| 100% | BREAKBAKER | 10 | Applicant must make cookies and pies while others are having a smoke |
| 31% | SMOG | 4 | Fog that is made worse due to smoke and other pollutants |
| 29% | IMPUREUMPIRE | 12 | Applicant must be foul while calling fouls |
| 28% | CHIMNEY | 7 | It has a smoke shelf, damper, flashings and a pot |
| 28% | CAR | 3 | It has a make and model |
| 28% | TESTATE | 7 | Having made a will |
| 28% | REEKYKEYER | 10 | Applicant must be odoriferous and skilled at data entry |
| 28% | LEWDERWELDER | 12 | Applicant must be more vulgar than our other metalworkers |
| 28% | WOOLF | 5 | Writer of the line “A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction” |
| 27% | POINTOFNORETURN | 15 | A commitment must be made here |
| 27% | INTESTATE | 9 | Not having made a will |
| 27% | SMART | 5 | "A ___ cookie," idiom referring to someone who is clever and capable of making good decisions |
| 27% | STRAITARTIST | 12 | Applicant must be able to paint the area between Alaska and Russia |
| 27% | IVORIES | 7 | “Okay just learned that tickling the ___ is a piano reference and has NOTHING to do with making white ppl laugh” (Vinny Thomas tweet) |
| 27% | AGAS | 4 | "Once I had a love and it was ___" (Blondie lyric) |
| 27% | BREWERY | 7 | A place where beer is made and sold |
| 26% | CARRS | 5 | "It Must Be Him" singer and others |
| 26% | CIGARBUTT | 9 | It’s thick and has been smoked |
| 26% | BUTTERFLY | 9 | Word that must be added to 1-, 8-, 65- and 66-Across for their clues to make sense [with a visual hint in the grid] |
| 26% | AREYOUTHEONE | 12 | MTV/Paramount+ reality dating show in which men and women must determine who have been paired up as couples by a matchmaking algorithm (4 wds.) |
| 26% | PENNY | 5 | What has a head, a tail, is brown, and has no legs? |
| 26% | AGAS | 4 | "Once I had a love and it was ___" (Blondie lyric) (2 wds.) |
| 26% | BAKERY | 6 | A place where bread and pastries are made and sold |
| 26% | ADAGES | 6 | "A penny saved is a penny earned" and others |
| 25% | ADD | 3 | A l___er has many rungs and is used for climbing |
| 25% | TODDY | 5 | A hot one is made with liquor and water with honey |
| 25% | OAK | 3 | Wood that a bourbon barrel must be made of |
| 25% | COLD | 4 | Like dinner that has been lying for a while |
| 25% | LITUP | 5 | Had a smoke |
| 25% | OTTER | 5 | A mammal that swims, is found near rivers and has sleek fur |