| 100% | DISUNION | 8 | State of division, and what the first letters of the states divided across black squares in this puzzle spell out |
| 49% | INFANT | 6 | One delivered by the labor specialist spelled out in the circled letters that touch six dividing black squares in this puzzle |
| 47% | ABRIDGED | 8 | Shortened, and what the letters removed from eight novels in this puzzle spell out |
| 47% | PINACOLADA | 10 | What I'm going to have after I've finished writing these clues and it's spelled out with the first two letters of five of the longest puzzle answers |
| 46% | PHONETIC | 8 | Apt word spelled out by the first letters of eight answers in this puzzle |
| 46% | WAITING | 7 | On hold ... or what the seven rows of black squares in this puzzle's grid spell in Morse code |
| 45% | COLDOPEN | 8 | Certain TV intro ... or a description of each of 12 letters in the grid (the starts of six Across entries and then six Down entries) that spell out an alternate title for this puzzle |
| 45% | TEST | 4 | Any of the eight circled words in this puzzle, and what's spelled out by their intersections |
| 45% | TARA | 4 | Author Westover whose memoir is spelled out in the first letters of this puzzle's eight circled schools |
| 43% | YOUREMUTED | 10 | Comment about the silence on Zoom ... and what's spelled out by the sounds that have been removed from the starts of 10 phrases in this puzzle |
| 43% | COOKIE | 6 | With 36-Across, mass-produced ... and what each of four black squares in this puzzle is? |
| 42% | TRICKORTREAT | 12 | What is found divided at the starts and ends of nine answers in this puzzle |
| 42% | REDEFINED | 9 | Like nine words in this puzzle, or what their first letters spell out |
| 42% | FAIRYTALEENDING | 15 | What’s spelled out by the starts of six answers in this puzzle |
| 41% | MAKINGAFACE | 11 | Smirking, scowling, or smiling, and what the sets of circled letters in this puzzle are doing? |
| 41% | TINAFEY | 7 | Writer of the bestseller spelled out in this puzzle's circled squares |
| 41% | MINCE | 5 | With 45-Across, not be direct ... or what four groups of black squares in this puzzle do? |
| 41% | BREAKINGBAD | 11 | #3 on Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time (as of 2016) ... and a hint to what the black squares are doing in four rows of this puzzle |
| 41% | RAMP | 4 | What each circled model in this puzzle ascends or descends, and what's spelled by the letters where the models cross |
| 40% | PUTARINGONIT | 12 | Lock in a spouse, and what the first letters of six Down answers do visually |
| 40% | TWELFTHMAN | 10 | Home-field advantage in football ... or what the last square of the answer to this clue represents in this puzzle |
| 40% | DARKART | 7 | Witchcraft ... or what each block of three black squares in this puzzle represents? |
| 40% | ASHOWABOUTNOTHING | 17 | Description of the TV series spelled out in the circled squares (as well as this puzzle's theme) |
| 39% | GOREVIDALNOVELS | 15 | What the first words of eight long answers in this puzzle are |
| 39% | CHEESE | 6 | With 58-Across, savory base for a canapé ... and the function of a black square in four puzzle rows? |
| 39% | NOTES | 5 | Staff members, and what the circled letters in this puzzle represent |
| 39% | LONGWINDED | 10 | Verbose, and what the circled letters in this puzzle literally are? |
| 39% | PARTINGSHOT | 11 | End of a testy exchange, and what can be found four times in this puzzle, thanks to four black squares |
| 39% | EMBEDDED | 8 | Like aleph in the central black squares of this puzzle's grid |
| 38% | LEAVENED | 8 | Unlike bread on Passover, and like four of the five sets of circled letters in this puzzle |