| INNERCIRCLE | Small, influential group ... and a hint to the word hidden in each answer to a starred clue |
| INNERCIRCLES | Influential groups, and what each of the answers to starred clues contains |
| THATHURTS | Pained expression, and a hint to two cries hidden in each answer to a starred clue |
| ANIMALHOUSE | 1978 misfit comedy ... and something hidden in each answer to a starred clue |
| ROUGHHOUSE | Rowdy play, and what's hidden in each answer to a starred clue |
| MAFIA | Small, influential clique |
| BACKUPPLANS | "Just in case" arrangements, and a hint to the word hidden in reverse in each starred answer |
| RAILSPLITTER | Abraham Lincoln nickname, and a hint to a hidden word in each answer to a starred clue |
| HIDDENBALLTRICK | Diamond gambit, or a hint to a different concealed word found in each answer to a starred clue |
| KICKSTARTER | Foot-operated mechanism on a motorcycle, and what the first word in each answer to a starred clue ca |
| MIDMORNING | Coffee break time ... and a hint to an abbreviation aptly placed in each answer to a starred clue |
| PUTALIDONIT | "Stop complaining!" ... and a hint to the words hidden in the starred clues' answers |
| RUBSTHEWRONGWAY | Annoys, or a hint to the word hidden in the starred entries |
| ITSATRAP | Warning to the answers to the three starred clues regarding the word hidden in 17-, 34- and 43-Acros |
| WORLDLEADER | Summit attendee, and what the first word can be in each answer to a starred clue |
| STIRUPDRAMA | Create tension in a group, and a direction that was followed when forming the answer to each starred clue? |
| GOLDENHORDE | 13th/14th-century Mongol Empire region ... and an elemental hint to what's found twice in each answer to a starred clue |
| WHOMOVEDMY | Business fable with two mice...or a hint to a word hidden in each starred answer |
| LETTER | Both words in each answer to a starred clue begin and end with the same one |
| THETUBE | Set in a den, slangily ... or, initially, what can be found in each answer to a starred clue |
