| 100% | OVERANDOUT | 10 | Transmission ender (this is a very loose hint to solving the contest) |
| 37% | ITSDISCONNECTED | 15 | "Check the plug!" (and a hint to solving four rows in this puzzle) |
| 37% | UCANTTOUCHTHIS | 14 | 1990 MC Hammer hit whose title is a hint to solving the meta |
| 36% | CAPITAL | 7 | A hint to the contest answer |
| 35% | THREEMUSKETEERS | 15 | Group whose motto is a hint to this puzzle's theme |
| 35% | THESIXTHSENSE | 13 | 1999 film whose title is a hint to this puzzle's theme |
| 35% | LINKEDIN | 8 | Popular website whose name is a hint to this puzzle's theme |
| 35% | CORPORATEMERGER | 15 | Business acquisition ... or a hint to how the answers to the starred clues in this puzzle were formed? |
| 35% | POPINJAYS | 9 | Coxcombs (and a hint to solving this puzzle) |
| 35% | WHATSTHEIRMO | 12 | "How do these people pull that off?" (and a hint to solving the starred clues) |
| 34% | WIT | 3 | A pun is said to be the lowest form of this |
| 34% | ANAGRAM | 7 | Hint to solving the eight starred clues |
| 34% | PICTUREIT | 9 | Tip to solving this puzzle (with the key parts to be said out loud) |
| 34% | WATER | 5 | Liquid whose chemical formula is a homophonic hint to the answers to starred clues |
| 34% | NOEL | 4 | Seasonal song (and a hint to finding the contest answer) |
| 34% | MIDDLEMARCH | 11 | George Eliot novel that's not the contest answer, but provides a hint to it |
| 34% | NONET | 5 | A chamber work by Louis Spohr was the first to bear this title |
| 34% | YOUNG | 5 | The Stingray Nebula has to be considered this, as far a nebulae go |
| 34% | EAR | 3 | A mantis is the only animal known to have just one of these |
| 33% | AGES | 4 | A very long time ... or a hint to the starts of the answers to the five starred clues |
| 33% | BETWEENYOUANDME | 15 | "Let this be our little secret" ... with a hint to 18-, 23-, 50- or 54-Across |
| 33% | INOVERTIME | 10 | When some contests are resolved, and a hint to ending this puzzle's theme answers |
| 33% | OKAY | 4 | This is a hint; ok? |
| 33% | ERGS | 4 | A Foe is equal to ten to the power of fifty-one of these |
| 33% | SPLIT | 5 | Small wine bottle, and a hint to solving the starred clues |
| 33% | SPOT | 4 | "This is a perfect ___ to watch the New Year's fireworks" |
| 33% | THOUSAND | 8 | This is the first number to have the letter "A" |
| 33% | DROPIT | 6 | "That'll be enough of that subject" ... and a hint to solving the answers to starred clues |
| 33% | NOELNEILL | 9 | Lois Lane player of early TV, whose first name is a hint to this puzzle's theme |
| 32% | DIAMONDJIMBRADY | 15 | Early railroad tycoon whose nickname is a hint to the starts of 17-, 23-, 51- and 62-Across |