| 100% | SARA | 4 | Writer Paretsky who created female private investigator V.I. Warshawski, protagonist in at least 20 novels |
| 41% | SARAPARETSKY | 12 | Mystery writer who created private investigator V.I. Warshawski (2 wds.) |
| 33% | SARA | 4 | Author Paretsky who created V.I. Warshawski |
| 32% | SARA | 4 | Author Paretsky who created the detective V.I. Warshawski |
| 29% | SARA | 4 | Author Paretsky who wrote the V.I. Warshawski novels |
| 25% | ANGELS | 6 | Female private investigators who worked for Charlie |
| 24% | SARA | 4 | Novelist Paretsky who writes the V.I. Warshawski mystery series |
| 23% | LENIN | 5 | V I —, Russian statesman who died in 1924 |
| 22% | ALICE | 5 | Protagonist who follows a rabbit in Carroll's novel |
| 21% | FLEMING | 7 | Author Ian who created the villains at 15-, 20-, and 37-Across |
| 21% | EARNSHAW | 8 | Catherine —, protagonist in Emily Bronte novel Wuthering Heights who weds Edgar Linton |
| 21% | EYRE | 4 | Jane who worked at Thornfield Hall in an 1847 novel |
| 21% | CAGE | 4 | Nicolas ___, actor who sang "Love Me" in "Wild at Heart" |
| 21% | MIKEHAMMER | 10 | Private investigator created by Mickey Spillane played by 43-Across in the 1980s and 1990s (2 wds.) |
| 21% | VIWARSHAWSKI | 12 | Fictional private investigator featured in 19 novels, including 28-Across, by 40-Across (3 wds.) |
| 21% | EASYRAWLINS | 11 | Fictional war veteran and private investigator featured in 14 novels by 29-Across (2 wds.) |
| 21% | JOAN | 4 | Barcelona artist ___ Miro, who created the 72 ft. tall sculpture "Dona i Ocell" in 1983 |
| 20% | MICHELLEWIE | 11 | Female golfer who played in a pro men's tournament at age 14 |
| 20% | KOHLI | 5 | V —, India Test cricketer who hit 116 against Australia at Adelaide in 2012 |
| 20% | RICHARDADAMS | 12 | Writer who created Fiver, Hazel, and their fellow rabbits in "Watership Down": 2 wds. |
| 20% | GEORGEORWELL | 12 | Writer who coined the word "doublethink" in his novel "Nineteen Eighty-Four" (2 wds.) |
| 20% | JACK | 4 | I am the little boy Horner who stuck his finger in a Christmas pie |
| 20% | PRICE | 5 | Leontyne —, American soprano who created the female title role in 1966 Samuel Barber opera Antony and Cleopatra |
| 20% | LAXMAN | 6 | V V S —, India Test cricketer who hit 281 against Australia at Kolkata in 2001 |
| 20% | BOTHAM | 6 | I T —, England Test cricketer who hit 138 against New Zealand at Wellington in 1984 |
| 20% | CHAPPELL | 8 | I M —, Australia Test cricketer who hit 165 against West Indies at Melbourne in 1968 |
| 20% | DRAKES | 6 | V C —, West Indies Test cricketer who took 5-93 against Australia at Georgetown in 2003 |
| 20% | TROTT | 5 | I J L —, England Test cricketer who hit 226 against Bangladesh at Lord's in 2010 |
| 19% | RIVERPHOENIX | 12 | "My Own Private Idaho" actor who played Chris in "Stand by Me": 2 wds. |
| 19% | MIKEHAMMER | 10 | Private eye in novels by Mickey Spillane, such as I, the Jury and My Gun Is Quick |