| 100% | TARMAC | 6 | Mixture of stone and tar to layer on roads |
| 37% | GRAVEL | 6 | Loose mixture of small stones and sand |
| 36% | MULCH | 5 | Mixture of leaves and bark often layered over soil by gardeners |
| 35% | PAVE | 4 | Lay some fresh tar on, as a road |
| 35% | ROADWAY | 7 | Surface of tar to drive on |
| 34% | BITUMEN | 7 | Impure mixture of hydrocarbons used as a road surfacing and roofing material |
| 34% | CHRISREA | 8 | Singer of The Road to Hell and Auberge |
| 33% | TARMAC | 6 | Cat and ram loose on top of the road |
| 33% | BEND | 4 | Dangerous part of a road on which to pass |
| 33% | OVERHEATS | 9 | Breaks down on the road due to lack of coolant |
| 33% | MANDALAY | 8 | Former capital of Burma, on the road to it perhaps |
| 32% | KEROUAC | 7 | Jack —, author of novels The Dharma Bums and On the Road |
| 32% | SONS | 4 | Robb and Bran Stark, to Ned Stark, on "Game of Thrones" |
| 32% | PINCHO | 6 | Layered Spanish appetizer consisting of bread, meat, or veggies and served on a stick |
| 32% | AQUA | 4 | Yellow corrosive mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acid used to dissolve metals |
| 32% | IDIOTS | 6 | Almost all other drivers on the road and never you, of course |
| 32% | KEROUAC | 7 | Jack —, author of the novels The Dharma Bums and On the Road |
| 31% | SIDESWIPE | 9 | Glancing blow on the road, and a hint to the puzzle's circles |
| 31% | THEATRE | 7 | A series of "insurmountable obstacles on the road to imminent disaster," per Tom Stoppard |
| 31% | TENANTS | 7 | People who live on land and pay rent to the owner of that land. |
| 31% | SUNTAN | 6 | The kind of lotion you put on to avoid sunburn and get a 25a |
| 30% | SHARON | 6 | Actress Stone of "Basic Instinct," who got married to Phil Bronstein on Valentine's Day |
| 30% | ARCH | 4 | Type of structure dedicated to peace and built on the border between Blaine and Surrey |
| 30% | GERVAIS | 7 | Ricky —, director, writer and star of 2016 film comedy David Brent: Life on the Road |
| 30% | KAYS | 4 | Bailey Hutchinson, US Permanent Representative to NATO and Michael, host of "Center Stage" on YES |
| 30% | ADELE | 5 | First person to appear simultaneously on the American and British covers of Vogue (Oct. 2021) |
| 30% | THEFORCE | 8 | "A mixture of what appears to be ESP and early Christian faith," per a 1977 New York Times film review |
| 30% | THISTOOSHALLPASS | 16 | Adage on the impermanence of suffering ... or a hint to 18-, 29-, 46- and 61-Across |
| 30% | LETSGOCRAZY | 11 | First track on Prince's "Purple Rain," and a hint to each set of circled letters |