| 100% | NIT | 3 | A little point to pick, or an insect egg (rhymes with "hit") |
| 39% | NIT | 3 | Little point to pick |
| 38% | GALL | 4 | To annoy or irritate a person; rhymes with ball |
| 38% | BLUDGEON | 8 | To hit someone with a heavy club or object |
| 38% | IMPUTE | 6 | To ascribe to or charge a person with an act |
| 36% | NIT | 3 | A small point to pick |
| 36% | HEW | 3 | To chop or cut something (especially wood) with an axe or pick |
| 36% | ANT | 3 | Common ending to "pant" and "giant" ... or with 42d, a digging insect |
| 36% | STRIKE | 6 | To deliver a blow, to hit with a fist or weapon |
| 35% | LEAFINSECT | 10 | Tropical creature related to the stick insect with a green or brown flattened body |
| 34% | BETWEENYOUANDME | 15 | "Let this be our little secret" ... with a hint to 18-, 23-, 50- or 54-Across |
| 34% | SCREEN | 6 | With 45-Down, displays during an online presentation ... or a hint to three pairs of answers in this puzzle |
| 34% | NICKELBACK | 10 | Band with the 2001 #1 hit "How You Remind Me" … or a hint to entering 54-Across |
| 33% | CAPITAL | 7 | With 31-Down, proceeds from the sale of an asset … or a hint to understanding six answers in this puzzle |
| 33% | HOLE | 4 | Nit to pick with a plot |
| 32% | MRINBETWEEN | 11 | "Don't mess with" him, per an old song lyric ... or a hint to 18-, 20-, 55- and 58-Across |
| 32% | BADMINTON | 9 | Sport played with a shuttlecock where players hit it back and forth in an attempt to make the other side miss |
| 32% | BREAD | 5 | "The Walking ___," swap "Dead" with a rhyming word to get an apocalyptic TV show where people flee from rising bakery loaves |
| 32% | GIT | 3 | An unpleasant person, to a Brit (rhymes with "fit") |
| 32% | SCORED | 6 | Picked up a point or two |
| 31% | HEXAD | 5 | Legs on an insect or strings on a guitar |
| 31% | BLUNT | 5 | To the point ... or lacking a point |
| 31% | THRIVE | 6 | To prosper or excel, rhymes with alive |
| 31% | SNUB | 4 | To rebuff or ignore; rhymes with grub |
| 31% | REPLY | 5 | An answer to a text or email |
| 31% | ANTE | 4 | A chip or two to start with |
| 31% | CELEBRATE | 9 | To commemorate or honor with a ceremony |
| 31% | TEXARKANA | 9 | City that rhymes with "Rosanna" in a #1 George Strait country hit |
| 31% | CRICKET | 7 | Word that can mean either an insect or a sport |