| 100% | GIFT | 4 | Traditional 61-Across surprise, aptly boxed, and spelled with the only four letters of the alphabet that don't appear elsewhere in this grid |
| 35% | 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 |
| 32% | DISUNION | 8 | State of division, and what the first letters of the states divided across black squares in this puzzle spell out |
| 31% | SINGAPORE | 9 | Country spelled with the only nine letters used in this puzzle's answers |
| 30% | BOX | 3 | Enclosure ... and an alphabetical listing of letters not appearing elsewhere in this puzzle's answer |
| 30% | FOUR | 4 | Minimum number of times each letter of the alphabet appears in this puzzle's solution |
| 30% | AMORE | 5 | Word that can aptly be spelled with the letters in romance |
| 30% | ETH | 3 | The four letters that Anglo Saxons used and we don't are ash, thorn, wynn and this one |
| 29% | END | 3 | With 72-Across, evasive strategy ... and a hint to the last several letters of the four longest Across answers |
| 29% | IOWA | 4 | Besides Ohio and Utah, the only state with four letters in its name |
| 29% | GETOVERIT | 9 | "Enough of the pity party!" ... and what appears four times in this puzzle? |
| 28% | ANIMALCRACKERS | 14 | Lunchbox treat that contains the four beasts hidden in this grid, and what the starred answers literally are |
| 28% | BOW | 3 | With 61-Down, accessory worn by 19-/21-, 26-/29-, 45-/49- and 54-/56-Across, as depicted four times in this puzzle's grid |
| 28% | PHYSICS | 7 | Science that deals with the phenomenon spelled out by 10 missing letters in this puzzle |
| 28% | WISH | 4 | With 5-Across, Thanksgiving-dinner staple that's aptly presented in this grid |
| 28% | TORTUROUS | 9 | ... that is spelled entirely from the last dozen letters of the alphabet |
| 27% | HALF | 4 | First ___ (only portion of the alphabet used in this puzzle's grid) |
| 27% | GOING | 5 | With 39- and 42-Across, activity of the spirits in this puzzle |
| 27% | LEAVENED | 8 | Unlike bread on Passover, and like four of the five sets of circled letters in this puzzle |
| 27% | TRICKY | 6 | With 21-, 30-, 49-, 61- and 74-Across, end of a Carrie Bradshaw quote that starts "Men in their 40s are like the New York Times Sunday crossword puzzle ..." |
| 27% | FURNITUREASSEMBLY | 17 | Ikea task, and a task that can be applied to the sets of circled letters in this puzzle |
| 27% | AYE | 3 | Word that sounds like a letter of the alphabet that's not in it |
| 27% | DIGITALDIVIDE | 13 | It separates those with access to technology and those without, and a feature of four answers in this puzzle |
| 27% | THROW | 5 | Light bed cover ... and a verb that goes with the first parts of this puzzle's four longest answers |
| 27% | TAN | 3 | With 69-Across, beach markings ... 14 of which are hidden vertically and horizontally elsewhere in this puzzle |
| 27% | EIGHT | 5 | Total number of letters of the alphabet used in this puzzle |
| 27% | QUINTUPLE | 9 | Like each letter of the alphabet in this puzzle, at minimum |
| 27% | DONUT | 5 | Treat whose varieties appear at the starts of four long answers and are represented a dozen times in this puzzle |
| 26% | WELSH | 5 | Language in which "dd" and "ff" are treated as single letters of the alphabet |
| 26% | SKIPPING | 8 | With 59-Across, lakeside activity ... or a hint to the words spelled across the fifth, eighth and 11th rows of the completed grid |