| 100% | FOOT | 4 | With 6- and 8-Across, entry that allows for later success |
| 49% | HIDE | 4 | With 6- and 8-Across, game that begins with "Ready or not, here I come!" |
| 44% | BURST | 5 | With 6- and 8-Across, suddenly become famous |
| 44% | SEAT | 4 | With 5- and 8-Across, clothing-related idiom for something that's completely improvised |
| 42% | LIFE | 4 | With 6- and 8-Across, shared belief of Christianity and Islam |
| 40% | WORD | 4 | With 6- and 8-Across, Merriam-Webster feature with recent choices like "pediculous" and "longanimity" |
| 38% | GUESS | 5 | With 8-Across, "So much for that theory" |
| 38% | ARENA | 5 | With 8-Across, subgenre for Journey and Foreigner |
| 35% | YOULL | 5 | With 21 Across, 3 Down, 8 Down, and 20 Down, response to Ralphie's request for a BB gun in "A Christmas Story" |
| 35% | NEVER | 5 | With 6-Across, "That's the last time I'll do that!" |
| 35% | LAUGHTER | 8 | With 13 and 22 Across, "prescription" for humor |
| 35% | SANTA | 5 | With 8-Across, movie role for Tim Allen, Tom Hanks, Billy Bob Thornton and Ed Asner |
| 33% | OTHER | 5 | Partner for this and that, with "the" |
| 33% | THEFIFTHELEMENT | 15 | Bruce Willis and Milla Jovovich's chemistry makes this 1997 film the perfect finale for a movie marathon with 4-, 6-, 8- and 10-Down |
| 33% | PATSY | 5 | With 6-Across, singer of the lyrics “I’m crazy for trying and crazy for crying / And I’m crazy for loving you” |
| 32% | RALPH | 5 | With 6- and 22-Across, noted 19th-century writer |
| 32% | PERCUSSION | 10 | Orchestra section for 19 Across, plus 8 and 34 Down |
| 32% | NMI | 3 | Abbr. for someone with just a first and last name |
| 32% | NMI | 3 | Abbr. for someone with only a first and last name |
| 32% | APPLAUSE | 8 | Hit song by 43-Across with the lyrics "Live for the way that you cheer and scream for me" |
| 32% | APPLAUSE | 8 | Hit song by 42-Across with the lyrics "Live for the way that you cheer and scream for me" |
| 32% | THE | 3 | With 6-Across, records that might be "cooked" |
| 32% | USER | 4 | With 6-Across, cause for many IT headaches |
| 32% | CHIMNEYS | 8 | Entries for 6-Across |
| 32% | ONTHE | 5 | With 9-Across, how Elon Musk posed for his latest publicity shot? (6) |
| 31% | FINAL | 5 | With 6-Across, semester-ending events for college students |
| 31% | KEYBOARD | 8 | Device that allows you to type your input into a computer ... and something with many buttons |
| 31% | COLDOPEN | 8 | Certain TV intro ... or a description of each of 12 letters in the grid (the starts of six Across entries and then six Down entries) that spell out an alternate title for this puzzle |
| 31% | AINT | 4 | With 48-Across, "... and that ___!" |
| 31% | PUTAPININIT | 11 | "Come back to that later," and an apt title for this puzzle |