| DOUBLEHEADER | In 2020's MLB season, each game of one was seven innings ... and what each word of three long answers can have |
| CENTERPIECE | Pivotal element, and what each word in quotes in the starred clues literally is to its answer? |
| SEABEES | US Navy engineers (or a hint to the theme which is based on the first words of three long answers) |
| FLIPS | What each word of six or more letters in this puzzle does |
| CRABBED | Hard to make out in writing how grumpy one was (7) |
| SAN | First word of three of California's four largest cities |
| STEPHENHENDRY | Scottish snooker player who was seven-time world champion in the 1990s (7,6) |
| RIO | First word of three John Wayne movie titles |
| SPA | First of seasons each year is spring |
| SOFT | ___ball, women's sport with seven innings. |
| ASTROS | 2010s-2020s MLB powerhouse |
| DEUCE | End of one was indication to set up two (5) |
| SLOPITCH | 7 innings where you can't get caught stealing? |
| PLAYERLISTS | Game rosters, one of which is formed by the starts of three long answers in this puzzle? |
| FILLINGUPWITHGAS | Pre-road trip detail ... and a hint to what certain parts of three long answers were doing as you solved them |
| DOUBLETIME | Holiday pay rate, perhaps, and a hint to what can follow each word of each starred answer |
| HOMEOPENER | Game one for season ticket holders ... or, literally, what each word in the answers to starred clues can have |
| WATER | Word that can precede each word of each starred answer |
| DANISH | Who scored 150+ runs in the first innings and 70+ runs in the second for Vidarbha in the Ranji final against Kerala? (6) |
| MENTALGYMNASTICS | Complex reasoning that occurs literally at the end of three long answers |
