| 100% | DUDS | 4 | Fireworks that could have been great, but weren't |
| 45% | AVOIDABLE | 9 | Like a situation that could have been prevented |
| 44% | PET | 3 | Animal that could have been adopted from a shelter |
| 44% | FROGGER | 7 | Classic arcade game that could have been called Animal Crossing |
| 44% | PALM | 4 | It has lines that can be read but not written |
| 42% | RIDDLE | 6 | "What has hands but can't clap?" is one |
| 40% | CLOCKS | 6 | Timepieces that can be digital or have hands |
| 39% | ONION | 5 | Something that can be red or white, but not blue |
| 39% | TREE | 4 | It has a trunk that can't be packed |
| 38% | LIE | 3 | That can't be right |
| 38% | ELBOW | 5 | Body part that can be held with one hand, but not both |
| 37% | BISCUIT | 7 | Porcelain that has been fired but not glazed |
| 37% | FALLOW | 6 | Farmland that has been plowed but left unsown |
| 37% | IMNOTADOCTOR | 12 | With 40- and 48-Across, much-mocked ad phrase that could have been said by the answers to the four starred clues |
| 37% | ORES | 4 | Rocks that have been mined but are still unrefined |
| 37% | MTG | 3 | Event that maybe could have been an email: abbr. |
| 37% | LARVAE | 6 | Insects that have hatched but are not yet pupae |
| 37% | KNEES | 5 | Body parts that have caps and can be locked |
| 37% | MOVETHENEEDLE | 13 | Have an impact that can be gauged |
| 36% | SSS | 3 | Sibilant sound that is often tough to track down, but if you can't it'll leave you flat |
| 36% | IPAD | 4 | Air that can’t be breathed? |
| 36% | CULTURALCAPITAL | 15 | Assets that can’t be taxed |
| 36% | EGG | 3 | Something that has to be broken before it can be used |
| 36% | URL | 3 | Link that can't have any spaces |
| 36% | YARN | 4 | Story that can't completely be believed |
| 35% | NATURE | 6 | Mother that can't be fooled |
| 35% | IMACS | 5 | Apples that can't be eaten |
| 35% | IPADS | 5 | Tablets that can't be swallowed |
| 35% | IDEA | 4 | Something that can't be patented |
| 35% | AMUST | 5 | Something that can't be missed |