| 100% | CHEESE | 6 | With 45-Across, savory topping found in tubs ... and the circled squares? |
| 46% | DONTBIGEMPTY | 12 | With 45 Across, a query put to Bob Hope in 1939's The Cat and the Canary |
| 39% | CHEESE | 6 | With 58-Across, savory base for a canapé ... and the function of a black square in four puzzle rows? |
| 39% | INASCRABBLEGAME | 15 | With 30- and 49-Across, test question to be answered by filling in the correct circle |
| 38% | SEVENWONDERS | 12 | With 51-Across and 15-Down, group in which [see circled letters] is the only one still largely intact |
| 38% | TOP | 3 | With 66-Across, place on a keyboard to find all the letters in 16-, 28-, 46- and 60-Across |
| 37% | NEW | 3 | With 65- and 66-Across, when to sing the song in the circled squares |
| 37% | STATESWONBYBARACKOBAMA | 22 | With 90-Across, what the 28 circled squares in this puzzle represent |
| 36% | BADPENNY | 8 | With "a," someone undesirable ... and what's found in the circled letters? |
| 36% | VET | 3 | November honoree who can be found in the middle of 17, 29, 46, and 62 Across |
| 36% | GROWING | 7 | With 41 Across, gradually-apparent problem ... and an explanation of the puzzle's circles? |
| 35% | REO | 3 | ___ Speedwagon (rock band with 13 top-40 hits in the '70s and '80s) |
| 35% | ANKA | 4 | Pop star with top 40 hits in the 1950s, '60s, '70s and '80s |
| 35% | MICHELLE | 8 | With 45-Across, actress who played Catwoman in the 1992 film "Batman Returns" |
| 35% | FAB | 3 | With the circled squares of 35-Across, subject of this puzzle |
| 35% | NYE | 3 | Initialism found in 17-, 29-, 45- and 59-Across |
| 35% | SKIAREA | 7 | Where to find signs with circles, squares and diamonds |
| 35% | KEYS | 4 | Typically lost items that are "found" in the starts of 16-, 24-, 45- and 57-Across |
| 35% | WHATIMPLEMENT | 13 | With 28-, 48- and 56-Across, riddle whose answer appears in the circled squares |
| 34% | POKE | 4 | ___ bowl, Hawaiian dish with raw fish, rice, and topping that became popular in the 2010s |
| 34% | BEANSTALK | 9 | Storied locale for the circled letters in 8- and 65-Across |
| 34% | ONEPLUSONE | 10 | Basic math operation found in 17-, 23-, 37- and 45-Across |
| 34% | LEGALIZED | 9 | With 20 Across, what the people of AZ, NJ, MT, and SD voted for by proposition in 2020 |
| 34% | MARIAHCAREY | 11 | Chanteuse with chart-topping hits found at the tops of 4-, 14-, 16- and 19-Down |
| 34% | JENNIFER | 8 | With 45-Across, "Silver Linings Playbook" Oscar winner who stars in 21-Across and 37-Across |
| 34% | FIFTH | 5 | With 45-Down, subversive groups ... or what the answers in the circled squares comprise? |
| 34% | EXTRA | 5 | With 55-Down, kicker's contribution, and what's found in the circled letters |
| 34% | SOAKUPTHESUN | 12 | 2002 summer anthem from Sheryl Crow, and what the answers with circles do, in two ways |
| 34% | CHER | 4 | Singer with top 10 hits in the 1960's, 70's, 80's and 90's |
| 34% | GENESIS | 7 | 2010 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees with six top-10 hits in the 1980s |