| 100% | LONERS | 6 | Single sorts, and the letters dropped from pairs in the theme answers |
| 50% | GORE | 4 | Environmental activist, and the letters changed in the theme answers |
| 47% | SNOWMEN | 7 | Winter figures, made from the "bonus" letters in this puzzle's theme answers |
| 45% | ABRIDGED | 8 | Shortened, and the letters missing from the starred answers |
| 44% | UNITEDSTATES | 12 | Country that will host the 2028 Olympics . . . and a collective description of the letter pair abbreviations in the starred clues' answers |
| 43% | TURNEDTHETABLES | 15 | Reversed an unfavorable situation, and what you did in the theme answers |
| 43% | ESSAY | 5 | Short article, and a hint to completing the titles in the theme answers |
| 42% | HOTANDCOLD | 10 | How emotions may blow, and a hint to the switches in the theme answers |
| 41% | THEGRINCH | 9 | Thief who stole the missing letters from this puzzle's theme answers |
| 41% | NAMECARDS | 9 | Labels at a dinner party ... or a hint to the circled letters hidden in the theme answers? |
| 41% | FORSTARTERS | 11 | "To begin..." and what the theme answers need in order to make sense |
| 40% | ABRIDGED | 8 | Shortened, and what the letters removed from eight novels in this puzzle spell out |
| 40% | THATWASEASY | 11 | Confident post-exam assertion, and a hint to a letter pair in each starred answer |
| 40% | FOUR | 4 | Number of letters in our contest answer--and the number of letters between certain pairs of letters in this puzzle |
| 39% | CHANGEOFHEART | 13 | Attitude shift, and the shift found in five letters in the answer to each starred clue |
| 39% | POWERCOUPLE | 11 | Influential pairing, and a hint to the circles in four puzzle answers |
| 39% | RECYCLEDMATERIALS | 17 | Parts used over and over again, such as the letters in the answers to the starred clues |
| 39% | SALT | 4 | Theme of this puzzle, found in the answers to 21-, 26-, 44- and 52-Across |
| 39% | CRONE | 5 | Witch, and the combination of letters added to this puzzle's theme answers |
| 38% | COMEONLINES | 11 | Words from a pickup artist, and, if reinterpreted, each of the four theme answers |
| 38% | BEDHEAD | 7 | Messy hair in the morning, and a hint to the tops of the theme answers |
| 38% | CHANGEPURSE | 11 | *Spot for coins, and what five letters do in the answer to each starred clue? |
| 37% | BINGO | 5 | Winning exclamation aptly arranged and spelled by the standalone letters in the answers to starred clues |
| 37% | CHANGECOLOR | 11 | What autumn leaves do, and what five letters do in the answer to each starred clue |
| 37% | SPRINGBREAK | 11 | Popular vacation time ... and an explanation of what's straddling the two words in each theme answer? |
| 37% | TOGO | 4 | Pair in the seven longest answers |
| 37% | SOUNDOUT | 8 | Pronounce, as syllables ... and what's spelled by the letters you hear from the asterisked answers' deleted syllables |
| 37% | CLOSEBUTNOCIGAR | 15 | "Not quite!," and what can be said about a letter string in the answer to each starred clue |
| 36% | WELSH | 5 | Language in which "dd" and "ff" are treated as single letters of the alphabet |
| 36% | CAPITALOFFENSE | 14 | Lawbreaking with serious consequences, as committed in the theme answers |