| MISSINGLINK | Elusive evolutionary connection, or the elusive feature of the ends of 18-Across and 3- and 28-Down |
| GOODPOINT | "Your argument makes sense," and a feature of the ends of four Across answers |
| PEPPERPOTTS | Tony Stark's assistant and love interest in 18-Across and three "Iron Man" movies: 2 wds. |
| CRACKED | What the starts of 18- and 57-Across and 3- and 28-Down can be |
| EVS | Teslas, Bolts, or the answers to 18- and 61-Across and 3- and 28-Down |
| AARON | With 35-Across, Yankee right fielder who broke the records of 18-Across and 38-Across |
| ROUNDTABLE | Meeting place of 18-Across and his knights: 2 wds. |
| BREAD | Moolah ... or the makeup of the ends of the answers to the starred clues |
| WHOVILLE | Town targeted by the Grinch, and an apt description of the ends of the answers to the starred clues? |
| ALAMODE | Fashionable, or an apt description of the ends of the answers to the starred clues |
| FAHRVERGNUGEN | Literally meaning "driving enjoyment," slogan once used by the maker of the ends of 20-, 31- and 41- |
| BRATS | Baby-sitting nightmares ... or relatives of the ends of the four longest puzzle answers |
| TAMES | Breaks ... or an anagram of the ends of five Across answers in this puzzle |
| VARGASLLOSA | Nobel Prize-winning (2010) Peruvian author of novels including La casa verde (1966; The Green House) and La guerra del fin del mundo (1981; The War of the End of the World) (6,5) |
| CIVIL | The fall of Richmond was a critical event that marked the beginnning of the end of the ___ War |
| TONEDOWN | Make milder, or an apt description of the ends of the starred answers |
| TOSCA | Puccini title soprano whose name is an anagram of the ends of the four longest puzzle answers |
| COMPUTERNERD | One who might use one of the ends of the answers to starred clues |
| SOUNDSFISHY | That doesn't seem right, or a description of the ends of asterisked clues? (11) |
| QUIDDITCHPLAYER | Fantasy sports enthusiast, or what each of the ends of answers to asterisked clues is (15) |
