| 100% | WHATSBLACKWHITE | 15 | With 27-Across, an old riddle |
| 65% | WHITE | 5 | With 27 Across, 2022 film whose plot features an Ohio train derailment that released hazardous chemicals |
| 60% | WHATISA | 7 | With 27- and 35-Across, a Halloween riddle |
| 58% | BETWEENAROCK | 12 | With 27 Across, dilemma-bound |
| 57% | SANTA | 5 | With 27 Across, one gifted guy? |
| 57% | WHATAMI | 7 | End of an old riddle |
| 55% | AQUA | 4 | With 18-Across, an old term for brandy |
| 54% | AJAR | 4 | "When it's ___" (answer to an old riddle) |
| 54% | NEWSPAPER | 9 | Answer to an old riddle alluded to by the starts of 17-, 32-, 42- and 64-Across |
| 53% | VOLODYMYR | 9 | With 27 Across, Time's Person of the Year of 2022 |
| 53% | ERIC | 4 | With 27-Down, old English character actor |
| 52% | MONO | 4 | With 27 Across, what 1 Across/5 Across is accused of becoming |
| 51% | GLASS | 5 | With 27 Across, 2022 film whose title was inspired by a Beatles song |
| 51% | AMOS | 4 | With 68 Across, old radio duo |
| 50% | TOWEL | 5 | Per an old riddle - "The more I dry, the wetter I get" |
| 50% | CANDYCANE | 9 | Maybe an old gingerbread man walks with one |
| 50% | WELK | 4 | Old TV host with an accordion |
| 49% | PHONE | 5 | Per an old riddle - "You answer me, although I never ask you questions" |
| 49% | ATREE | 5 | What's clothed in summer and naked in winter, per an old riddle |
| 49% | LEAR | 4 | "There was an Old Man with a beard" writer |
| 49% | MRMAGOO | 7 | US cartoon about an old man with big glasses |
| 49% | SUNRA | 5 | Old bandleader with an Egyptian-inspired name |
| 49% | TOPCAT | 6 | Old toon feline with an alley gang |
| 49% | AVIANS | 6 | Old British biplanes with an apt name |
| 49% | FIFTEEN | 7 | With 39 Across, quarter of an hour |
| 49% | CONTENT | 7 | With 18 Across, many an internet celebrity |
| 48% | GOBLIN | 6 | With 27 Across, Oxford's Word of the Year for 2022, defined as self-indulgent behavior |
| 48% | SAY | 3 | With 27-Across, get hitched |
| 48% | SHEET | 5 | With 27-Across, slippery hazard |
| 48% | MARDI | 5 | With 27-Across, Lent preceder |