| 100% | SNAP | 4 | To break a stick in two |
| 55% | DIABOLO | 7 | Game in which a spinning top is thrown and caught on a cord fastened to two hand-held sticks |
| 51% | REFORGE | 7 | To fix a broken sword in a furnace |
| 50% | NOD | 3 | Silent assent ... or, in two parts, a hint to three long answers |
| 50% | RUT | 3 | Settled routine, stuck in a ___, used to describe a lack of excitement |
| 49% | RESPITE | 7 | Providing relief to those in need of a break |
| 49% | OBOE | 4 | One of two to four in a standard orchestra |
| 49% | STRAW | 5 | Something to stick in a milk shake |
| 49% | NOTCH | 5 | V-shaped cut ... or, in two parts, a hint to four long puzzle answers |
| 48% | PEAS | 4 | Like two ___ in a pod (very similar to each other) |
| 48% | SLUR | 4 | In music, to perform smoothly a melodic phrase of two or more notes |
| 47% | HOE | 3 | A tool used to break ground in your garden |
| 47% | SNAP | 4 | Break into two, as a stick |
| 47% | GLOW | 4 | ___ stick, festival object that uses a chemiluminescent reaction to shine in the dark |
| 47% | HANDYMAN | 8 | Guy to see "if your broken heart needs repair," in a song |
| 47% | ADSORB | 6 | Stick to a surface in a thin layer of molecules |
| 46% | PSANDQS | 7 | Good behavior ... or a hint to two lines of letters in this puzzle |
| 46% | PEAS | 4 | "Like two ___ in a pod," saying that refers to similarities between close friends |
| 45% | CORRAL | 6 | Place to break a bronco |
| 45% | WISH | 4 | Prepare to break a bone? |
| 45% | FLYLIKEANEAGLE | 14 | What the U.S. Postal Service used to do (ending in a two under) |
| 45% | RADIO | 5 | It can be two-way ... with a hint to four squares in this puzzle |
| 45% | RUT | 3 | Stuck in a ___ |
| 45% | RUT | 3 | Stuck in a __ |
| 45% | RELIGIOUSLEADER | 15 | Minister or imam, say ... and, in two ways, a hint to words hidden in 17-, 29- and 38-Across |
| 45% | EARSOFCORN | 10 | "Finally, we stuck in two ___. Yum!" |
| 45% | HEAVIEST | 8 | Most likely to break a scale |
| 45% | INOT | 4 | Trying to break a tie, say |
| 45% | COLDTURKEY | 10 | Extreme way to break a habit |
| 45% | INOT | 4 | Trying to break a tie, briefly |