| 100% | LIVEMUSIC | 9 | What is heard at a gig or performance with a band |
| 40% | TRADE | 5 | "Let's ___ lunches" (what may be heard at a school playground) |
| 39% | COOKIE | 6 | Baked treat with chocolate chips, or oatmeal and raisins, that might be enjoyed at a picnic |
| 38% | UPTHEANTE | 9 | Increase what is at stake ... or a hint to answering 20-, 30- and 46-Across |
| 38% | DIP | 3 | Accompaniment like hummus or ranch, that might be enjoyed with carrot sticks at a picnic |
| 38% | CHEESE | 6 | Dairy product like Gouda or Mozzarella that might be enjoyed with crackers at a picnic |
| 37% | BACKUPSINGER | 12 | One helping in a band ... or what can be found in each set of circled letters? |
| 37% | SOBS | 4 | Sounds that might be heard at a tearjerker |
| 37% | ADIEU | 5 | It might be heard at a French door |
| 37% | BOO | 3 | Taunt that may be heard at a stadium |
| 37% | BIGSHOESTOFILL | 14 | High standards established by a predecessor … or what you are presented with in this puzzle? |
| 36% | HITME | 5 | What might be heard before a bust |
| 36% | FLAB | 4 | What may be lost at a gym |
| 36% | DART | 4 | What might be tipped at a bar |
| 36% | THEICE | 6 | What may be broken at a party |
| 36% | ATEFORTWO | 9 | Dined with a bun in the oven, or what can be found in 17-, 26-, 40-, and 51-Across |
| 36% | IDO | 3 | What people wait to hear at a wedding |
| 36% | DOVES | 5 | White birds that might be released at a wedding or funeral |
| 35% | BACKBURNER | 10 | Place for a nonurgent issue, and what can be found at the end of 16-, 24-, 37-, or 53- Across? |
| 35% | EEL | 3 | What unagi is, at a sushi bar |
| 35% | BOOK | 4 | What you find in a library, or a word which can be used at the start of 20a, 25a, 35a, 48a, 55a, 31d, and 45d |
| 35% | PTS | 3 | What is tallied at the end of a competition: Abbr. |
| 35% | BET | 3 | What you do at a roulette wheel or craps table |
| 35% | TAPE | 4 | What may be broken at a race's finish line |
| 35% | PROFESSOR | 9 | Teacher with tenure at a university or college |
| 35% | IMAGE | 5 | What a GIF or JPEG is |
| 35% | SIDESALAD | 9 | Dish that may accompany a main course, and what can be found at the start of 17-, 25-, 38-, or 53-Across? |
| 34% | WATERBREAK | 10 | Time for a drink at the gym... or what can literally be seen in 17-, 24-, 35- and 49-Across |
| 34% | THELONG | 7 | With 63-Across, all that needs to be said, or a hint to what's found in each starred answer |
| 34% | PRIZEDRAW | 9 | Raffle or lottery with a winner chosen at random |