| STUFFEDTOMATOES | Rice-filled appetizers with red shells, and a hint to the words that bookend 17-, 30-, and 42-Across |
| OPENSEASON | Period when criticism might pour in, and a hint to the words that bookend the starred clues' answers |
| OUTONALIMB | Vulnerably positioned ... or like the words that bookend 17-, 22- and 43-Across, in two ways? |
| STUFFEDANIMALS | Creature comforts? ... and a hint to the words that bookend 19-, 24- and 44-Across |
| EDAM | Cheese in a red shell |
| LITCHI | It has juicy white flesh in a rough red shell |
| STEAMEDDUMPLING | Filled appetizer |
| CRAB | __ Rangoon: seafood-filled appetizer |
| NUTCRACKERS | Toys that are also tools, and a hint to the words split across the sets of asterisked clues' answers |
| FALLINGSTAR | Meteor, and a hint to the word that descends in the starred clues' answers ... and this puzzle's grid |
| SHARKINFESTEDWATERS | Dangerous area for those in the top row of this puzzle, and a hint to the words under the six black tins in the grid |
| TIMELIMITS | Fixed periods for completing tasks ... and a hint to the words found on the edges of the starred answers |
| TENTOONEODDS | Big payout potential ... or a hint to the words in the shaded squares (and the clue numbers on which they begin!) |
| DRIFTWOOD | Beach debris, or a clue to the word that moves through 17-, 25-, 35- and 47- Across |
| HAIRRAISING | *Eerie, and a hint to the word that progresses upward through the starred clues' answers |
| STOCKSPLIT | Share-increasing action, or a hint to the word that bookends the starred answers |
| HIDDENGEM | Masterpiece waiting to be found ... or a hint to the words in the circled letters |
| BRIDGEOFSPIES | 2015 Cold War film, or a hint to the words hidden across the rows of starred answers |
| GREASE | It's the word, it's the word that you heard, it's got a groove, it's got a meaning. It's the time, it's the place, it's the motion, it's the way we are feeling |
| GREENSPAN | Alan of Federal Reserve fame, or a hint to the hues that bookend the starred entries |
