| 100% | SNAKE | 5 | Creature that grows longer in a classic video game (also in this puzzle, when it "eats" a black square) |
| 40% | NBA | 3 | With 39-Across, classic sports video game ... or a hint to four squares in this puzzle |
| 36% | ITSJUSTAPHASE | 13 | "They'll grow out of that" … or a description of eight squares in this puzzle |
| 36% | THENUTCRACKER | 13 | Classic ballet set on Christmas Eve, with a hint to four black squares in this puzzle |
| 35% | ISPYWITHMYLITTLEEYE | 19 | Children's game phrase that should start the italicized clues … or a hint to eight squares in this puzzle |
| 33% | ROUNDOFAPPLAUSE | 15 | Acknowledgement of success--four are hidden in this puzzle, each adjacent to a black square |
| 33% | DIGITALDIVIDE | 13 | It separates those with access to technology and those without, and a feature of four answers in this puzzle |
| 32% | CHECKMATE | 9 | One ending for a classic board game - another of which (when a player resigns) is represented visually six times in this puzzle |
| 32% | RADIO | 5 | It can be two-way ... with a hint to four squares in this puzzle |
| 32% | MAYTHEFOURTHBEWITHYOU | 21 | Sci-fi-inspired greeting that's a hint to eight squares in this puzzle |
| 32% | SOS | 3 | Critical message that's a hint to the six longest entries in this puzzle |
| 31% | MYST | 4 | Island in a classic video game |
| 31% | PARTINGSHOT | 11 | End of a testy exchange, and what can be found four times in this puzzle, thanks to four black squares |
| 31% | WORDSQUARE | 10 | Classic letter puzzle -- or, when parsed differently, a hint to three Down answers in this puzzle |
| 31% | WATERUNDERTHE | 13 | Past disagreements that are no longer of concern ... or each block of shaded squares in this puzzle? |
| 30% | GEOMETRY | 8 | What the acorn said when it grew up, in a classic math joke |
| 30% | POW | 3 | Word on a block in a classic video game |
| 30% | MOLE | 4 | Animal that gets whacked in a classic arcade game |
| 30% | MINESWEEPER | 11 | Classic computer game whose players avoid hazardous items in a grid … as suggested by this puzzle? |
| 30% | ADBLOCK | 7 | Popular browser extension ... or a literal description of four black squares in this puzzle |
| 30% | COOKIECUTTERS | 13 | Slicing tools in a bakery ... or what several black squares in this puzzle represent |
| 30% | WORD | 4 | Scrabble play, or, when parsed in three parts, a hint to the switch featured in this puzzle's longest answers |
| 29% | REDACTED | 8 | Used a black marker on ... or a hint to three chunks of black squares in this puzzle |
| 29% | TICTACTOE | 9 | Game with half a dozen winning lines found in this puzzle |
| 29% | OREGONTRAIL | 11 | Historic wagon route that inspired a classic video game |
| 29% | DOUBLEO | 7 | Feature of this puzzle's circled squares that, when connected by a single line, visually represents 111-Across |
| 29% | STOPMAKINGSENSE | 15 | No longer be comprehensible ... and, with its first word divided in three parts, a hint to how to read this puzzle's title |
| 29% | STOP | 4 | Word on a red sign, and, when parsed in three parts, a hint to this puzzle's longest answers |
| 29% | THENANDNOW | 10 | Phrase in an article on grown-up child stars, perhaps ... or a hint to this puzzle's shaded squares |
| 28% | INFANT | 6 | One delivered by the labor specialist spelled out in the circled letters that touch six dividing black squares in this puzzle |