Year in 2016 |
| 46% | DENCH | 5 | One of the dames in 2018's "Tea With the Dames" |
| 46% | AFTER | 5 | With 1-Down, at the end of the day |
| 46% | ONTHE | 5 | With 1-Down, defining book of the Beat generation |
| 46% | ANTAWN | 6 | __ Jamison, one of two NBA players with 20,000+ points who's not in the Hall of Fame |
| 46% | SOSA | 4 | Last name of the only player in MLB history with three 60-homer seasons |
| 46% | NAOMI | 5 | Girma who was the U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year in 2023 |
| 46% | SHINS | 5 | Parts of a soccer player's legs protected by "guards," or (with "The") a band featured in 34-Across/1-Down |
| 46% | FLIP | 4 | With 1-Down, tough bit of footwear to run in |
| 46% | TOM | 3 | With 1-Down, five-time winner of the British Open |
| 46% | SUN | 3 | ___ Wen, retired Chinese soccer player who won the FIFA Female Player of the Century along with 44a in 2000 |
| 46% | BENWALLACE | 10 | Retired Pistons center who won consecutive Defensive Player of the Year Awards twice, in 2003 and 2006: 2 wds. |
| 45% | ERIC | 4 | With 2-Down, star of 2003's "Hulk" |
| 45% | HOWARD | 6 | Dwight ___, basketballer who is one of the players with the most rebounds in NBA history |