| PARTEDTHEREDSEA | Emulated Moses, or what a black square between each pair of starred clues' answers did? |
| UNBREAKMYHEART | 1996 Toni Braxton hit, and what the starred clues' answers do collectively? |
| GOTTHEHOOK | Was yanked offstage ... or what four puzzle answers did, in a way |
| WENTUNDERCOVER | Did some spy work ... and what parts of four answers did in this grid |
| NUCLEARSUB | *USS Nautilus, e.g. (Hint: A chain's name is hidden across each pair of starred clues' answers, minus one letter that's above a black square. These letters spell something apt.) |
| EASYPEASY | Simple, or a hint to the initials of each pair of starred clues' answers |
| RECALL | *Manufacturer's nightmare (Theme hint: Notice a stack of words in each pair of starred clues' answers) |
| GETTHESHOWONTHEROAD | Begin something, or a hint to an arrangement formed by each pair of starred clues' answers |
| ICONIC | Memorable ... or, parsed differently, the two-row arrangement in each pair of starred clues' answers? |
| WATERUNDERTHEBRIDGE | Metaphor for past disagreements that's literally depicted in each pair of starred clues' answers |
| SLICED | Like the foods split across each pair of starred clues' answers |
| CITYBLOCK | Urban square ... or what the answers to the pairs of starred clues seem to have between them? |
| TRADINGPLACES | Classic 1983 comedy ... or a hint to what the answers to four pairs of starred clues are doing |
| BREAKALEG | What you must do, to answer each pair of starred clues |
| CODEBREAKER | Intelligence agency employee, and what a black square acts as in rows 3, 5, |
| TIEBREAKER | Overtime round, e.g . ... and what a black square acts as for the circled words? |
| BROKENPROMISE | Unkept vow, or what's split across each set of starred clues' answers |
| MATCHINGTATTOOS | Body art for some couples, or what each pair of starred answers sports? |
| CULTUREGAP | Chasm between peoples... and what each starred clue's answer "bridges" by leaping over a black square |
| NINETYDEGREES | Temperature on a hot day, or a hint to the starred clues' answers and each black square arrangement in the grid |
