| 100% | NEED | 4 | Megaproject proposed as a solution to rising ocean levels in the English Channel and the North Sea (abbr.) |
| 36% | DOVER | 5 | ___ strait, strait connecting the English Channel and the North Sea |
| 33% | HARRIETQUIMBY | 13 | First woman to earn a pilot's license in the United States and the first woman to fly across the English Channel (2 wds.) |
| 30% | YSER | 4 | River that rises in France and reaches the North Sea at Belgium's Nieuwpoort |
| 30% | ORD | 3 | River in Western Australia that flows north to Cambridge Gulf and the Timor Sea |
| 29% | OFFERED | 7 | Proposed, as a solution to a problem |
| 29% | YSER | 4 | 48 mi. Belgian river that rises in French Flanders and reaches the North Sea at Nieuwpoort |
| 29% | DEE | 3 | River in North Wales and Cheshire that flows to the Irish Sea |
| 29% | CONSEQUENTIALLY | 15 | As a result, and a hint to a three-letter chunk in the five long Down answers |
| 29% | PEA | 3 | "The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea in a beautiful ___-green boat ..." |
| 29% | DON | 3 | River that rises in the Cairngorm Mountains before flowing east to the North Sea |
| 27% | COD | 3 | USS ___: vessel currently moored in Cleveland's North Coast Harbor and open to visitors as a museum ship |
| 27% | PELOPS | 6 | Son of Tantalus in Greek mythology killed by his father and served to the gods as a meal |
| 27% | EDDYSTONE | 9 | — Rocks, a group in the English Channel southwest of Plymouth |
| 27% | GROUPCHAT | 9 | Conversation among friends ... or a hint to the animal collectives in the starred answers and the conversations that follow them |
| 27% | DAYANDNIGHT | 11 | All the time, as well as a hint to the abbreviations hidden in the starred answers |
| 27% | THISANDTHAT | 11 | Miscellany, and a hint to the hidden words in the starred answers |
| 26% | ESSAY | 5 | Short article, and a hint to completing the titles in the theme answers |
| 26% | TYNE | 4 | English river that flows to the North Sea at South Shields |
| 26% | OSTEND | 6 | Port and resort in West Flanders, Belgium, on the North Sea |
| 26% | OSTEND | 6 | Port and resort in Belgium on the North Sea |
| 26% | ALLEN | 5 | Irwin —, director of adventure films Five Weeks in a Balloon and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea |
| 26% | WALUIGI | 7 | Purple-clad character who serves as a foil to Mario's brother in the "Super Mario Bros." series |
| 26% | FAUXAMIS | 8 | Words in a foreign language that bear a deceptive resemblance to those in another, like the French "décevoir" ("disappoint") and the English "deceive" |
| 26% | BUMAROUND | 9 | Wander aimlessly ... and a hint to a divided word in the answers to starred clues |
| 26% | SWAPMEET | 8 | Collectors' event, and a hint to what's hidden in the answers to starred clues |
| 26% | SHAMEONYOU | 10 | "That wasn't nice!" and a hint to a trigram hidden in the asterisked answers |
| 26% | CANIGETANAMEN | 13 | "Anyone agree with me?" and a hint to what's hidden in the starred answers |
| 26% | PATRICK | 7 | ___ Brewer from "Schitt's Creek" who takes a reluctant David Rose on a hike and proposes to him at the top of the trail |
| 26% | CPK | 3 | A test to look at the levels of creatinine phosphokinase in the blood |