| 100% | GETCRACKING | 11 | Hop to it ... or what to do to the various eggs in this puzzle's shaded squares? |
| 56% | DOUBLECROSS | 11 | Betray … or a hint to what's found in this puzzle's shaded squares |
| 54% | TEALEAVES | 9 | Divination aids … or a phonetic hint to the shaded squares in this puzzle |
| 54% | SPOTTHEDIFFERENCE | 17 | Kind of visual puzzle ... or what to do with each line in this puzzle's two shaded areas |
| 52% | BACKUPTHETRUCK | 14 | "Wait, what did you just say?," or a hint to the circled letters in this puzzle |
| 50% | SOLVEFORX | 9 | Common directive in 17-Across … or what to do with five squares in this puzzle |
| 50% | MILKSHAKES | 10 | Diner treats ... or a hint to what's happening to the words in the circled squares in this puzzle? |
| 49% | TAKEITDOWNANOTCH | 16 | Reduce one’s excitement slightly ... or what you have to do to the final letter of five long answers in this puzzle? |
| 49% | ESCAPEACT | 9 | Houdini’s signature feat … or a hint to the circled squares in this puzzle |
| 49% | COVERALLTHEBASES | 16 | Take care of everything … or a hint to what four squares in this puzzle do |
| 48% | WAITING | 7 | On hold ... or what the seven rows of black squares in this puzzle's grid spell in Morse code |
| 48% | BURSTOUT | 8 | With 37-Across, lose it ... or what 12 answers in this puzzle appear to do |
| 48% | TNUT | 4 | Hardware fastener ... or a literal hint to the circled squares in this puzzle |
| 47% | ANYMOMENT | 9 | "It's about to happen" ... or what each of the four other longest answers in this puzzle has? |
| 47% | PASSNOTES | 9 | Furtively communicate in class, or what you need to do seven times in this puzzle |
| 47% | TWELFTHMAN | 10 | Home-field advantage in football ... or what the last square of the answer to this clue represents in this puzzle |
| 47% | LETSCALLITADAY | 14 | "I think we're done here" … or a hint to translating each of the four shaded words in this puzzle |
| 47% | DROPMEALINE | 11 | "Don't be a stranger!" ... or what you have to do three times in this puzzle |
| 47% | THENANDNOW | 10 | Phrase in an article on grown-up child stars, perhaps ... or a hint to this puzzle's shaded squares |
| 46% | PUNNEDIT | 8 | What the puzzlemaker did to the name in each of this puzzle's theme answers? |
| 46% | JUMPSUITS | 9 | Garments similar to rompers … with a hint to the shaded squares in this puzzle |
| 46% | GREEKCROSS | 10 | Religious symbol resembling a plus sign ... or a hint to the three groups of shaded squares in this puzzle |
| 45% | MAKESABEELINE | 13 | What this puzzle’s solver does when filling in the upper-left to lower-right diagonal? |
| 45% | RISEFROM | 8 | With 97-Across, emerge reborn ... or what the ends of five Across answers in this puzzle do? |
| 45% | BREAKINGBAD | 11 | #3 on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time (as of 2016) ... and a hint to what the black squares are doing in four rows of this puzzle |
| 45% | KITKATMINIS | 11 | Bite-size chocolate-covered wafers ... or a hint to what's found in five squares in this puzzle |
| 45% | WINTERARC | 9 | Season-long alternative to a New Year's resolution, or what the letters in the shaded squares represent? |
| 45% | SCOOPEDUP | 9 | Eagerly obtained ... or a hint to the contents of this puzzle's shaded squares? |
| 44% | ISPYWITHMYLITTLEEYE | 19 | Children's game phrase that should start the italicized clues … or a hint to eight squares in this puzzle |
| 44% | CLEANUP | 7 | Response to 40-Across ... or what can be done to 12 answers in this puzzle without affecting their clues? |