| 100% | INASCRABBLEGAME | 15 | With 30- and 49-Across, test question to be answered by filling in the correct circle |
| 40% | VARIABLE | 8 | In the answers to 17-, 34- and 57-Across, it was replaced in turn by 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ... |
| 39% | ORALEXAMS | 9 | Tests in which the questions and answers are spoken (2 wds.) |
| 38% | GREAT | 5 | With 27-, 49- and 66-Across, phrase applicable to five innovations in this puzzle (as suggested by the starred clues) |
| 37% | MADLIB | 6 | Story with blanks to be filled in by the reader |
| 37% | THANKS | 6 | With 53 Across, hesitant answer to the question "Who starred with M. Ryan in 'Sleepless in Seattle'?" |
| 37% | STATE | 5 | With 39 Across and 33 Down, what each syllable of the answer to each starred clue is |
| 37% | WHATAREWE | 9 | Question asked by someone in a relationship . . . and answered, by the artists in parentheses, with the beginnings of 17-, 29-, and 49-Across? |
| 36% | JESSEPINKMAN | 12 | Character played by Aaron Paul in "Breaking Bad", who was a crystal meth dealer and worked with the character played by 30-Across: 2 wds. |
| 35% | WORDSPRONOUNCED | 15 | With 36- and 58-Across, what the answers to the starred clues are |
| 34% | FBIAGENTS | 9 | Govt. employees encoded by the nine other longest across entries in this puzzle ... and who might be called in to decode them |
| 34% | SEALEDWITHAKISS | 15 | Love letter message often accompanied by a lipstick mark, and what the answers to the starred clues are, thanks to their circled letters |
| 34% | 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 ..." |
| 34% | CAPTAIN | 7 | With 37-Across, title for the hidden individuals in 16-, 23-, 46-, and 58-Across, thanks to the circles in each answer? |
| 33% | ELF | 3 | Christmas figure seen in the answers to 18, 29, 46, and 60 Across |
| 33% | WRITTENINSTONE | 14 | Firmly fixed, and a hint to the answers with circles |
| 32% | UNFINISHED | 10 | With 62-Across, matters left to settle, and what can be found in each set of circled letters? |
| 32% | BAZAAR | 6 | Marketplace in the Middle East and South Asia that is filled with multiple small stalls |
| 32% | SUPERBOWL | 9 | With 26 Across, memorable spots created by the answers to the starred clues |
| 32% | OUTMUSCLED | 10 | Overpowered ... or how the Across answers with circles might be described? |
| 32% | MAKEA | 5 | With 69- and 70-Across, get to the point . . . or what you’ll need to do with some of the answers in this puzzle? |
| 32% | TWODRINKMAX | 11 | Limit at the bar, and a hint to the answers with circles |
| 32% | DOUBLEORNOTHING | 15 | High-stakes gamble, and how the answers with circles can be read |
| 32% | POWERCOUPLE | 11 | Influential pairing, and a hint to the circles in four puzzle answers |
| 32% | LEAD | 4 | "Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to ___" (bestseller by Sheryl Sandberg) |
| 32% | TIME | 4 | With 63-Across, what (in abbreviated form) has been added to the long Down answers |
| 32% | BESIDES | 7 | Also ... and, in three parts, a hint to the four longest Across answers |
| 32% | CANDY | 5 | Sweets ... and, in three parts, a hint to the four longest Across answers |
| 31% | WHEREITSAT | 10 | Best place to be, slangily ... and, when divided in four parts, what the answers to starred clues are? |
| 31% | ONTHELINE | 9 | In jeopardy ... and where the first words of the answers to starred clues can be found |