| SECRETSAUCE | Ingredient for success, or what's hidden in each starred answer |
| BIGBREAK | Opportunity for success, or what 17-, 29-, 45-, and 61-Across each have |
| DONTHAVEACOW | "Relax!"...or a advice to a solver who can't figure out what's hidden in each starred clue's answer |
| WHOMOVEDMY | Business fable with two mice...or a hint to a word hidden in each starred answer |
| IDO | Marriage ceremony words that are hidden in each starred answer |
| BIGSHOESTOFILL | What a successor may have, and a hint to three letters hidden in each starred answer |
| EXPERIENCEPOINT | *Gaming term whose two-letter abbreviation is hidden in each starred answer (find all five examples to master this puzzle!) |
| ROUGHHOUSE | Rowdy play, and what's hidden in each answer to a starred clue |
| SPEED | Rate of motion or action; each one of a bike's gear ratios; or, an old word for success or prosperity (5) |
| FINALSAY | Ultimate authority ... or what's hidden in the answers to starred clues |
| ALTEREGO | Secondary persona, or what's hidden in the answers to starred clues |
| PROSPECTS | Chances or opportunities for success or wealth (9) |
| INFO | What's hidden in each of the asterisked clues |
| NERVOUSWRECK | Epitome of anxiety ... or what's hidden in three puzzle answers? |
| SIXDEGREES | Often-cited distance between things ... or what's hidden in this puzzle |
| THEWAYTOWIN | Strategy for success (or book title of 2007) |
| AMBITIOUS | Striving for success or power (9) |
| AMBITION | Desire for success or power (8) |
| BACKUPPLANS | "Just in case" arrangements, and a hint to the word hidden in reverse in each starred answer |
| ETYMOLOGY | What the two words in each starred answer have in common with each other |
