| 100% | CHEFS | 5 | With 8-Across, gesture with the fingers and lips meaning "Exquisite!" |
| 46% | ASL | 3 | Syst. in which making an "L" with the thumb and index finger and raising the pinkie means "I love you" |
| 44% | SNOOK | 5 | Gesture made with the thumb and nose |
| 42% | TWO | 3 | Something indicated with the index and middle fingers |
| 42% | SNAP | 4 | Noise made with the thumb and middle finger |
| 42% | SNAPS | 5 | Sounds made with the thumb and middle finger |
| 42% | SNAP | 4 | Sound made with the thumb and middle finger |
| 40% | TRADITIONAL | 11 | With 49- and 69-Across, a hint to the meanings of the bracketed clues |
| 40% | CAESARSALAD | 11 | Entree meant to be eaten with the fingers, according to its creator |
| 39% | WAVES | 5 | Greets with a hand gesture from across the street |
| 39% | STEEP | 5 | It rhymes with "cheap" and means the opposite |
| 39% | TIC | 3 | With 50 and 55 Across, the ''central'' theme |
| 38% | ZAKIYA | 6 | With 15 and 16 Across, writer with the 2021 debut novel "The Other Black Girl" |
| 38% | AERO | 4 | Prefix with "space" to collectively mean the atmosphere and outer space |
| 38% | SPICE | 5 | With 8-Across, kitchen holders of rosemary and thyme |
| 38% | UNCLE | 5 | With 8-Across, personification of the U.S. government |
| 38% | CHIEFJUSTICE | 12 | With 39 and 44 Across, the most major magistrate |
| 38% | GROWING | 7 | With 41 Across, gradually-apparent problem ... and an explanation of the puzzle's circles? |
| 38% | LOG | 3 | With 4-Across, stop scrolling the internet and go outside |
| 37% | SUN | 3 | With 8-Across, Chinese general and military strategist |
| 37% | ARENA | 5 | With 8-Across, subgenre for Journey and Foreigner |
| 37% | MAMA | 4 | Word with the same meaning in English, Swahili and Mandarin, among other languages |
| 37% | LEGALIZED | 9 | With 20 Across, what the people of AZ, NJ, MT, and SD voted for by proposition in 2020 |
| 36% | ADULT | 5 | With 8-Across, mature evening programming on the Cartoon Network |
| 36% | DONTBIGEMPTY | 12 | With 45 Across, a query put to Bob Hope in 1939's The Cat and the Canary |
| 36% | STATE | 5 | With 39 Across and 33 Down, what each syllable of the answer to each starred clue is |
| 36% | THE | 3 | With 7- and 8-Across, "Preposterous!" |
| 36% | POINTS | 6 | Gestures with a finger |
| 36% | SEMI | 4 | Prefix that means the same thing as, and rhymes with, "hemi-" and "demi-" |
| 36% | FUNNY | 5 | With 8-Across, "humorous" part of the body near the humerus |