| 100% | MADEIN | 6 | With "the" and 32-Across, describing an old Matryoshka doll |
| 51% | NEWSPAPER | 9 | Answer to an old riddle alluded to by the starts of 17-, 32-, 42- and 64-Across |
| 46% | GROWING | 7 | With 41 Across, gradually-apparent problem ... and an explanation of the puzzle's circles? |
| 45% | IMEIGHTEEN | 10 | 40-Across hit single with the lyrics "I've got a / Baby's brain and an old man's heart" (2 wds.) |
| 42% | CLUE | 4 | Game associated with the starts of 17-, 23-, 32-, 40-, 47- and 54-Across |
| 42% | DETECTIVESTORY | 14 | Literary genre often associated with the writer concealed in 16-, 32- and 40-Across |
| 42% | FOLLOW | 6 | With 32 Across, do as you're told ... and what you must do while solving the answers to the starred clues? |
| 41% | BUILTUP | 7 | Describes an area with lots of homes and offices |
| 41% | ANGEL | 5 | With 32-Across, season-leading scorer and rebounder for the 2023 champion 40-Across |
| 41% | EMILY | 5 | With 32-Across, "Into the Woods" actress who became an American citizen in 2015 |
| 41% | TIC | 3 | With 50 and 55 Across, the ''central'' theme |
| 40% | TWA | 3 | Airline with the old slogan "Up, up and away" |
| 40% | CHIEFJUSTICE | 12 | With 39 and 44 Across, the most major magistrate |
| 40% | NOBEL | 5 | With 32- and 38-Across, 2014 honor won by the writer of 15-Across |
| 40% | BENJAMINFRANKLIN | 16 | Image that appears with the 20-Across on an old half dollar |
| 39% | DELLA | 5 | With 37-Across, "Touched by an Angel" actress who played a landlady on "Chico and the Man" |
| 38% | POP | 3 | With 71-Across, Destiny's Child or the Supremes, and an apt description of this puzzle's longest answers |
| 38% | TONY | 4 | With 32-Across, undrafted quarterback who played 14 seasons for the Dallas Cowboys and is currently a CBS commentator |
| 38% | AGILITY | 7 | The ability to move quickly and nimbly, as with an athlete |
| 38% | WHERETHERES | 11 | With 36- and 57-Across, an old dramatist's motto? |
| 38% | DESOTO | 6 | Old automaker with the models Firedome, Fireflite and Firesweep |
| 37% | WHERETHE | 8 | With 43-Across, an exciting place, and a hint to the starts of the starred answers |
| 37% | PAULMCCARTNEY | 13 | 15-Across and 31-Across singer/songwriter with 18 Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, and two inductions into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame who turns 80 years old this week (2 wds.) |
| 37% | THEENDISJUST | 12 | With 43-Across, "When one door closes, another door opens," and an apt description of the answers to the starred clues |
| 37% | GOODBYE | 7 | With 32-Across and 54-Across, title of the final episode of "M*A*S*H," which aired February 28, 1983 |
| 37% | TESTAMENT | 9 | The Bible has an Old and New one |
| 37% | ZAKIYA | 6 | With 15 and 16 Across, writer with the 2021 debut novel "The Other Black Girl" |
| 37% | FREETOBE | 8 | With 32-Across, album/book by 13-Across and friends that was turned into an Emmy-winning 1974 TV special: 3 wds. |
| 36% | OUTMUSCLED | 10 | Overpowered ... or how the Across answers with circles might be described? |
| 36% | PUMA | 4 | German footwear and apparel brand with an animal as the logo |