| 100% | IRONY | 5 | "The ___ of the situation..." |
| 97% | IRONY | 5 | ___ of the situation |
| 96% | IRONY | 5 | "The ___ of the situation..." (humorist's line) |
| 94% | IRONY | 5 | ___ of the situation (dramatic twist) |
| 93% | AWARE | 5 | Conscious of the situation |
| 93% | GRASP | 5 | Understanding of the situation |
| 92% | ONIT | 4 | Taking care of the situation |
| 92% | MAKEHAY | 7 | Take advantage of the situation |
| 90% | AWARE | 5 | "I'm well ___ of the situation" |
| 89% | WHATSWHAT | 9 | The facts of a situation |
| 88% | AWARE | 5 | "Believe me, I'm well ___ of the situation" |
| 83% | AWARE | 5 | "I'm ___ of the situation" ("I know what's going on") |
| 82% | CNN | 3 | News channel that is the home of "The Situation Room": Abbr. |
| 81% | OPENA | 5 | "___ can of worms" (complicate the situation): 2 wds. |
| 81% | TIE | 3 | Situation at the start of overtime |
| 81% | BELLYOFTHEBEAST | 15 | The middle of a bad situation |
| 80% | EYE | 3 | "In the ___ of the storm..." (right in the middle of a difficult situation) |
| 80% | DENIAL | 6 | In ___ (unable to acknowledge the truth of a situation) |
| 79% | STAT | 4 | Bit of Latin that the surgeon might yell if they're losing control of the situation |
| 79% | ROPE | 4 | "At the end of one's ___" (unable to deal with the situation) |
| 76% | REALISM | 7 | The practice of accepting a situation as it is |
| 76% | CNN | 3 | Home of "The Situation Room" |
| 76% | NORMAL | 6 | New ___, term popularized during the pandemic to indicate an acceptance of the current situation |
| 74% | ONEON | 5 | Common situation near the start of an inning |
| 73% | EDGECASE | 8 | Situation that occurs under extreme conditions, and a description of the answer to each starred clue |
| 72% | TAKESSTOCK | 10 | Assesses the situation, or what each of 17-, 26-, 37- and 50-Across does |
| 70% | FAT | 3 | The ____ of the land |
| 70% | LIFE | 4 | The _____ of the party |
| 70% | EYE | 3 | The ___ of the storm |
| 70% | LUCK | 4 | The — of the Irish |