| 100% | IMPROVISE | 9 | To make up on the spot, e.g. in acting or comedy |
| 50% | IMPROV | 6 | Comedy made up on the spot, for short |
| 46% | ADLIB | 5 | Make up on the spot |
| 46% | IMPROVISE | 9 | Make up on the spot |
| 41% | IMPROVISE | 9 | Make things up on the spot |
| 38% | FABRICATE | 9 | Make up or invent a story to evade the truth |
| 38% | SITTING | 7 | __ on the fence, or refusing to make a decision |
| 37% | PDA | 3 | Making out on the subway, e.g. |
| 36% | IMPROVISE | 9 | Make up a skit on the spot |
| 36% | PDA | 3 | Making out on the bus, e.g.: Abbr. |
| 36% | PDA | 3 | Making out on the subway, e.g., for short |
| 36% | ERRAND | 6 | Going to the store or picking up laundry, e.g. |
| 35% | ADLIB | 5 | Think up on the spot |
| 35% | SLED | 4 | Something to stand on, or run behind, in the Iditarod |
| 35% | CONFETTI | 8 | Shapes to sprinkle on tables or throw in the air |
| 35% | ALTOGETHER | 10 | On the whole ... or, when read in two parts, what the answer to each starred clue has |
| 34% | RAREFEAT | 8 | Getting a perfect 36 on the ACT, e.g. |
| 34% | THINKONONESFEET | 15 | Make spot decisions in a crisis ... or a hint to 17-, 29-, 34-, and 42-Across? |
| 33% | PSA | 3 | Smokey the Bear spot, e.g., in brief |
| 33% | PDA | 3 | Making out in the park, e.g. |
| 33% | TOPS | 4 | Thing or part placed on, fitted to, or covering the upper part of something (plural) |
| 33% | UPLOADS | 7 | Puts on a server, say ... or a hint to the circled letters in this puzzle |
| 33% | ACTOR | 5 | Person who acts on the stage, in movies, or on television |
| 33% | IVE | 3 | Suffix used to make the adjectival form of "act" or "pass" |
| 33% | TURKEYTROT | 10 | Dance to ragtime music in which birdlike movements are made with the shoulders and upper body |
| 32% | LIFELINE | 8 | E.g. Ask the Audience or 50-50 on TV quiz show |
| 32% | MOVEMENT | 8 | Action made by the body, e.g. in dance |
| 32% | BLACKCOMEDY | 11 | Morbid humor ... or a hint to how the thematic clues in this puzzle reimagine representation on TV? |
| 32% | HEP | 3 | Up on things, in the '40s |
| 32% | PSA | 3 | "This is your brain on drugs" spot, e.g., in brief |