| BELIEF | Contrary to popular ___ ... |
| ODDLY | "Contrary to popular belief . . ." |
| HERETICAL | Contrary to popular belief, he edited article (9) |
| SPOTTEDHYENA | African carnivore which, contrary to popular belief, is mainly a predator rather than scavenger |
| RICE | Contrary to popular belief, throwing it won't endanger birds |
| SOJOURNERTRUTH | Activist who, contrary to popular belief, most likely didn't say "Ain't I a woman?" in her 1851 speech |
| OUR | The "O" in "SOS" doesn't stand for it, contrary to popular belief |
| TOADS | Contrary to popular belief, they don't cause warts |
| HUMANS | Omnivores who occupy a position in the middle of the global food chain, contrary to popular belief |
| ADVICE | What most therapists don't actually give, contrary to popular belief |
| AIDA | Verdi opera which, contrary to popular belief, was not written to mark the opening of the Suez Canal |
| MOLE | *Contrary to popular belief, it's not blind |
| TNT | Not dynamite, contrary to popular belief |
| ARBYS | Contrary to popular belief, its name is not derived from its trademark sandwich |
| MICE | Animals that, contrary to popular belief, do not love cheese |
| FADE | A put-upon film geek kills his bullies in 1980's popular ____ to Black. |
| CUISINE | Cooking is popular ___ stick around (7) |
| VOTE | Popular __ |
| SMASHHIT | Something very popular ___ this possibly includes squishy veg (5,3) |
| LEAN | Morgan F. was a school principal in 1989's popular ____ On Me. |
