| UPTHEANTE | Raise stakes in a game ... and a hint to a hidden feature of five Down puzzle answers |
| LEMONADE | Picnic serving, and when divided properly, a hint to a hidden feature of six pairs of puzzle answers |
| ACESUP | Hickok's last hand, it's said ... and what's literally found in four Down puzzle answers |
| ALTERNATIVEROCK | Jangle pop and the like, and a hint to a hidden feature of 17-, 30-, 46- and 63-Across |
| ANTE | Neat show of stakes in a game |
| SET | Something between a game and a match? (3) |
| PEAKPERFORMANCE | Athlete's A game, and a hint to the first words of 3-, 5- and 9-Down |
| CHAOSMAGIC | Power that enables the Scarlet Witch to rewrite reality, and a hidden feature of the answers to the starred clues? |
| 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 |
| RAILSPLITTER | Abraham Lincoln nickname, and a hint to a hidden word in each answer to a starred clue |
| RANDOMORDER | Ideal deck-shuffling goal ... and a hint to a hidden word, and how it appears, in the four other longest answers |
| BOWL | Postseason gridiron game, and a hint to the puzzle theme found in starred answers |
| LEMONSLICE | Fish dish garnish, or a hidden feature of the answers to starred clues |
| CHANGEENDS | Tennais umpire's order after odd-numbered games ... and a hint to the two sets of circled letters in each of eight answers |
| SUITSUP | Gets ready for the big game ... and a hint to four puzzle answers |
| EXTRACT | Remove, or, if you put a space after the fifth letter, a feature of five of this puzzle's Across answers |
| ETON | School in Berkshire with a tradition of the wall game and a unique system of house and sporting colours (4) |
| FLOSS | Dental directive, or (as two words) a feature of five answers in this puzzle |
| SCORINGPOINTS | Goal of most games (and a hint to this puzzle's theme) |
| KEEPYOURHEADONASWIVEL | "Be wary!," or a hint to understanding five Down entries in this puzzle |
