| 100% | SCOTT | 5 | With 35-Across, lawyer who wrote the thrillers "Presumed Innocent" and "Personal Injuries" |
| 51% | JOHNGRISHAM | 11 | Lawyer who wrote the thrillers "The Firm" and "The Pelican Brief": 2 wds. |
| 51% | SHELDONSIEGEL | 13 | Lawyer who wrote the thrillers "Final Verdict" and "Criminal Intent": 2 wds. |
| 51% | MEGGARDINER | 11 | Lawyer who wrote the thrillers "China Lake" and "The Nightmare Thief": 2 wds. |
| 51% | LISASCOTTOLINE | 14 | Lawyer who wrote the thrillers "Look Again" and "Don't Go": 2 wds. |
| 51% | DAVIDBALDACCI | 13 | Lawyer who wrote the thrillers "The Whole Truth" and "Deliver Us From Evil": 2 wds. |
| 45% | TUROW | 5 | Scott who wrote the legal thriller “Presumed Innocent” |
| 43% | WOODY | 5 | With 35-Across, "Blue Jasmine" director who wrote and directed 18-Across |
| 41% | AARON | 5 | With 35-Across, Yankee right fielder who broke the records of 18-Across and 38-Across |
| 41% | JENNIFER | 8 | With 35-Across, actress who starred in both the "Hunger Games" and "X-Men" movie franchises |
| 41% | JUSTIN | 6 | With 35-Across, actor who plays Riley Poole in the "National Treasure" films and Disney+ series |
| 41% | JUSTIN | 6 | With 35-Across, "Yummy" singer who won the Pop Album of the Year Juno in 2011 and 2016 |
| 40% | ERNIE | 5 | With 35-Across, baseball player who received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013 and died 1/23/15 |
| 39% | BILLCLINTON | 11 | U.S. president who wrote the novels "The President Is Missing" and "The President's Daughter" with 33-Across (2 wds.) |
| 39% | WARREN | 6 | With 35-Across, actor who played Clyde, one of the title characters on the run in 1967's "Bonnie and Clyde" |
| 39% | TUROW | 5 | Scott —, author of novels Personal Injuries and Presumed Innocent |
| 39% | SCOTT | 5 | & 21D Author of novels Personal Injuries and Presumed Innocent |
| 38% | TUROW | 5 | Scott —, author of the novels Personal Injuries and Presumed Innocent |
| 37% | JAMES | 5 | With 35-Across, medical school dropout who wrote "Ulysses" |
| 35% | NICCIFRENCH | 11 | Pseudonymous writing team who authored thrillers Beneath the Skin and Killing Me Softly |
| 35% | OGDEN | 5 | Poet Nash, who wrote the lines in 17-, 24-, 47- and 58-Across |
| 35% | BAEZ | 4 | Folk singer Joan who wrote the memoir "And A Voice to Sing With" |
| 35% | ALLIN | 5 | With 35- and 37-Across, how to answer the starred clues |
| 35% | JAYJOHNSON | 10 | Head coach of 35-Across who won league championships with the University of Nevada in 2015 and the University of Arizona in 2021 (2 wds.) |
| 35% | ANGIETHOMAS | 11 | Novelist who wrote the Y.A. bestsellers 17-Across and 29-Across (2 wds.) |
| 35% | KATEY | 5 | With 35-Across, "Sons of Anarchy" actress who plays the title character in "Rebel" |
| 35% | CHRIS | 5 | With 35-Across, actor who played Ransom in the 2019 murder mystery "Knives Out" |
| 34% | THE | 3 | With 35- and 36-Across, second-largest galaxy in the Local Group |
| 34% | RUDYARDKIPLING | 14 | English author who wrote the children's literature at 18- and 41-Across: 2 wds. |
| 34% | DOLLYPARTON | 11 | Country music superstar who wrote the novel "Run, Rose, Run " with 33-Across (2 wds.) |