| 100% | BANQUET | 7 | Elaborate meal that is often ceremonious and hosted in honor of a person |
| 41% | WARTS | 5 | Bumps that are often seen on toads and also a feature of Shrek's anatomy as an ogre in the book |
| 41% | ROLEMODEL | 9 | A person that is often looked at as someone to follow in the footsteps of : 2 wds. |
| 40% | UNITEDSTATES | 12 | Country that will host the 2028 Olympics . . . and a collective description of the letter pair abbreviations in the starred clues' answers |
| 36% | STATEDINNER | 11 | Event hosted in honor of a visiting dignitary |
| 35% | ASTER | 5 | Daisy-like flower that is a member of the sunflower family and blooms late in fall |
| 35% | VHS | 3 | VCR format that was a popular mode of watching 19a in the 1980s and 1990s: Abbr. |
| 35% | LAMBSHANKS | 10 | Cuts of meat that are often braised whole in a red wine sauce |
| 34% | ASTRO | 5 | Prefix with 19d that is a branch of science popularized by people like Stephen Hawking and Neil deGrasse Tyson |
| 33% | TOKYO | 5 | City that was often a target of Godzilla |
| 33% | DERRY | 5 | "___ Girls," show starring Nicola Coughlan that follows a group of friends and is set in Northern Ireland |
| 33% | CHEEKBONE | 9 | Facial feature that is often "high" in a supermodel |
| 33% | FURNITUREASSEMBLY | 17 | Ikea task, and a task that can be applied to the sets of circled letters in this puzzle |
| 33% | EDITOR | 6 | Person who is in charge of and determines the final content of a text |
| 32% | TACO | 4 | Mexican food that is often part of a Tuesday promotion |
| 32% | ARC | 3 | Geometric shape that is often the shape of a rainbow |
| 32% | KIN | 3 | Next of ___ (person who often receives money in a will) |
| 32% | DARKAGES | 8 | Period often characterized as one of violence and backwardness, but in fact is a period of lack of records |
| 32% | COMA | 4 | A person in it is out of it |
| 32% | TROPICAL | 8 | Of a climate that is hot and humid |
| 32% | EARS | 4 | Head parts that were often exaggerated in caricatures of Barack Obama |
| 32% | TOGA | 4 | Garment that was often worn over a tunic in old Rome |
| 32% | YORUBA | 6 | Member of a people living chiefly in southwest Nigeria and Benin |
| 32% | YORUBA | 6 | Member of a people living chiefly in SW Nigeria and Benin |
| 32% | VASE | 4 | Something that is often painted and holds a bouquet |
| 32% | SWEET | 5 | The kind of dishes that are served before fruits in a multi-course meal |
| 32% | APARTMENT | 9 | Flat in a residential complex that might be a creative person's abode, and a word with 16a hidden in it |
| 32% | CARTOON | 7 | Animations like "Tom and Jerry" that might be created by a creative person, and a word with 16a hidden in it |
| 32% | GOUDA | 5 | Mild yellow cheese that originated in Netherlands and is considered to be in a low lactose range of 0-2.2% |
| 32% | BREAKFAST | 9 | Meal that might be a treat to have in bed |