| 100% | OWE | 3 | "I ___ it all to my parents..." (words in a valedictorian's speech, maybe) |
| 50% | OWE | 3 | "I ___ it all to my parents" |
| 39% | BASKET | 6 | Change a word in this phrase to correct it! "Don't put all your eggs in one vessel" |
| 38% | NEE | 3 | Word in a bride's bio, maybe |
| 38% | OWE | 3 | Word repeated in "I ___, I ___, it's off to work I go" |
| 37% | SOCUTE | 6 | Words spoken in response to seeing a friend's new baby, maybe |
| 37% | MAMA | 4 | Word in a "Baby's First" scrapbook, maybe |
| 37% | NEE | 3 | Word in a celebrity's Wikipedia biography, maybe |
| 37% | LUMP | 4 | "I have a ___ in my throat after hearing his speech." (tight feeling due to a strong emotion) |
| 36% | PHASE | 5 | "It's just a ___" (reassuring words to a parent) |
| 35% | SAME | 4 | "It's all the ___ to me" ("I don't have a preference") |
| 35% | STIRS | 5 | "Her speech ___ my soul every time I listen to it." (uplifts) |
| 35% | KNEW | 4 | "I ___ it all the time!" ("It's no surprise to me") |
| 34% | ACRE | 4 | Maybe it's all a plot? |
| 34% | TORNADO | 7 | "Bad luck, I guess … It was my turn, that's all. I was in the path of the ___" (quote from 18-Down) |
| 34% | UNO | 3 | "I'm down to my last card!" in a certain game |
| 34% | TOFU | 4 | It's just a curd to me |
| 34% | ALICE | 5 | "It's the stupidest tea-party I ever was at in all my life!" speaker |
| 34% | ALICE | 5 | "It's the stupidest tea-party I ever was at in all my life!" declarer |
| 34% | STOP | 4 | Song word before "Wait a minute / Fill my cup, put some liquor in it" |
| 34% | CAT | 3 | "Karma is a __ / Purring in my lap 'cause it loves me": Taylor Swift lyric |
| 34% | NORA | 4 | Name that can fill in the blank in ME___H to form a word |
| 34% | STOPMAKINGSENSE | 15 | No longer be comprehensible ... and, with its first word divided in three parts, a hint to how to read this puzzle's title |
| 34% | PERFECT | 7 | Change a word in this phrase to correct it! "Practice makes flawless" |
| 34% | WASTE | 5 | Change a word in this phrase to correct it! "Haste makes trash" |
| 33% | SATE | 4 | Word that can fill in the blanks in _ _ T I A _ _ to form a synonym of itself |
| 33% | CELINEDION | 10 | "It's All Coming Back to Me" singer who plays herself in 45-Across (2 wds.) |
| 33% | BAKER | 5 | "I used to be a ___ until I found out I was in it for the dough!" |
| 33% | MAEWEST | 7 | Who said "I believe in censorship. After all I made a fortune out of it" |
| 33% | LOOK | 4 | Change a word in this phrase to correct it! "Peep before you leap" |