| 100% | OSCARWILDE | 10 | Writer who quipped "The world is a stage, but the play is badly cast" |
| 41% | TSELIOT | 7 | Who wrote "This is the way the world ends / Not with a bang but a whimper" |
| 40% | ELIOT | 5 | Poet who wrote "This is the way the world ends / Not with a bang but a whimper" |
| 38% | DHED | 4 | Was a swinger but didn’t play the field? |
| 37% | ENOS | 4 | Slaughter who was a star of the 1946 World Series |
| 37% | ORTIZ | 5 | Slugger David who was a hero of the 2013 World Series |
| 37% | OURTOWN | 7 | Play in which the Stage Manager is a character |
| 36% | RICHARDCASTLE | 13 | Writer who was the title character in a 2009-2016 crime series: 2 wds. |
| 36% | ROBERTCARLYLE | 13 | "Once Upon a Time" actor who played a Bond villain in 1999's "The World Is Not Enough": 2 wds. |
| 35% | MARCEAU | 7 | Sophie —, actress who played Elektra King in 1999 action film The World Is Not Enough |
| 35% | STEPHEN | 7 | ___ Amell, actor who plays Green Arrow in "Arrow" which is a part of the Arrowverse |
| 35% | BOW | 3 | What a play's cast takes after the show is over |
| 35% | PETER | 5 | ___ Casey, TV writer who was a showrunner for the TV show "Cheers" |
| 34% | ASIDE | 5 | Remark in a stage play intended to be heard by the audience alone, not the other characters |
| 34% | CARLOSVALDES | 12 | Actor who plays Cisco Ramon on "The Flash" which is a part of the Arrowverse: 2 wds. |
| 34% | EZRAMILLER | 10 | "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" actor, who plays The Flash in 31-Across: 2 wds. |
| 34% | RAY | 3 | Billy-___ Belcourt, Indigenous writer behind the poetry collection "This Wound is a World" |
| 34% | SAMSHEPARD | 10 | Writer, actor, and director who won a Pulitzer Prize for the play "Buried Child" (2 wds.) |
| 34% | ISRAEL | 6 | ___ Kamakawiwo'ole, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World" singer who was born in Hawaii |
| 34% | TASSO | 5 | Italian poet who was the subject of a Goethe play and a Donizetti opera |
| 34% | PLATO | 5 | Philosopher who believed that the physical world is only a shadow of true reality |
| 34% | TINATURNER | 10 | "Private Dancer" singer who has a solo in "We Are the World": 2 wds. |
| 34% | MCPHEE | 6 | Writer John who won a Pulitzer for "Annals of the Former World" |
| 34% | MOORE | 5 | A's pitcher who played in the '89 and '90 World Series |
| 33% | ALL | 3 | "___ the world's a stage.." (Shakespearean phrase) |
| 33% | DENISERICHARDS | 14 | Actress who played a Bond Girl in "The World Is Not Enough" and appeared in a guest role in "Two and a Half Men": 2 wds. |
| 33% | DIONNEWARWICK | 13 | "Walk On By" singer who has a solo in "We Are the World": 2 wds. |
| 33% | LORRE | 5 | Peter who was the first actor to play a Bond villain |
| 33% | ELLIS | 5 | Kendall ___, sprinter who was a part of the team who set the world record for distance medley relay in 2022 |