| 100% | ORSON | 5 | With 17-Down, director whose "The Other Side of the Wind" was released in 2018, 33 years after his death |
| 36% | PINKFLOYD | 9 | Rock band whose "The Dark Side of the Moon" album was released in 1973 (2 wds.) |
| 32% | AMERICANNIGHT | 13 | "The ___," volume of poetry written by Jim Morrison which was published 20 years after his death: 2 wds. |
| 32% | OTISREDDING | 11 | US singer-songwriter whose posthumous album The Dock of the Bay was released in 1968 |
| 31% | TONYBENNETT | 11 | 2018 AP Coach of the Year who shares his name with the singer of "I Left My Heart in San Francisco": 2 wds. |
| 31% | OED | 3 | Ref. work whose 2018 Word of the Year is "toxic" |
| 31% | WILLIE | 6 | With 33-Across, country singer whose 1992 album "The IRS Tapes" was released to help pay his tax debts |
| 30% | CHANTAL | 7 | With 15-Across, director whose 1975 film, Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, was named the best film of all time in a recent Sight & Sound poll |
| 30% | SMACK | 5 | With 33-Down, precisely, as in the middle of 17-, 23-, 51- and 62-Across |
| 30% | TWO | 3 | "___ of Us," VH1 drama which was named after The Beatles song released in 1969 |
| 29% | MWA | 3 | Fraternal org. founded in 1883, now with over 740,000 members, that was to protect families after the death of a breadwinner. (abbr.) |
| 29% | GONE | 4 | "___ with the Wind," iconic Hollywood movie that was released in 1939 |
| 29% | ISMELLTHEBLOOD | 14 | With 50-Down, cry made in [the circled letters] after the starts of 54-, 33-, 30- and 14-Down |
| 29% | 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 |
| 29% | COLLEEN | 7 | Hoover whose book “It Ends With Us” sold more than eight hundred thousand copies in the month after the August, 2024, release of its film adaptation |
| 29% | ROBIN | 5 | "___ Hood," movie starring Jamie Foxx which will release in the month of Thanksgiving this year |
| 29% | OUTLAW | 6 | "___ King," movie starring Chris Pine which will release in the month of Thanksgiving this year |
| 29% | CMAS | 4 | Awards show whose most recent female Entertainer of the Year was Taylor Swift, in 2011 |
| 29% | REEVES | 6 | George whose main film debut was in "Gone With the Wind" |
| 29% | TCM | 3 | Channel whose first broadcast, in 1994, was “Gone with the Wind” |
| 29% | SIA | 3 | Artist whose “Unstoppable” appeared on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2022, six years after its release |
| 29% | ANGELA | 6 | With 33-Across, German leader who was Time's 2015 Person of the Year |
| 29% | ALASKA | 6 | State whose flag, with eight gold stars in the shape of the Big Dipper, was designed by a 13-year-old |
| 29% | GOVERNMENTBONDS | 15 | Treasury notes ... or what the two sides of 17-, 23-, 37- and 52-Across are joined with? |
| 29% | GATES | 5 | Melinda ___, philanthropist who was the TIME "Person of the Year" in 2005 along with U2 frontman Bono |
| 29% | BOB | 3 | With 66-Across, choreographer whose life is depicted in the starts of 19-, 36- and 50-Across |
| 29% | NOLAN | 5 | Director of the other half of a much-memed double feature that was released today |
| 29% | AVA | 3 | Director DuVernay who was awarded Entertainer of the Year at the 2018 NAACP Image Awards |
| 29% | OUSMANE | 7 | Director Sembène, often considered the father of African cinema, whose centenary was celebrated in 2023 |
| 29% | JONIMITCHELL | 12 | "Both Sides Now" singer who was MusiCares Person of the Year in 2022: 2 wds. |