| 100% | ITISAN | 6 | With 36-Down, "Very strange ..." |
| 72% | BALI | 4 | With 36 Down, ''South Pacific'' song |
| 72% | HAT | 3 | With 36 Down, show of gratitude |
| 71% | LATE | 4 | With 36 Down, library patron's penalty |
| 62% | AND | 3 | With 36-Down, "Next ..." |
| 62% | ITS | 3 | With 36-Down, "Easy!" |
| 62% | ATA | 3 | With 36-Down, cocked |
| 61% | SELF | 4 | With 44 Down, very capable on one's own |
| 61% | THE | 3 | With 36-Down, jail, slangily |
| 60% | LOOK | 4 | With 36-Down, John Lennon song |
| 60% | OLD | 3 | With 36-Down, Neil Young classic |
| 58% | NAVY | 4 | With 36-Down, like some service uniforms |
| 58% | ASIF | 4 | With 36-Down, literally, beyond rational explanation |
| 58% | KNEE | 4 | With 36-Down, bit of clothes mending |
| 58% | ORONO | 5 | With 36-Down, New England college town |
| 58% | DUAL | 4 | With 36-Down, suitable for two applications |
| 58% | RED | 3 | With 36-Down, raspberry-flavored licorice treats |
| 58% | MALONE | 6 | Jazz star, with 36-Down |
| 57% | THERUBAIYACHT | 13 | With 36-Down gem of the Persian navy? |
| 57% | DALAI | 5 | With 36-Down, 1989 Nobel Peace Prize winner |
| 56% | THANTORECEIVE | 13 | With 2 Down, 36 Across & 43 Across, a Christmas-style maxim |
| 56% | ELO | 3 | Don't bring this orchestra down with Strange Magic |
| 56% | SCREECH | 7 | With 36-Down, nocturnal bird with a shrill cry |
| 56% | WHOLE | 5 | With 36-Down, what plasma may be removed from |
| 56% | ALL | 3 | With 57-Down, very nearly |
| 53% | PLANETARY | 9 | With 36-Down, astronomical rarity ... or a hint to the circled letters |
| 52% | EERIE | 5 | Very strange |
| 52% | ALIEN | 5 | Very strange |
| 52% | BIZARRE | 7 | Very strange |
| 52% | OUTRE | 5 | Very strange |