| 100% | NOCLUE | 6 | "Haven't the foggiest!" … or, when the first two letters are put at the end, an essential part of seven answers in this puzzle |
| 42% | JOHNGRISHAMNOVEL | 16 | What the first word of each of seven answers in this puzzle is, when preceded by “The” |
| 39% | FOREFATHER | 10 | Ancestor ... or what the first word of seven answers in this puzzle can have? |
| 38% | TAMES | 5 | Breaks ... or an anagram of the ends of five Across answers in this puzzle |
| 38% | TRICKORTREAT | 12 | What is found divided at the starts and ends of nine answers in this puzzle |
| 37% | ELEVEN | 6 | How many letters are in the longest answers in this puzzle - or how many of these answers there are |
| 37% | HALFTHEBATTLE | 13 | Important part of an undertaking . . . or what can be found in eight of this puzzle’s answers? |
| 37% | TIMES | 5 | Square where the words in this puzzle's dropping balls may be heard at the end of a song's first verse |
| 35% | YEAR | 4 | Span represented by the first three letters of 12 answers in this puzzle |
| 35% | FLIMFLAMARTISTS | 15 | People who do what’s at the ends of nine answers in this puzzle |
| 35% | ATOZ | 4 | The works ... or how each set of circled letters in this puzzle is arranged |
| 34% | CAPITAL | 7 | With 31-Down, proceeds from the sale of an asset … or a hint to understanding six answers in this puzzle |
| 34% | MAKINGAFACE | 11 | Smirking, scowling, or smiling, and what the sets of circled letters in this puzzle are doing? |
| 34% | SANDWICHSHOP | 12 | Its menu might include the ends of seven answers in this puzzle |
| 34% | GOREVIDALNOVELS | 15 | What the first words of eight long answers in this puzzle are |
| 34% | CLOCK | 5 | Instrument that hints at the missing parts of certain answers in this puzzle |
| 34% | BOXINGDAY | 9 | December 26, in some parts of the world...or an apt title for this puzzle given the "gifts" contained inside four answers |
| 34% | TAKEITDOWNANOTCH | 16 | Reduce one’s excitement slightly ... or what you have to do to the final letter of five long answers in this puzzle? |
| 34% | PHONETIC | 8 | Apt word spelled out by the first letters of eight answers in this puzzle |
| 34% | FALLLEAVES | 10 | Autumn foliage ... or what happens at the starts of eight answers in this puzzle? |
| 34% | DOCUMENTARIES | 13 | 13-letter word that each theme answer in this puzzle is an anagram of |
| 33% | CODES | 5 | Postal ___ (what the two-letter answers in this puzzle are) |
| 33% | KENTUCKYDERBY | 13 | First leg of the Triple Crown, whose levels of success can be found in this puzzle's circled letters |
| 33% | INITIALLY | 9 | At the start ... or how the first two letters of each starred clue relate to the answer? |
| 33% | VEGETABLESHORTENING | 19 | Canful in a cupboard ... or a hint to parts of six answers in this puzzle |
| 33% | AFTERTHOUGHT | 12 | “P.S.” comment ... or where the ends of eight answers in this puzzle might appear? |
| 33% | STOLEN | 6 | What the starts of nine answers in this puzzle might be |
| 33% | WORD | 4 | Scrabble play, or, when parsed in three parts, a hint to the switch featured in this puzzle's longest answers |
| 33% | NEWYEAR | 7 | What the last four letters of eight key answers in this puzzle might be considered, cryptically |
| 33% | PINACOLADA | 10 | What I'm going to have after I've finished writing these clues and it's spelled out with the first two letters of five of the longest puzzle answers |