| 100% | ENERO | 5 | Start of the year, to a 63-Across |
| 60% | EDORGERON | 9 | 2019 SEC Coach of the Year who led the 48-Across to a national championship (2 wds.) |
| 60% | ONETWOTHREEFOUR | 15 | Start of a march chant … or a hint to 17-, 27-, 47- and 63-Across |
| 59% | ENERO | 5 | First month of the year, to many a 5-Down character |
| 59% | SNAP | 4 | Start of a play to the quarterback |
| 59% | VENI | 4 | Start of a boast to the Senate |
| 59% | SPLIT | 5 | Start of the contest answer, and a nudge to finding the rest |
| 59% | DEARSANTA | 9 | Start of a letter to the North Pole |
| 59% | BECAUSEPOEWROTE | 15 | Start of a possible answer to the riddle |
| 58% | JUSTBROWSING | 12 | Reply to a salesperson ... or a hint to the start of 19-, 25- and 43-Across |
| 58% | TRIMMINGTHETREE | 15 | Yuletide undertaking, and a hint to the starts of 17-, 21-, 54- and 63-Across |
| 57% | SOMETHINGWICKED | 15 | Start of a Ray Bradbury title ... or a hint to the ends of 17-, 26-, 49- and 62-Across |
| 57% | EASYON | 6 | Start of a billboard catchphrase meaning "close to the highway" |
| 57% | DEARSANTA | 9 | Start of a letter to the North Pole: 2 wds. |
| 57% | WALTER | 6 | ___ Payton Man of the Year, annual award presented to a philanthropic NFL player |
| 57% | TWENTYFIVEYEARS | 15 | Start of a tribute to the Metropolitan Opera's James Levine |
| 56% | AHOUSEDIVIDED | 13 | Start of a Lincoln line, and a hint to the circled letters |
| 55% | JAN | 3 | Start of the year: Abbr. |
| 55% | COLDOPEN | 8 | Start of each "S.N.L." episode ... or a hint to the initials of the words in 17-, 24-, 35- and 47-Across |
| 54% | ONESMALLTHING | 13 | Start of a definition of the 81-Across |
| 54% | RAINRAINGOAWAY | 14 | Start of a hopeful rhyme about bad weather, and a hint to what the first word of 16-, 24- and 46-Across may describe |
| 54% | DEARSIRS | 8 | The start of a formal letter to a group of men |
| 54% | BIGBANG | 7 | Theory of the universe, or a hint to the starts of 17-Across and 7-, 10-, 35- and 40-Down |
| 54% | YOUVEGOT | 8 | Start of a reassuring phrase ... or the start to 20a, 41a, 55a, or 38d: 2 wds. |
| 54% | IDIDNTRECOGNIZE | 15 | Start of a comment that 7 Down/18 Across claimed to have heard ''a million times'' |
| 53% | BULLYOFF | 8 | The former start to a game of hockey |
| 53% | NIXON | 5 | Two-time Time Man of the Year (and a hint to 17-, 27-, 41- and 54-Across) |
| 53% | ANIMALHOUSE | 11 | Raucous frat film, and a hint to the starts of the other four long Across answers |
| 52% | AFFIX | 5 | Add-on to the start or end of a word stem (as in 17-, 25-, 35-, 49- and 57-Across) |
| 52% | IHAVENOTFAILEDIVEJUST | 21 | Start of a motivational comment attributed to 86-Across |