| TAKEA | Hit, or withstand hit. (4,1,5) |
| PUNCH | Hit, or withstand hit. (4,1,5) |
| ENDURE | Put up with or withstand (6) |
| RESIST | Oppose or withstand |
| TAKEASWING | Try to hit, or what one can do with a bat, club, or racket |
| ONTHERADIO | 1979 Donna Summer hit ... or where it was heard |
| HORIZONTAL | Level hit or zonal redistribution (10) |
| WILDHORSES | 1971 Stones hit, or what can be found in the answers to starred clues |
| CROSSROADS | 1969 Cream hit ... or a hint to the seven "mathematical" clues in this puzzle |
| PSILOVEYOU | 1964 Beatles hit ... or what an adoring fan of any of eight celebrities in this puzzle might say? |
| NIGHTMOVES | 1976 Bob Seger hit; or, how each of the circled 5-letter entries might be derived |
| LOVEME | Elvis hit or the start of another Elvis hit |
| RANDOM | Hit or miss or damn the consequences (6) |
| SOS | 1975 ABBA hit, or 2006 Rihanna hit (3) |
| SLAM | Hard hit or hit hard |
| SWAT | Hit, or try to hit |
| MISS | A failure to attain, catch, hit or reach; a flop, as opposed to a smash; or, a title corresponding to "mademoiselle" (4) |
| SLOG | A snail's-pace plod, trudge or tiring trek; a strenuous spell of exhausting graft; a hard hit; or, a heavy blow (4) |
| FOOLSRUSHIN | 1940 Glenn Miller hit or 1997 Matthew Perry film |
| KUNGFUFIGHTING | Carl Douglas hit or the theme of this puzzle |
