| 100% | BREAKFAST | 9 | Important meal, or what the circled letters do, if parsed another way |
| 52% | RAISEARUCKUS | 12 | Cause commotion ... or what the circled letters do? |
| 49% | TAKE | 4 | With 6-Across, go in a board game ... or what the circled letters do |
| 43% | OUTOFORDER | 10 | Like a nonfunctioning vending machine, or what the circled letters are, in two ways |
| 42% | SPRINGFORWARDFALLBACK | 21 | Timely mnemonic, or what the circled letters depict |
| 42% | CORPORATEBONDS | 14 | Capital-raising vehicles, or what the circled letters represent |
| 42% | PUTALIDONIT | 11 | "Shut your trap!" ... and, graphically, what the circled letters do |
| 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 |
| 41% | GETARAISE | 9 | Start to make more money, and what the circled letters do? |
| 41% | WARMINGUP | 9 | Getting ready to exercise ... or what the words composed of circled letters are doing when read from left to right? |
| 40% | CROSSPARTYLINES | 15 | Act in a bipartisan way, and what the circled letters do Across and Down |
| 39% | FULLHOUSE | 9 | Hit 1980s-'90s sitcom ... or what the circled letters in 16-, 26- and 43-Across represent? |
| 39% | TURNINGRED | 10 | Showing embarrassment ... or what the circles in three puzzle answers are literally doing |
| 38% | FALLINGRAIN | 11 | Downpour, or when parsed another way, what can be found in this puzzle's sets of circles |
| 38% | SILENTNIGHT | 11 | Song of 1859 ... or what the five circled letters represent? |
| 38% | CUTOUTOFWHOLECLOTH | 18 | Completely false, or what the letters between the circles are? |
| 37% | SANDTRAPS | 9 | Golf hazards, or what the letters between the circles have fallen into |
| 37% | STRINGQUARTET | 13 | Classical music group ... or what the four sets of circled letters make up? |
| 36% | CROSSDRESSING | 13 | "Mrs. Doubtfire" plot device - or what the letters in this clue's answer do five times? |
| 35% | WATER | 5 | What the circled letters represent |
| 35% | YES | 3 | What the circled letters all mean |
| 34% | TAKEOUTFOOD | 11 | Alternative to home cooking, or what should be done to the answers with circles |
| 34% | MAKINGAFACE | 11 | Smirking, scowling, or smiling, and what the sets of circled letters in this puzzle are doing? |
| 34% | SEEYOUINCOURT | 13 | What the circled letters in this answer represent, homophonically |
| 34% | BEEINONESBONNET | 15 | What the circled letter in this answer represents, homophonically |
| 34% | SEAOFCORTEZ | 11 | What the circled letter in this answer represents, homophonically |
| 34% | EYEOFTHETIGER | 13 | What the circled letter in this answer represents, homophonically |
| 34% | BREAKTHEICE | 11 | Begin a conversation, and what the answers to the starred clues do to their circled letters? |
| 34% | SOAKUPTHESUN | 12 | 2002 summer anthem from Sheryl Crow, and what the answers with circles do, in two ways |