| MAJORITY | With the circled letters, large but not often vocal voting bloc |
| LGBT | Pride parade letters - large, grand and extremely bright (1,1,1,1) |
| PARTNERS | With the circled letters, investors not involved in the management of their businesses |
| CUTTHECRAP | "Be honest with me" or a hint to what's happening with the circled letters |
| CARABINERO | Foreign policeman in vehicle with a large but not good emperor (10) |
| STILL | With [the circled letters], Maya Angelou poem that begins "You may write me down in history / With your bitter, twisted lies" |
| THECLOCK | With the circled letters, 1955 Bill Haley and His Comets hit? |
| GOLDENRATIO | Numerical constant associated with [the circled letters] |
| CUT | With the circled letters, a hint to solving seven Across clues |
| BREAK | With the circled letters, period that traditionally ends on Labor Day |
| GOING | With the circled letters (literally!), two options when riding an elevator |
| DOTS | With the circled letters, pattern seen in this puzzle |
| ALLBETSAREOFF | "Anything could happen!" (or what's happening with the circled letters) |
| NAIROBI | Under new leader, African capital, large but not grand, is a different place |
| MISLAID | Domestic gathering is large, but not here (7) |
| REAL | Are unusually large but not fakes (4) |
| PEDIGREE | Crack big, but not black, with deeper descent (8) |
| MEDIUM | It's not big, but not small either |
| THREE | With the circled letters, a literal depiction of what you need to win tic-tac-toe? |
| EIGNSTATE | With the circled letter over, self-ruled entity |
