| DEBITS | Entries in the minus column |
| DEBTS | Entries in the red |
| WRITESOFPASSAGE | Makes entries in the ship's log? |
| SHOWTUNES | Many entries in the Great American Songbook |
| LEXICON | Eleven archaic entries in the French Consolidated Dictionary (7) |
| DEBIT | Ledger entry on the minus side |
| NEGATIVE | The minus sign describes which electric charge (8) |
| MEANINGLESS | Trivial interpretation of the minus sign |
| HORSERACE | What the puzzle's title refers to; the first parts of the starred entries, in clue order, give the order of the top three finishers |
| HOST | Emcee: the circled letters of the starred entries, in clue order, spell out the name of the late star of the puzzle's title show |
| MAINDIAGONAL | Term in linear algebra for the series of entries in a square matrix extending from the top-left corner to the bottom-right corner |
| EVERYTHING | "The works": the last words of the starred entries, in clue order, provide a clue to a similar phrase |
| THREEINAROW | The first sounds of the starred entries, in clue order, give the name of a pencil-and-paper game. This is what's needed to win |
| UCLA | College home of the title team; the initial sounds of the starred entries, in clue order, spell it out |
| CARS | 2006 Disney film, and the ends of the eight longest entries in this puzzle |
| CPR | The initial sounds of the starred entries, in clue order, give you this lifesaving skill |
| CBS | Major network identified by the first sounds of the starred entries, in clue order |
| FBIAGENTS | Govt. employees encoded by the nine other longest across entries in this puzzle ... and who might be called in to decode them |
| CROSS | Word that can precede the first word of the twelve starred entries in this puzzle |
| RSVP | Abbreviation for this puzzle's title: the first sounds of the starred entries, in clue order, provide another clue |
