| MICROLOANS | Money to start small businesses ... or a hint to five squares in this puzzle |
| BALLPOINTS | Some Pilots, and a hint to five squares in this puzzle |
| INSTITCHES | Home schooling to start - little ones very amused (10) |
| SUPERBOWL | Event that could feature any of the athletes found in five squares in this puzzle ... and a Feb. 9, 2025, event featuring the athletes spelled out in the first letters of five Across entries and then |
| WIGGLEROOM | Space to maneuver, or a hint to five sets of circled letters in this puzzle |
| FALSE | One of two options in five squares in this puzzle |
| TRUE | One of two options in five squares in this puzzle |
| FORMATION | Following the nine black squares in the center of the grid, a hint to five pairs of answers in this puzzle |
| PUTONTHESPOT | Pressured, or what five squares in this puzzle do |
| SANTASLITTLEHELPERS | Workers seen in five squares in this puzzle? |
| TWISTOFLEMON | Drink garnish ... or a hint to five letters in the answer to each starred clue |
| COUNTDOWN | What might end the year, and a hint to five answers in this puzzle |
| ALITTLERNR | Quaint vacay, and a hint to five long answers in this puzzle |
| KEEPITPG | "Tone down that PDA, there are kids around," and a hint to five answers in this puzzle |
| NOH | Kabuki relative, and a hint to five puns in this puzzle |
| CUTTINGEDGE | State-of-the-art, and a hint to five extra answers in this puzzle |
| PCS | Some laptops, and a hint to five long answers in this puzzle |
| RIGHTLYSO | For good reason, and a hint to five answers in this puzzle |
| MENWALKONMOON | New York Times headline from 50 Years ago on 7/21/69, and a hint to five two-row arrangements in this puzzle |
| BREXIT | Subject of a 2016 U.K. referendum, and a hint to five puzzle answers |
