| 100% | DOUBLETALK | 10 | Evasive communication, and a hint to 18-, 27-, 36- and 45-Across |
| 62% | MIDDLEAMERICA | 13 | Heartland, and a hint to 20-, 27-, 35- and 45-Across |
| 61% | ROCKYSTART | 10 | Bumpy beginning ... or a hint to 18-, 24-, 36- and 52-Across |
| 60% | HEADSTARTS | 10 | Advantages, or a hint to 18-, 27- and 47-Across |
| 59% | ONOFFSWITCH | 11 | Toggle ... or a hint to 18-, 29- and 45-Across? |
| 56% | MOREORLESS | 10 | Roughly, and a hint to the words hidden in 18-, 23-, 36- and 52-Across |
| 56% | COLLEGESTATION | 14 | Texas city ... and a hint to the starts of 21-, 27-, 45- and 56-Across |
| 56% | NOGO | 4 | Canceled ... or a hint to answering 17-, 27-, 34-, 45- and 57-Across |
| 56% | ISMELLARAT | 10 | Suspicious comment ... and a hint to what's hidden in 18-, 24-, 36- and 51-Across |
| 55% | ITSNOTHING | 10 | "Just a scratch, really" ... and a hint to the starts of 17-, 27-, 36- and 46-Across |
| 55% | DOH | 3 | Cry from Homer … or a phonetic hint to the ends of 18-, 27-, 48- and 62- Across |
| 55% | MANINOUTERSPACE | 15 | Project Mercury objective (and a hint to 1-, 18-, 27-, 47-, 62- and 68-Across) |
| 55% | GOFISH | 6 | Popular kids' game ... or a hint to 18-, 32-, 37- and 58-Across |
| 55% | VERBALGYMNASTICS | 16 | Fancy, evasive language ... or a hint to the ends of 18-, 26-, 54- and 65-Across |
| 55% | THATSTHETICKET | 14 | "Exactly!" ... and a hint to where 20-, 36- and 43-Across' ending words may be found |
| 55% | ONTHEBEACH | 10 | 1957 novel, and a hint to the ends of 17-, 27- and 45-Across and 11- and 34-Down |
| 53% | BEACHFRONT | 10 | Property along the ocean ... or a hint to the starts of 18-, 23-, 36- and 47-Across |
| 53% | AUPAIRS | 7 | Live-in workers ... or a hint to 14, 18, 32, and 51 Across |
| 53% | SOS | 3 | "Help!"... and a hint to 17-, 27-, 42- and 53-Across |
| 53% | LETTHEREBELIGHT | 15 | Genesis words, and a hint to 16-, 27-, 43- and 59-Across |
| 52% | ANIMAL | 6 | With 56-Across, lunchbox snacks ... or a hint to the black squares before 18-, 29-, 35- and 45-Across? |
| 52% | ALLFOURS | 8 | What you're on when you're crawling ... or a hint to parsing 18-, 27-, 46- and 61-Across |
| 52% | PPS | 3 | Second addendum to a letter ... and a hint to 18-, 34-, 44- and 62-across |
| 52% | PACKANIMAL | 10 | Beast of burden, and a hint to 17-, 25-, 36- and 49-Across |
| 52% | STARTINGQB | 10 | Brady or Mahomes, and a hint to 17-, 31-, 37- and 45-Across |
| 52% | ONTHEDOUBLE | 11 | Quickly … and a hint to 17-, 24-, 45- and 55-Across |
| 52% | BEADYEYES | 9 | Rodentlike features, and a phonetic hint to a segment of 18-, 23-, 36-, and 50-Across |
| 52% | BOS | 3 | Logan Airport luggage letters ... and a hint to 17-, 27-, 49- and 64-Across |
| 51% | SPLITPEAS | 9 | Soup vegetables … and a hint to 20-, 30-, 45- and 52-Across |
| 51% | WHEREITSAT | 10 | Happening place ... or a hint to 18-, 23-, 39- and 51-Across? |