| 100% | LITTHEOLYMPICCAULDRON | 21 | What this puzzle’s featured athletes did in the years indicated |
| 55% | MAKESABEELINE | 13 | What this puzzle’s solver does when filling in the upper-left to lower-right diagonal? |
| 52% | MAKINGACOMEBACK | 15 | What the eight featured celebrities in this puzzle are doing? |
| 48% | OUST | 4 | What the president did to Mick Mulvaney in March of this year |
| 47% | ATOMICNUMBERS | 13 | What this puzzle's two-letter answers correspond with, given their locations in the grid |
| 47% | PICKEDUPTHEPACE | 15 | Hurried, and what this puzzle's word ladder literally did in eight steps? |
| 46% | ARMS | 4 | What are featured in the theme entries of this puzzle |
| 46% | RAISEDTHEBAR | 12 | Elevated expectations ... or what this puzzle's maker did to five answers in this puzzle? |
| 45% | PUNNEDIT | 8 | What the puzzlemaker did to the name in each of this puzzle's theme answers? |
| 45% | COUNTDOWN | 9 | What might end the year, and a hint to five answers in this puzzle |
| 44% | CIRCLEBACK | 10 | Return to a subject in conversation, and what this puzzle's author did to make the examples stand out |
| 44% | USA | 3 | Ryder Cup team that all of this puzzle's featured athletes played for in 2018 (Abbr.) |
| 43% | CUTSCORNERS | 11 | What this puzzle's theme does? |
| 43% | WIRETAP | 7 | What the four undercover orgs. in this puzzle might do |
| 43% | XANDY | 5 | With 30-Across, what most numbers in the clues of this year's puzzles represent |
| 42% | CROSS | 5 | What this puzzle's across and down answers do |
| 42% | SLANT | 5 | What the letters in this clue do |
| 41% | FILM | 4 | What each of this puzzle's songs also was, once you do the math |
| 41% | POCKETS | 7 | What the U's in this puzzle's solution represent |
| 41% | PUBLICEDUCATION | 15 | What this puzzle's four missing clues spell, in order |
| 41% | TINATURNER | 10 | "The Best" singer, and what this puzzle is, in the circles |
| 40% | DRUMBREAK | 9 | Prominent feature of "In the Air Tonight"... or what's found twice in this puzzle |
| 40% | SKIPJACK | 8 | Certain tuna ... or what this puzzle's 10 starred clues do |
| 40% | AGREE | 5 | What the nouns and verb in this clue doesn't do |
| 40% | CROSS | 5 | What words do in a puzzle like this one |
| 40% | SHINYNOSE | 9 | Feature depicted in the upper left of this puzzle |
| 40% | FILE | 4 | What this puzzle's data is kept in |
| 39% | GETCRACKING | 11 | Hop to it ... or what to do to the various eggs in this puzzle's shaded squares? |
| 39% | TTOPS | 5 | Features of some sports cars, and what this puzzle's four longest answers have in common |
| 39% | RAISEMONEY | 10 | Get support, in a way ... and what the puzzle circles do |