| 100% | TREND | 5 | With 40-Across, a fad |
| 80% | ABRAHAM | 7 | With 40 Across, bearded VIP with a February 12th birthday |
| 76% | HEAD | 4 | With 40-Across, a firebrand |
| 75% | RYDER | 5 | With 40-Across, a popular rental |
| 75% | CAKES | 5 | With 40-Across, a breakfast order |
| 74% | SHOT | 4 | With 40-Across, a V.I.P. |
| 70% | SEA | 3 | With 40-Across, meal for a wolf eel |
| 69% | EDITWHERE | 9 | With 40-Across, good advice for correcting a manuscript? |
| 68% | LAILA | 5 | With 40-Across, boxer with a 24-0 lifetime record |
| 68% | DONTBEGIN | 9 | With 40- and 60-Across, a cautionary message |
| 67% | TUNA | 4 | With 40 Across, diner orders |
| 66% | ITS | 3 | With 40-Across, a chorus line ... or a hint to this puzzle's theme |
| 66% | HOUSE | 5 | With 40-Across, critic's positive review of a Fox medical drama? |
| 65% | FRIDA | 5 | With 40-Across, Mexican painter played by Salma Hayek in a 2002 biopic |
| 65% | SHRIMP | 6 | With 40 Across, seafood dish with garlic |
| 65% | INTWOWORDS | 10 | With 40 Across, Goldwyn's ''No way!'' |
| 64% | THEWITCHES | 10 | With 40-Across, 1987 movie starring 15-Across as a coven member: 2 wds. |
| 64% | COLIN | 5 | With 40-Across, "Orange County" star who played a cop on FX's "Fargo" |
| 63% | MISTER | 6 | With 40 Across, Hanks' role in 17/64 Across |
| 63% | THEALIENAND | 11 | With 40 Across, historic rules for subduing UFO occupants? |
| 61% | DOT | 3 | With 40-Down, a modern company |
| 60% | FISTBUMPOR | 10 | With 40 and 64 Across, congratulatory choices |
| 60% | AAH | 3 | Sound associated with a 40-Across |
| 60% | SALEMS | 6 | With 40-Down, a 1975 horror novel |
| 60% | BUT | 3 | With 75 Across, a gas |
| 59% | STARTUP | 7 | With 40-Across, money required to open a business ... or a hint to 18-, 24-, 47- and 57-Across |
| 59% | ALE | 3 | With 40-Down, something tapped at a pub |
| 59% | LIME | 4 | With 56 Across, a summer cooler |
| 59% | KEY | 3 | With 52 Across, a Florida attraction |
| 59% | RON | 3 | With 136 Across, a rum brand |