| 100% | IRONIST | 7 | Writer whose words are twisted? |
| 55% | STMARK | 6 | One whose word is gospel? |
| 52% | OSBOURNE | 8 | TV family member whose words are often bleeped |
| 51% | SAMINNOSRAT | 11 | Chef and cookbook writer whose four elements of cooking are the first words of the answers to 16-, 23-, 48-, and 56-Across |
| 50% | DANTE | 5 | Writer whose work is hell to get through? |
| 49% | LIAR | 4 | Person whose words can't be believed |
| 49% | LIAR | 4 | Person whose word can't be trusted |
| 48% | OHENRY | 6 | Writer whose short stories often have twist endings (2 wds.) |
| 48% | LAD | 3 | Word whose female equivalent is lassie |
| 48% | AESOP | 5 | Writer whose several hundred works are catalogued by the Perry Index |
| 48% | PLUTARCH | 8 | Writer whose work was Shakespeare's primary source for "Julius Caesar" |
| 48% | MERIMEE | 7 | Writer whose novella "Carmen" is the basis of Bizet's opera |
| 47% | ANNEFRANK | 9 | Writer whose account was first published as “Het Achterhuis” (“The Secret Annex”) |
| 47% | AMYTAN | 6 | Writer whose first novel was adapted as a film by Wayne Wang |
| 47% | SAMINNOSRAT | 11 | Chef and cookbook writer whose four elements of cooking are the first words of the answers to 16-Across, 18-Across, 42-Across, and 45-Across (2 wds.) |
| 46% | ELENAFORBES | 11 | Crime writer whose 2007 debut novel was Die with Me |
| 46% | HIRE | 4 | Word whose two consonants are H.R., fittingly |
| 46% | MIC | 3 | Word whose two consonants are M.C., fittingly |
| 46% | ARE | 3 | Word whose first letter is dropped in contractions |
| 46% | DIANAGABALDON | 13 | Writer whose novels are the basis of the "Outlander" TV series (2 wds.) |
| 46% | KATHYREICHS | 11 | Writer whose novels are the basis of the "Bones" TV series (2 wds.) |
| 46% | POE | 3 | Writer whose room at the University of Virginia is now a mini-museum |
| 45% | RAZE | 4 | Word whose antonym is its own homophone |
| 45% | TESSGERRITSEN | 13 | Writer whose novels are the basis of the "Rizzoli & Isles" TV series (2 wds.) |
| 44% | PAT | 3 | Word whose meaning can be the same when read backward |
| 44% | TIE | 3 | Word whose letters are aptly found in "overtime" |
| 44% | POET | 4 | Writer whose mission/Is rhymed composition |
| 44% | URSULAKLEGUIN | 13 | Writer whose second Earthsea novel, "The Tombs of Atuan," was published in 1971 (4 wds.) |
| 44% | ELMORELEONARD | 13 | Crime writer whose 1990 novel is the inspiration for 13-Down: 2 wds. |
| 44% | JONKRAKAUER | 11 | Nonfiction writer whose bestseller "Into the Wild" is set in Alaska (2 wds.) |