| 100% | INNING | 6 | Pres. Taft, in 1910, stretched during the 7th one of these, thereby lending credence to a long standing practice |
| 35% | LEADDETECTIVES | 14 | Ones in charge of a case ... or a literal hint to the eight other longest answers in this puzzle |
| 29% | GIN | 3 | One of the liquors in a Long Island Iced Tea |
| 28% | BETBLOCKER | 10 | One who stands in the way of a wager? |
| 28% | FLOORLAMP | 9 | One often seen standing in the corner of a room? |
| 28% | HAL | 3 | Name that's one of the halves of a word in this clue |
| 28% | SALTSHAKER | 10 | One of a pair at the dinner table ... or a hint to this puzzle's theme |
| 28% | TEALEAVES | 9 | Read these in the bottom of a cup, to predict |
| 28% | ERE | 3 | Short palindrome in the middle of a famous longer one |
| 27% | QUASAR | 6 | One of a number of astronomical bodies thought to be the most luminous objects in the universe |
| 27% | JET | 3 | The Lippisch Ente was the first one of these to fly, in 1928 |
| 27% | CUE | 3 | Long tapered rod used to strike a ball in the game of snooker |
| 27% | CUE | 3 | Long, tapered rod used to strike a ball in the game of snooker |
| 27% | BJORN | 5 | One of the Bs in musical supergroup ABBA stands for "Benny" and the other B stands for this |
| 27% | RISINGSEALEVELS | 15 | One effect of global warming, and a hint to the five longest Down answers |
| 27% | NOWYOUSEEITNOWYOUDONT | 21 | Magic words … or a hint to the other long answers in this puzzle |
| 27% | INDIAN | 6 | ← Member of the only team to win this many games in a season |
| 27% | WRAPSUP | 7 | Finishes, and a hint to the sets of circled letters in this puzzle |
| 27% | PH/FONETICALLY | 14 | Middle of the quip ... and a hint to eight squares in this puzzle |
| 27% | GNOME | 5 | One of a species of legendary creatures said to live in the depths of the earth and guard buried treasure |
| 27% | PITSAW | 6 | Cutting tool handled by two people, one of whom is often standing in a hole in the ground |
| 27% | BONAPARTE | 9 | Napoleon ___, one of the greatest conquerors of all time who is studied in military schools to this day |
| 27% | TETEBECHE | 9 | In philately, a joined pair of stamps printed with one inverted in relation to the other |
| 26% | BRAVE | 5 | Willing to stand up for one's beliefs in the face of adversity, say |
| 26% | SOS | 3 | Critical message that's a hint to the six longest entries in this puzzle |
| 26% | MICROBREW | 9 | Craft beer . . . and a hint to the contents of four squares in this puzzle |
| 26% | NOB | 3 | One of wealth and standing in Britain ... and a word that can be slangily used to refer to one's "head" |
| 26% | SETPOINT | 8 | In tennis, the last one to win a group of games |
| 26% | CIRCLEBACK | 10 | Return to a subject in conversation, and what this puzzle's author did to make the examples stand out |
| 26% | AREYOUFORREAL | 13 | "Seriously?!" … or what one might ask of the answers to starred clues in this puzzle? |