| 100% | KING | 4 | With 2-Down, a famous stage father |
| 61% | DOG | 3 | With 2 Down, bookmark of a sort |
| 58% | THANTORECEIVE | 13 | With 2 Down, 36 Across & 43 Across, a Christmas-style maxim |
| 54% | STLEO | 5 | A famous religious leader who met with Attila the Hun: 2 wds |
| 52% | TAKE | 4 | With 2-Down, draw a bead on |
| 52% | LAILA | 5 | With 119 Down, boxing champ with a boxing champ father |
| 52% | STOP | 4 | With 2-Down, handle perfectly, as a car |
| 52% | ISWEAR | 6 | A promise not to, with 2 Down |
| 51% | COMIC | 5 | With 2-Down, musical work with a humorous tone |
| 51% | BAD | 3 | With 2-Down, what a villain may come to |
| 51% | AULDLANG | 8 | With 2-Down, Burns refrain sung once a year |
| 51% | PLUS | 4 | With 2-Down, symbol indicating a margin of error |
| 50% | MOUNT | 5 | With 2-Down, major Manhattan hospital with a biblical name |
| 50% | PAPA | 4 | With 2 Down, parents |
| 49% | PORES | 5 | With 2 Down, studies closely |
| 48% | LAKE | 4 | With 2 Down, water bordering Cleveland |
| 48% | DANNYTREJO | 10 | "Machete" actor who zip-lined down a mountain on "Running Wild With Bear Grylls" in 2021: 2 wds. |
| 47% | BEND | 4 | With 2-Down, stoop down |
| 47% | BIGFISH | 7 | 2003 Jessica Lange film about a son who reconciles with his dying father: 2 wds. |
| 46% | KINGTUT | 7 | Mummified Egyptian ruler with a famous tomb: 2 wds. |
| 46% | SANDIEGO | 8 | Southern California city with a famous zoo: 2 wds. |
| 45% | SEVEN | 5 | With 42-Down, "All the world's a stage" subject |
| 44% | READ | 4 | (2/3) Sit down with a novel or a book |
| 44% | LUTHERVANDROSS | 14 | "Dance With My Father" singer with a memorable 1997 Super Bowl performance of the national anthem: 2 wds. |
| 44% | ABBE | 4 | With 37 Down, a singer |
| 44% | ARCH | 4 | With 47 Down, a sport |
| 44% | LAILA | 5 | With 10-Down, female boxer whose father was also a boxer |
| 43% | OHME | 4 | With 34 Down, a worried cry |
| 43% | SKI | 3 | Go down a mountain with poles |
| 43% | ILL | 3 | Down with a disease |