| BACKUPPLAN | "Just in case" strategy, and a hint to a hidden letter sequence in 17-, 24-, 37- and 52-Across |
| SOCIALREFORMERS | Advocates for change, and a hint to a hidden letter sequence found in 17-, 22-, 37- and 46-Across |
| PLAYINGWITHFIRE | Risky activity, and what certain four-letter sequences in 17-, 24-, 49- and 61-Across are doing? |
| END | With 72-Across, evasive strategy ... and a hint to the last several letters of the four longest Across answers |
| GETBACK | Regain, and hint to a hidden letter arrangement in 20- and 59-Across and 11- and 35-Down |
| NETFLIX | Where the six starred movies ought to be streaming, considering the three-letter sequence in their titles |
| FASTBREAK | Basketball strategy, and a description of this puzzle's longest answers |
| EASYONTHEEYES | Pleasing to look at ... or a phonetic hint to a two-letter sequence in 16-, 20-, 51- and 56-Across |
| THEBLUES | Music genre... or a hint to both words in 17-, 24-, 37-, and 52-Across |
| PLANB | Just-in-case strategy |
| AREYOUOKAY | Query of concern ... or a phonetic hint to two pairs of letters appearing in 17-, 24-, 37- and 48-Across |
| SIGH | Sound of contentment or despair; sounds like the hidden letter |
| TRANSLATED | Like the second word in 17-, 24-, 37-/40-, 38- and 50-Across vis-a-vis the first word |
| RAILSPLITTER | Abraham Lincoln nickname, and a hint to a hidden word in each answer to a starred clue |
| UPTHEANTE | Raise stakes in a game ... and a hint to a hidden feature of five Down puzzle answers |
| RANDOMORDER | Ideal deck-shuffling goal ... and a hint to a hidden word, and how it appears, in the four other longest answers |
| GRADEONTHECURVE | Make a 60 a passing score, say ... and what each indicated letter is, in relation to a hidden 3-letter word just below it? |
| LEMONADE | Picnic serving, and when divided properly, a hint to a hidden feature of six pairs of puzzle answers |
| EYECONTACT | Asset for a public speaker ... or a hint to 17-, 24-, 37- and 52-Across |
| TAKETHEWIN | Accept victory, however dubious, and a hint to 17-, 24-, 37-, and 52-Across |
