| 100% | PLAYGROUND | 10 | Children's outdoor area for fun and games...and the nostalgic theme connecting 30a, 37a, 45a, and 44d |
| 30% | TABLE | 5 | Dining room furniture ... or the theme that connects the games found at 30a, 42a, 55a, 9d, and 51d |
| 29% | RISK | 4 | Popular board game that's played with armies on a map ... and the theme connecting 21a, 40a, 47a, 9d, and 38d |
| 28% | DODO | 4 | Extinct flightless avian...and the theme that connects 27a, 30a, 48a, and 24d. |
| 26% | REC | 3 | ___ center (facility for fun and games) |
| 26% | PLAYPEN | 7 | Enclosure for babies for fun and games |
| 26% | REC | 3 | Fun and games, for short |
| 25% | PLAYROOM | 8 | Place in a house for children's toys and games |
| 25% | TRAIN | 5 | Commuting option on rail ... and the theme connecting the words found at 22a, 24a, 34a, 45a, 4d, and 38d |
| 25% | CANDYLAND | 9 | Board game for young children with the Gumdrop Mountains and gingerbread-man tokens: 2 wds. |
| 25% | SOFTPLAY | 8 | Fun area for children |
| 25% | SEEK | 4 | Look for the hider, in a children's game |
| 24% | OBOESOLO | 8 | Duck’s theme, in Prokofiev’s “Peter and the Wolf,” for one |
| 24% | SEEK | 4 | Look for the hidden person, in a children's game |
| 24% | ACCEPT | 6 | Say "yes" to, as a Facebook friend request...and the theme connecting the words at 11a, 28a, 45a, 47a, 36d, and 53d |
| 24% | BREAKTHE | 8 | Don't __ Ice is a children's game for ages 3 and up |
| 24% | DUCKDUCKGOOSE | 13 | Children's game ... or the circled words in 20-, 28- and 48-Across |
| 24% | JUNGLE | 6 | Welcome to the __, we've got fun and games |
| 24% | MASH | 4 | Acronym in the names of a children's game and a classic TV show |
| 23% | SOLSTICE | 8 | *Winter ___, annual cosmic event when the day is shortest...and a connecting theme for 31a, 39a, 42a, 8d, and 20d |
| 23% | DRONES | 6 | Aircraft used in the military and for fun |
| 23% | TBALL | 5 | Outdoor game for the very young |
| 23% | BEARS | 5 | Belinda and Doctor Brown in the animated children's TV series "Peppa Pig," for two |
| 23% | REDROVER | 8 | Children's outdoor game |
| 23% | HOPSCOTCH | 9 | Children's outdoor game |
| 23% | BUY | 3 | ___ school supplies, stationery shopping that's both a fun and necessary activity for the last weekend before school |
| 23% | FOURTHWALL | 10 | TV term for an "invisible, imaginary barrier" that separates the cast and the audience... and the theme that connects 25a, 43a, 50a, 22d, and 54d: 2 wds. |
| 22% | LOWE | 4 | E. S. ___, old game company famous for Yahtzee and Bingo |
| 22% | SPANISHFLEA | 11 | Theme music for TV's "The Dating Game" |
| 22% | WHO | 3 | "Doctor ___," television series for which 45a wrote the episodes "The Doctor's Wife" and "Nightmare in Silver" |