| 100% | PETE | 4 | With 31-Down, switch hitter who's baseball's all-time hits leader |
| 49% | PETE | 4 | Baseball's all-time hits leader ___ Rose |
| 43% | CAITLIN | 7 | With 1-Down, Iowa Hawkeyes player who recently became the NCAA's all-time scoring leader |
| 42% | ROSE | 4 | Pete ___, former baseball player who is the all-time MLB leader in hits and number of games played |
| 40% | AARON | 5 | Baseball's all-time RBI leader |
| 39% | ROBERTO | 7 | All-Star outfielder Clemente, who ended his baseball career with exactly 3,000 hits |
| 38% | YUDARVISH | 9 | Five-time All-Star who's the first Japanese pitcher with 2,000 strikeouts in Major League Baseball |
| 38% | COBB | 4 | Baseball's all-time career batting leader Ty |
| 35% | ANGELA | 6 | With 33-Across, German leader who was Time's 2015 Person of the Year |
| 34% | CAITLIN | 7 | With 14-Across, Iowa star who became the all-time NCAA Division-I basketball scoring leader in 2024 |
| 34% | SPAHN | 5 | Warren ___, Major League Baseball's all-time leader in wins by a lefty (363) |
| 33% | GIAMBI | 6 | Jason who's a five-time baseball All-Star |
| 33% | CHIPPERJONES | 12 | Atlanta Braves switch hitter who hit over .300 from both sides of the plate: 2 wds. |
| 32% | ICHIROSUZUKI | 12 | Japanese MLB player who set the all-time single-season hits record with the Mariners in 2004: 2 wds. |
| 32% | BIRD | 4 | Larry who was an NBA All-Star 12 times with the Boston Celtics |
| 32% | LEGEND | 6 | John who had a hit with All Of Me |
| 32% | SHERYLSWOOPES | 13 | Basketball Hall of Famer who was the WNBA's MVP three times with the 31-Across (2 wds.) |
| 32% | GOODGOLLY | 9 | With 48-Across, 1958 Little Richard hit that's #94 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time: 2 wds. |
| 32% | CAM | 3 | Newton who is the NFL's all-time leader in career quarterback rushing touchdowns |
| 31% | ENOS | 4 | Baseball Hall of Famer Slaughter who was an All-Star 10 times |
| 31% | LAUPER | 6 | Cyndi who had a 1983 hit with Time After Time |
| 31% | ERNST | 5 | With 31-Down, Viennese-born photographer who pioneered in journalism |
| 31% | RACHEL | 6 | With 31-Across, Debbie Downer portrayer on "SNL" who wrote the memoir "Girl Walks Into a Bar ..." |
| 31% | TWENTYFIVE | 10 | With 26-Down, the place of today's puzzle among all New York Times crosswords |
| 31% | PORKY | 5 | With 8-Down, Looney Tunes character who says "Th-th-th-that's all, folks!" |
| 31% | NOLANRYAN | 9 | Pitcher who holds the MLB all-time record with 5,714 strikeouts and seven no-hitters (2 wds.) |
| 31% | ALOHA | 5 | With 31 Down, Honolulu landmark |
| 30% | SOSA | 4 | Sammy who is the Cubs' all-time home run leader |
| 30% | SPAHN | 5 | Warren ___, MLB's all-time wins leader by a lefty (and whose name rhymes with a "Star Trek" villain |
| 30% | DEVIN | 5 | Bears' return specialist ___ Hester, who's the NFL's all-time leader in scoring on punt returns |