| BETWEENTHE | Hint to what's absent [beginning] |
| QAND | Hint to what's absent [middle] |
| THES | Hint to what's absent [end] |
| ABSORBENT | Able to soak up what's absent round the globe (9) |
| GAPS | Openings for what's absent in TripAdvisor perhaps (4) |
| HOOKY | What absent-minded students play? |
| EYES | Homophone for what's absent here (from clues and answers) |
| TEARAPART | Rip to pieces, and a hint to what's hidden in the answers to this puzzle's starred clues |
| ZEN | "Your Moment of ___," and a hint to what's added to the starred answers |
| SUPERBOWLLIV | Big game on February 2, 2020 ... or a hint to what's added to the starred answers |
| SEEDCAPITAL | Startup funds ... and a hint to what's hidden in the answers to the starred clues |
| GOLDENHORDE | 13th/14th-century Mongol Empire region ... and an elemental hint to what's found twice in each answer to a starred clue |
| ANTEUP | Poker request, and a literal hint to what's hidden in the answers to the starred clues |
| SHREDDEDWHEAT | Breakfast cereal ... or a hint to what's found in the answers to the four starred clues? |
| SWAPMEET | Collectors' event, and a hint to what's hidden in the answers to starred clues |
| DAILYJUMBLE | Popular newspaper puzzle, and a hint to what's hidden in the answers to starred clues |
| RADIOEDIT | Shortened version of a pop song ... and a hint to what's hidden in the answers to starred clues |
| WORLDSAPART | Very distant or different (and a hint to what's hidden among the Across answers, in their logical order, from top to bottom) |
| TOGRINE | Hair growth product ... or a phonetic hint to what's been added to the tops of the longest Down answers |
| ROGAINE | Hair growth product ... or a phonetic hint to what's been added to the tops of the longest Down answers |
