| 100% | SANDTRAPS | 9 | Golf hazards, or what the letters between the circles have fallen into |
| 58% | CUTOUTOFWHOLECLOTH | 18 | Completely false, or what the letters between the circles are? |
| 44% | PATHTOVICTORY | 13 | Election night calculation ... or what's traced by the circled letters |
| 43% | BACKCHANNEL | 11 | Covert means of communication ... or what's hiding in the circled letters? |
| 43% | RAISEARUCKUS | 12 | Cause commotion ... or what the circled letters do? |
| 43% | SPRINGFORWARDFALLBACK | 21 | Timely mnemonic, or what the circled letters depict |
| 43% | STRINGQUARTET | 13 | Classical music group ... or what the four sets of circled letters make up? |
| 43% | CORPORATEBONDS | 14 | Capital-raising vehicles, or what the circled letters represent |
| 42% | SILENTNIGHT | 11 | Song of 1859 ... or what the five circled letters represent? |
| 42% | DARWIN | 6 | Evolution theorist ... or what the circled letters are evolving toward? |
| 42% | HOLESINTHEWALL | 14 | Dingy bars, or what the circled letters can help fix |
| 42% | RINSECYCLE | 10 | Part of washing ... or what's exhibited by the circled letters from top to bottom |
| 42% | STRAIGHTEDGES | 13 | Rulers, e.g. ... or what the letters in 3-, 7-, 27- and 34-Down all have |
| 41% | BREAKFAST | 9 | Important meal, or what the circled letters do, if parsed another way |
| 40% | OUTOFORDER | 10 | Like a nonfunctioning vending machine, or what the circled letters are, in two ways |
| 40% | TAKE | 4 | With 6-Across, go in a board game ... or what the circled letters do |
| 40% | BREAKEVEN | 9 | Have no profit or loss, and a hint to the circled letters |
| 40% | WOODFILLER | 10 | Carpenter's compound, or what's found between each of four pairs of circled letters |
| 40% | LIFECYCLE | 9 | Biological sequence, or what you'll find in the circled letters |
| 40% | WARMINGUP | 9 | Getting ready to exercise ... or what the words composed of circled letters are doing when read from left to right? |
| 39% | FULLHOUSE | 9 | Hit 1980s-'90s sitcom ... or what the circled letters in 16-, 26- and 43-Across represent? |
| 39% | MIXEDBREED | 10 | Pet without papers ... or what is literally found in the circled letters |
| 39% | FRIEDRICE | 9 | Chinese menu standard, or what's literally found in the circled letters? |
| 39% | CANDYCANE | 9 | Christmas tree decoration ... or a hint to what the circled letters form |
| 39% | GRANDPA | 7 | Pop's pop ... or, divided into three parts, what the answers to starred clues have in common |
| 39% | BOBOLINKS | 9 | Birds with short finch-like bills ... or, what the sets of circled letters literally are? |
| 39% | BURSTINGATTHESEAMS | 18 | Overflowing, or what the words in the circles are? |
| 39% | FEEDINGFRENZY | 13 | Mad rush for spoils ... or what the answers to 17-, 25-, 51-, and 60-Across have descended into? |
| 38% | NOTHINGINCOMMON | 15 | Lack of similar interests, and what the three long answers with circled letters have? |
| 38% | POSTITNOTES | 11 | Sticky yellow squares ... or a description of the circled letters and what they follow? |