| 100% | DONTBIGEMPTY | 12 | With 45 Across, a query put to Bob Hope in 1939's The Cat and the Canary |
| 41% | OTANNENBAUM | 11 | Seasonal song with a hint to the last words in 17-, 25-, 37- and 45-Across |
| 37% | WOOD | 4 | With 68-Across, a hint to the ends of 21-, 25-, 45- and 52-Across |
| 36% | WORKINGHARDOR | 13 | With 47 Across, facetious question to someone putting in a shift |
| 36% | THETIMES | 8 | With 38- and 52-Across, 1964 Bob Dylan song ... or a hint to the answers to this puzzle's starred clues |
| 36% | HEY | 3 | With 61-Down, Jimi Hendrix's first single ... or a hint to the starts of 20-, 28-, 45- and 50-Across |
| 36% | YES | 3 | "That's correct" ... or a hint to the ends of 17-, 28-, 45- and 59-Across, in different languages |
| 35% | OUTER | 5 | With 45-Across, hurricane-prone area, and a clue to this puzzle's edges |
| 35% | YEAROFTHEOX | 11 | 2021 in the Chinese zodiac, with a hint to 17-, 27- and 40-Across |
| 35% | CHEESE | 6 | With 45-Across, savory topping found in tubs ... and the circled squares? |
| 35% | ANIMAL | 6 | With 56-Across, lunchbox snacks ... or a hint to the black squares before 18-, 29-, 35- and 45-Across? |
| 35% | TOP | 3 | With 66-Across, place on a keyboard to find all the letters in 16-, 28-, 46- and 60-Across |
| 35% | FIRST | 5 | With 5-Across, baby's milestone ... or a hint to the hidden layer in this puzzle's Across clues |
| 34% | CANIGETANAMEN | 13 | "Anyone agree with me?" and a hint to what's hidden in the starred answers |
| 34% | KIDSAREALLRIGHT | 15 | With "The," 2010 Annette Bening/Julianne Moore film ... and a hint to the ends of 17-, 30- and 45-Across |
| 34% | BEARDOWN | 8 | Put in extra effort, and a hint to the starts of the starred answers |
| 34% | YOULL | 5 | With 21 Across, 3 Down, 8 Down, and 20 Down, response to Ralphie's request for a BB gun in "A Christmas Story" |
| 34% | SECRET | 6 | With 46-Across, some areas in Clue … or a hint to the first, fourth, twelfth and fifteenth rows of this puzzle |
| 34% | LINCOLNCENTER | 13 | Home of the Metropolitan Opera ... and a hint to the "honest" guy hiding in 20-, 32- and 45-Across |
| 34% | LOOSE | 5 | With 62-Across, handyman's assortment, and a hint to what's in each set of circles |
| 34% | NANCY | 5 | With 34-Across, she was LPGA Tour Player of the Year in 1978 as a rookie and received the Bob Jones Award in 1998 |
| 33% | LEFTRIGHT | 9 | With 64-Across, the political spectrum, and a hint to this puzzle's theme |
| 33% | CUTTING | 7 | With 56-Across, indifferent student's practice, and a hint to the puzzle theme |
| 33% | SHOHEI | 6 | With 34-Across, Dodgers pitcher who, in 2024, became the only player to hit 50 homers and steal 50 bases in a season |
| 33% | ROLL | 4 | With 44- and 76-Across, way to put legislators on record ... or the start, middle and end of a word ladder |
| 33% | HARRIETQUIMBY | 13 | First woman to earn a pilot's license in the United States and the first woman to fly across the English Channel (2 wds.) |
| 32% | MOVETHECHAINS | 13 | Pick up first downs, in football slang ... with a visual interpretation seen inside the answers to 19-, 24-, and 42-Across |
| 32% | BILATERAL | 9 | With 46-Across, feature of the answers to this puzzle's six starred clues, in a sense |
| 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 |