| 100% | THIS | 4 | "___ Means War," 2012 film starring Chris Pine ... or part of a New Year's wish highlighted in this puzzle |
| 70% | DREAMS | 6 | "Field of ___," 1989 film starring Kevin Costner ... or part of a New Year's wish highlighted in this puzzle |
| 69% | TAKE | 4 | "Every Breath You ___," 2021 film starring Casey Affleck ... or part of a New Year's wish highlighted in this puzzle |
| 68% | FLIGHT | 6 | "The ___ of the Phoenix," 1965 film starring James Stewart ... or part of a New Year's wish highlighted in this puzzle |
| 64% | YOUR | 4 | "How to Train ___ Dragon," 2010 animated film ... or part of a New Year's wish highlighted in this puzzle |
| 56% | MAY | 3 | "To Whom It ___ Concern," 2016 film starring Wilmer Valderrama ... or the start of a New Year's wish highlighted in this puzzle |
| 35% | THREE | 5 | (3/5) Part of a New Year's countdown... or a trio's number |
| 35% | JAN | 3 | New Year month to send a wish that is highlighted in this puzzle, for short |
| 34% | OUTLAW | 6 | "___ King," movie starring Chris Pine which will release in the month of Thanksgiving this year |
| 33% | LOOPDELOOPS | 11 | Upside-down parts of a roller coaster ride — represented twice in the answer to each of this puzzle's starred clues |
| 33% | TWO | 3 | (4/5) Part of a New Year's Countdown...or a duo's number |
| 33% | FOUR | 4 | (2/5) Part of a New Year's Eve countdown...or 2+2 result |
| 32% | ONE | 3 | Part of a New Year's Eve countdown |
| 32% | SYNE | 4 | Part of a New Year's Eve party song |
| 31% | MINUTEHAND | 10 | Part of a clock depicted four times in this puzzle? |
| 31% | DEFENSIVELINE | 13 | Part of a football team featured in this puzzle: 2 wds. |
| 31% | BLIND | 5 | With 74- & 75-Across, "invisible" part of a distribution list ... or a hint to this puzzle's theme |
| 31% | FLIP | 4 | With 65-Across, part of a record ... or what each of this puzzle's five long Across answers has? |
| 30% | CUTTINGTHECARDS | 15 | Part of a blackjack dealer's ritual … or what this answer is doing vis-à-vis the answers to the starred clues |
| 30% | HALFTHEBATTLE | 13 | Important part of an undertaking . . . or what can be found in eight of this puzzle’s answers? |
| 30% | WAR | 3 | "This Means ___," a 2012 romantic comedy film starring Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine and Tom Hardy |
| 30% | ENDGAME | 7 | Concluding stage of a chess match ... or a feature of the answers to this puzzle's starred clues |
| 29% | THEME | 5 | Parts of a bride's attire, for this puzzle |
| 29% | ROSEPETAL | 9 | Part of a parade float on New Year's Day |
| 28% | YEAR | 4 | "A Good ___," 2006 film starring Russell Crowe ... or the conclusion to a New Year's wish |
| 28% | XXXXXX | 6 | First part of a name in the "Star Wars" universe |
| 28% | IBEFOREE | 8 | Part of a spelling rule, and a hint to this puzzle's theme |
| 28% | KIRK | 4 | Chris Pine's role in the Star Trek films |
| 28% | TUESDAY | 7 | Part of a calendar septet, and a phonetic hint to this puzzle's theme |
| 28% | CONGRATULATIONS | 15 | First part of a message suggested by this puzzle's circled letters |