| 100% | FINISH | 6 | With 18-Across, symbolic goal |
| 64% | CONTENT | 7 | With 18 Across, many an internet celebrity |
| 64% | LEONARD | 7 | With 18 Across, recipient of the comment |
| 61% | BHUT | 4 | With 18 Across, plant also known as the ghost pepper |
| 61% | EMMY | 4 | With 18 Across, one up for a prestigious television honor |
| 60% | HAPPYXMAS | 9 | With 18 Across, optimistic carol by John Lennon and Yoko Ono |
| 59% | JOE | 3 | With 18 Across, 46th male President of the United States of America |
| 56% | SHOT | 4 | With 29 Across, seemingly impossible goal |
| 56% | LONGS | 5 | With 18-Across, desires |
| 56% | SETS | 4 | With 18-Across, corrects |
| 55% | HASTA | 5 | With 18-Across, Tijuana goodbye |
| 55% | SODA | 4 | With 18-Across, carbonated drink |
| 55% | BONING | 6 | With 18-Across, studying hard |
| 55% | BAD | 3 | With 18-Across, no-goodnik |
| 55% | MARDI | 5 | With 18-Across, Lent preceder |
| 54% | THEMS | 5 | With 18-Across, phrase of resignation |
| 54% | GRIEVED | 7 | With 18-Across, Was sorrowful * Separate |
| 54% | ANT | 3 | With 18-Across, colonial-style houses? |
| 54% | IST | 3 | Suffix with 18-Across |
| 53% | GERMAN | 6 | With 18-Across, 8-Across, for one |
| 53% | ISTHERE | 7 | With 18-Across, start of a query |
| 53% | ANG | 3 | With 18-Across, "Sense and Sensibility" director |
| 53% | ASA | 3 | With 18-Across, how some people work |
| 53% | CHARLTON | 8 | With 18-Across, "In the Arena" autobiographer |
| 53% | END | 3 | With 18-Across, software developer's concern |
| 53% | PETER | 5 | With 18-Across, R.E.M. guitarist |
| 52% | MERYL | 5 | With 18-Across, a two-time Oscar winner |
| 52% | JOSEPHI | 7 | With 18-Across, "J'ai Deux Amours" singer |
| 52% | AQUA | 4 | With 18-Across, an old term for brandy |
| 52% | AMERICA | 7 | With 18-Across, Emmy-winning "Ugly Betty" actress |