| 100% | SEVENSEAS | 9 | Result of connecting the circled letters in a certain way, in a punny manner of speaking |
| 41% | RIGHTBETWEENTHE | 15 | With 67-Across, in a sudden and completely apparent way ... or a punny description of this puzzle's circled letters |
| 39% | SPLITSCREEN | 11 | Feature of some news reports ... and a hint to the circled letters in this puzzle |
| 39% | OUTOFORDER | 10 | Like a nonfunctioning vending machine, or what the circled letters are, in two ways |
| 39% | TRIMS | 5 | Cuts off a bit of hair ... as seen in the circled letters? |
| 38% | WRAPSUP | 7 | Finishes, and a hint to the sets of circled letters in this puzzle |
| 38% | CROSSPARTYLINES | 15 | Act in a bipartisan way, and what the circled letters do Across and Down |
| 38% | LINKINGVERB | 11 | Word such as "be" ... or a punny description of the seven-letter word that can create new action words when its letters are inserted in the breaks of the circled action words |
| 38% | TURNINGAPROPHET | 15 | Punny description of the circled letters in 17-, 27- and 48-Across |
| 38% | GOLF | 4 | Game in which a certain tournament's champions put on aptly colorful jackets (you can find this tournament in the first letters of this puzzle's circled colors) |
| 38% | VICIOUSCYCLES | 13 | Hard patterns to break ... or a punny description of the climbs up the circled letters |
| 38% | ANGLE | 5 | Relationship of the circled letters to the apt words they connect to in this puzzle |
| 38% | WALKONAIR | 9 | Experience elation, and, in a way, each set of circled letters |
| 37% | NEWWORLDORDER | 13 | Shake-up in the global balance of power ... and a hint to the circled letters |
| 37% | ADRAMACRITICIS | 14 | Part 1 of a quip by the writer named in the circled letters |
| 37% | STILLIRISE | 10 | Classic Maya Angelou poem … or a hint to the answers to the starred clues and the circled letters, in two different ways |
| 37% | FURNITUREASSEMBLY | 17 | Ikea task, and a task that can be applied to the sets of circled letters in this puzzle |
| 37% | SEPTEMBER | 9 | In a certain way the longest month |
| 36% | MANSPREADS | 10 | Crowds one's seatmates, in a way ... or a hint to the circled letters |
| 36% | ROLLTHEDICE | 11 | Take a chance, and how to form the sequence in each set of circled letters |
| 36% | DIAGONALPARKING | 15 | Easy way of pulling in ... and a hint to the six circled words |
| 36% | GAY | 3 | What the second letter in a certain multiletter initialism stands for |
| 36% | RUDOLPH | 7 | Who's depicted in this puzzle when the circled letters are connected from A to Z and back to A |
| 35% | JUMP | 4 | Word that can precede each set of circled letters, forming a literal hint for entering certain answers in this puzzle |
| 35% | SONG | 4 | Result of using one's voice, in a way |
| 35% | CHANGEENDS | 10 | Tennis umpire's order after odd-numbered games ... and a hint to the two sets of circled letters in each of eight answers |
| 35% | ABC | 3 | Kind of order for the circled letters in this puzzle |
| 35% | BLOWININTHEWIND | 15 | Bob Dylan song ... or a hint to the object found by connecting the four circled letters in a diamond |
| 35% | SPELLING | 8 | The agreed sequence of letters in a word |
| 34% | RAP | 3 | Speak on the record, in a way? |