| SHINGLEPLAY | *"Cat on a Hot Tin Roof"? (Hint: Each starred entry has two added letters!) |
| NERO | Fiddler on a hot tin roof? (4) |
| AHOT | ?Cat on ? Tin Roof? |
| RASHBLONDE | *Light-haired person who acts hastily? (note how the starred answers' added letters progress in the grid) |
| TATTY | Worn shirt, two added, always being worn (5) |
| MARKTWAIN | American author or two added to religious book (4,5) |
| HAPPYNEWYEAR | Message spelled out by the 12 added letters in this puzzle |
| MORE | Apt word spelled by the added letters of 17-, 28-, 45- and 60-Across |
| OPENINGDAY | Annual ballpark occurrence, or a hint to the first few letters of each starred entry |
| JAWOPPING | *Shocking (Hint: Each starred clue's answer includes two neighboring letters) |
| SPARECHANGE | A small amount of money; also, how the first five letters of each starred entry might be described |
| CAST | *Harsh critics (hint: each starred answer continues through a black square!) |
| TEEMS | * Caddie's pegs (Hint: Each starred clue's answer ignores its square in 14-, 22-, 34- or 43- across.) |
| PRECHECK | Boarding pass designation, or hint to either word in each starred entry |
| CAPITALCITY | Center of a nation's political power ... or of each starred entry |
| FOOTBALL | Sport on whose field you'd find the first word of each starred entry |
| CHANGEPURSE | Small bag for carrying coins, or, how you might obtain the first five letters in each starred entry |
| FREE | Gratis; or, a word to precede the first word of each starred entry |
| BASKETBALL | Sport invented by James Naismith; the second word in each starred entry is a position in this sport |
| GEARSHIFT | What the puzzle's title refers to, or, how the first four letters of each starred entry might be described |
