| 100% | HOSE | 4 | *16a's aid that's attached to a hydrant and carries water to the blaze!" |
| 38% | MINDBLOWN | 9 | "Wow, that's unbelievable!" and a clue to the circled letters |
| 38% | SSE | 3 | Direction that's down and a little to the right: Abbr. |
| 36% | CAPO | 4 | Tool that is clamped onto a guitar's neck to shorten the strings and raise the pitch |
| 36% | ENE | 3 | Dir. that's to the right and a little up on a map |
| 36% | SAIL | 4 | Sheet that's attached to a mast |
| 36% | ARM | 3 | Limb that's attached to a shoulder |
| 36% | YOYO | 4 | A popular toy attached to a string that goes up and down |
| 35% | RIP | 3 | ___ cord (line that's attached to a parachute) |
| 35% | KID | 3 | Young animal that's born to a billy and nanny |
| 35% | SINGINGBOTHWAYS | 15 | Ratting to the cops and carrying a tune? |
| 35% | FEATHERS | 8 | Lightweight bits of a bird's wing that might float and get carried away with the wind |
| 34% | PETIOLE | 7 | Stalk that attaches a leaf blade to the stem |
| 34% | PIPE | 4 | Tube that connects a sink to the water main |
| 34% | TRUCK | 5 | *Transport for 16a that's driven with care, and with sirens ringing it arrives to fight the flare!" |
| 34% | LEG | 3 | Limb that's attached to the hip |
| 34% | NET | 3 | Part of a basketball hoop that attaches to the rim |
| 34% | CORNERBARS | 10 | Local watering holes, and a hint to a word that can follow eight of this puzzle's peripheral answers |
| 34% | CUTITOUT | 8 | "Stop that!" ... and a hint to the answers to 17-, 23-, 39- and 52-Across |
| 34% | JOYDIVISION | 11 | 1970s rock band that regrouped as New Order, and a hint to the circled letters |
| 33% | PRIMEREALESTATE | 15 | Asset that's all about "location, location, location" ... with a hint to the starts of 21-, 26- and 49-Across |
| 33% | OHIO | 4 | State that's home to the Reds and Browns |
| 33% | POPLAR | 6 | Tree that's related to the aspen and cottonwood |
| 33% | DRPEPPER | 8 | Soda that, according to the Food and Drug Administration, is not technically a cola |
| 33% | PAIL | 4 | "Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a ___ of water" |
| 33% | BARNACLE | 8 | Hard-shelled creature that attaches itself to the bottom of a boat |
| 33% | ATL | 3 | City that's home to the Hawks and Falcons: Abbr. |
| 33% | BALTIMORE | 9 | Maryland city that's home to the Ravens and Orioles |
| 33% | YALE | 4 | School that's home to a cappella group The Whiffenpoofs |
| 33% | CITY | 4 | "Sex and the ___" (Candace Bushnell book that led to a hit HBO series) |