| SLICEDBREAD | "Best thing" bakery metaphor ... and a hint to each row of circles |
| SPLITLEVEL | House with short staircases, and a hint to each row of circles |
| PEASOUP | Thick fog metaphor ... and what each set of circled letters is? |
| SINKORSWIM | Success-versus-failure metaphor, and what can be found at the starts of the answers to the starred clues |
| SLANG | "All ___ is metaphor, and all |
| JUMPINGBEAN | Tumbling seed, and a hint to each row of circled letters |
| SLICEDVEGGIES | Salad cruditis ... and a hint to each row of circled letters |
| INSIDEVOICE | What you may use at a library, and what each row of circled letters reveals |
| SPREAD | Apt word to follow each row of circled letters |
| THESAURUS | Writer's reference ... or what each row of shaded letters is missing? |
| IFS | Possibilities DIRECTIONS: Make a 2- to 7-letter word from the letters in each row. Add points of each word, using scoring directions at right. Finally, 7-letter words get 50-point bonus. "Blanks" used |
| SUM | 34, for each row, column and main diagonal in a 4x4 magic square |
| EGGSHELL | Calcareous oological substance referred to in metaphors and similes to describe the fragile or sensitive nature of something (8) |
| INSIDESTORY | Facts known to a select few ... and a hint to each set of circled letters |
| SHIFTGEARS | Go from neutral to reverse ... and a hint to each set of circles |
| BLANKCHECK | Complete freedom ... and a hint to each half of the answer to each starred clue |
| MIXEDDOUBLES | Tennis format with man-and-woman pairs ... and a hint to each set of circles |
| HOUSEBROKEN | Like a well-trained pet, and a hint to each set of circles |
| LOSER | Also-ran How to play: Each row must contain the numbers |
| VIENNA | Freud's hometown How to play: Each row must contain the numbers |
