| SIDEBAR | Article accompaniment, and a hint to each starred answer's location and missing word |
| OPERA | A drama set to music; consists of singing with orchestral accompaniment and an orchestral overture and interludes (5) |
| SIDE | and 30ac, Vicious party leader's sort of accompaniment – Greens, perhaps (4,4) |
| DISH | see 6ac, Vicious party leader's sort of accompaniment – Greens, perhaps (4,4) |
| MINCEMEAT | Holiday pie choice, and a hint to each starred answer's hidden anagrammed word |
| BLINDSIDES | Surprises unpleasantly, and a hint to each starred answer's first two + last two letters |
| DROPPEDCALL | Telecom company's concern, or a hint to each starred answer's word-spanning connection descriptor |
| EARLYBIRD | First to arrive, say, or a hint to each starred answer's first few letters |
| FIRSTDANCE | Traditional start of a wedding reception, or a hint to each starred answer's opening letters |
| SHORTCHANGE | Treat unfairly, or a hint to each starred answer's scrambled last word |
| GOONABENDER | Binge, or a hint to each starred answer's body part and two letters above it |
| CROPTOPS | Navel-revealing shirts, and a hint to each starred answer's first few letters |
| ALLSWELL | "We're doing OK!" ... or, read differently, a hint to each starred answer's first word |
| COINTOSS | Fifty-fifty flip, or a hint to each starred answer's first four letters |
| WOODGRAIN | Tree texture, or a hint to each starred answer's pair of hidden words |
| LIGHTUP | Brighten, or a hint to each starred answer's vertical continuation |
| COMINGOUT | LGBTQ milestone celebrated on October 11, or a hint to each starred clue's missing word |
| USBPORT | PC connection site, and a hint to each starred answer |
| BLUEPLAQUE | Permanent sign to commemorate a link between a location and a famous person or event (4,6) |
| DROPZONE | Certain delivery location, and a hint to solving six answers in this puzzle |
