| 100% | CODEBREAKER | 11 | Intelligence agency employee, and what a black square acts as in rows 3, 5, 8 and 11 |
| 58% | BREAKRANKS | 10 | Deviate from one's group, and what the black squares in rows 3, 5, 8 and 11 do |
| 55% | BRAKEJOBS | 9 | Garage offerings, and a phonetic hint to what the black squares in rows 3, 5, 11 and 13 do |
| 46% | BREAKDANCES | 11 | Street moves since the '70s ... and what the black squares on rows 3, 5, 11 and 13 do |
| 45% | TIEBREAKER | 10 | Overtime round, e.g. ... and what a black square acts as for the circled words? |
| 41% | 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 |
| 36% | CAMOUFLAGE | 10 | "Trick" used by the creatures found in rows 3, 5, 11 and 13 |
| 33% | CHEESE | 6 | With 58-Across, savory base for a canapé ... and the function of a black square in four puzzle rows? |
| 32% | REVERSE | 7 | What the numbers 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 are in |
| 32% | PARTINGSHOT | 11 | End of a testy exchange, and what can be found four times in this puzzle, thanks to four black squares |
| 31% | GAIT | 4 | Horse's pace, which can be found jumping across black squares in rows 3, 6, 10 and 14 of this grid |
| 31% | SPLITLEVEL | 10 | Home with a between-floors entrance ... and what can be found on puzzle rows 3, 6, 8 and 10? |
| 31% | ACTUP | 5 | Make mischief, and a hint to what's found in 3-, 5-, 7-, 34- and 38-Down |
| 30% | PARTTHEREDSEA | 13 | Emulate Moses ... and what four black squares do in this puzzle |
| 30% | FBI | 3 | Intelligence agency in "Judas and the Black Messiah": Abbr. |
| 30% | TAXBREAK | 8 | Common campaign promise, and what four black squares in this puzzle create |
| 30% | TOUGHNUTTOCRACK | 15 | Challenging poser...that rows 3, 5, 11 and 13 have broken |
| 29% | INTERMISSIONS | 13 | Breaks found on rows 3, 5, 11 and 13 of this puzzle? |
| 29% | RENEWABLEENERGY | 15 | Continuous power, found in continuous strings in rows 1, 5, 11 and 15 |
| 29% | SLED | 4 | What a lunch tray can act as, in a pinch |
| 28% | COOKIECUTTERS | 13 | Slicing tools in a bakery ... or what several black squares in this puzzle represent |
| 27% | ALTERNATE | 9 | What black and white squares do on a chessboard |
| 27% | COOKIE | 6 | With 36-Across, mass-produced ... and what each of four black squares in this puzzle is? |
| 27% | BARRIERSTOENTRY | 15 | Impediments to newcomers, illustrated by black squares in rows 2, 4, 12 and 14 |
| 27% | LUNARPHASE | 10 | What's represented by each circled space and one black square in this grid |
| 27% | CROSSPARTYLINES | 15 | Act in a bipartisan way, and what the circled letters do Across and Down |
| 27% | POLITICALANIMAL | 15 | Human being, per Aristotle, who can be seen in 50-Across and 3-, 5-, 9- and 11-Down |
| 26% | PARALLELPARKS | 13 | What 1-, 5-, 10-, 32-, 43- and 53-Down are, in a manner of speaking |
| 26% | SPEAKER | 7 | Audio player, which now comes in "Smart" variants and can act as a virtual assistant |
| 26% | ISSO | 4 | "And what ___ rare as a day in June?" |