| MIXEDNUTS | Party snack (and a hint to this puzzle's circled letters) |
| TRAILMIX | Backpacker's snack, and a hint to the circled letters |
| SANDWICHING | Squeezing tightly between a bread snack and a gin cocktail (11) |
| MIXEDFRUIT | Sweet snack, and a description of the first words of the starred answers |
| ELEVENSES | Morning break; snack and a drink (9) |
| ACORN | Word, related to the name of a cereal crop and of a unit of land, for any wild fruit or nut originally, later a specific cupule-borne forest fruit, squirrel snack and chief form of pig mast from which |
| FISA | Swedish practice of taking a break with a beverage, a snack and good company |
| FIKA | Swedish practice of taking a break with a beverage, a snack and good company |
| BACKUPBANDS | Miami Sound Machine and others, and a hint to this puzzle's circled letters |
| STEPSUPONESGAME | Improves to meet a challenge ... or a hint to this puzzle's circled letters |
| MIXEDNS | Party snack ... or a hint to six squares in this puzzle |
| MIXEDMEDIA | Artwork using both paint and collage, e.g. ... and a hint to this puzzle's circled letters |
| SHUFFLEBOARD | Game played on a floor or table, and a hint to this puzzle's circled letters |
| STIRTHEPOT | Cause trouble ... and a hint to this puzzle's circled letters |
| GRANDFINALE | Climactic show ending, and a literal hint to this puzzle's circled letters |
| WOODFINISH | Butcher-block application, and a hint to this puzzle's circled letters |
| WRONGWAY | Sign of misdirection, and a hint to this puzzle's circled letters |
| SPLITTHEPOT | Divvy up poker hand winnings, and a hint to this puzzle's circled letters |
| HOSPITALCORNERS | Institutional bed-making technique, and a hint to this puzzle's circled letters |
| SHIFTYEYES | Sign of deceit, and a hint to this puzzle's circled letters |
