| 100% | TET | 3 | Holiday when sweeping and emptying the trash are considered bad luck |
| 34% | LADDER | 6 | Walking under this is considered bad luck |
| 34% | WHISTLING | 9 | Doing this is considered bad luck in circus |
| 32% | STEAK | 5 | What may be considered worse when done well |
| 31% | CASINOS | 7 | Where $50 bills and crossing your legs may be considered bad luck |
| 31% | MEDITATE | 8 | Sit quietly and empty the mind, be mindful |
| 29% | PURIM | 5 | Jewish holiday when the book of Esther is read |
| 29% | DEC | 3 | When the made-up holiday Festivus is: Abbr. |
| 29% | FORTIES | 7 | When Velcro, the Frisbee and Tupperware were invented |
| 29% | EURASIA | 7 | When Europe and Asia are considered to be united |
| 29% | EQUINOX | 7 | When day and night are approximately the same duration |
| 29% | ATNIGHT | 7 | When Santa and the tooth fairy are most active |
| 28% | SEVENTEENEIGHTY | 15 | When the American Academy of Arts and Sciences was founded |
| 27% | ETA | 3 | When the pilot and flight crew are set to land, for short |
| 27% | WALT | 4 | I am considered a pioneer of the animation industry and I have won 22 Oscars |
| 27% | BEDPOSTS | 8 | Shot when the 7 and 10 pins are split in bowling |
| 26% | WANG | 4 | Wayne —, director of films The Joy Luck Club, Smoke and Last Holiday |
| 26% | SPLIT | 5 | Arrangement when only the 7 and 10 pins are standing, in bowling |
| 26% | ELIWALLACH | 10 | Hollywood star whose memoir was titled "The Good, the Bad, and Me" |
| 26% | OLDAGE | 6 | It "isn't so bad when you consider the alternative," per Maurice Chevalier |
| 26% | UPRISE | 6 | Revolt, and when its two syllables are swapped, a phrase meaning the same thing |
| 26% | ISHIGURO | 8 | Kazuo —, author of novels The Remains of the Day and When We Were Orphans |
| 25% | BEGINNINGOFTIME | 15 | *When the heavens and earth were created |
| 25% | EVIL | 4 | This is bad. Real bad. And it's lurking in the longest puzzle answers, too! |
| 25% | MEDITATE | 8 | Sit quietly and empty the mind |
| 25% | CHANGEOFFORTUNE | 15 | Reversal in luck, and what can be found in the answers to the starred clues |
| 25% | JANE | 4 | I am considered the world's foremost expert on chimpanzees and was named a UN Messenger of Peace in 2002 |
| 25% | WHATITSALLABOUT | 15 | The main takeaway … or, when considered in three different senses, a description of 20-, 33- and 41-Across |
| 25% | CAROLS | 6 | * You know Christmas is right around the corner when you hear "Jingle Bells" and the like |
| 25% | BACKTOSQUAREONE | 15 | Exasperated cry when trashing a draft, and where to go to answer the clues with slashes |