| The state of having children | 28 |
| The state of France? | 20 |
| The state of falling into disuse | 32 |
| The state of being bread (!) | 28 |
| The State Department, informally | 32 |
| The State Department on a nice day? | 35 |
| The State Department | 20 |
| The starts of this puzzle's three longest answers are shades of it | 70 |
| The starts of this puzzle's six longest answers are types of them | 69 |
| The starts of answers to asterisked clues are the most popular adult Halloween ones | 83 |
| The starting players | 20 |
| The starters, in sports | 23 |
| The start of understanding? | 27 |
| The start of time | 17 |
| The start of the four theme entries, collectively | 49 |
| The start of something? | 23 |
| The start of something big? | 27 |
| The start of something | 22 |
| The start of an invention | 25 |
| The start | 9 |
| The stars of the Stars and Stripes | 34 |
| The Stars may play the Blues in it, briefly | 43 |
| The Stars and Stripes | 21 |
| The Starlighters' Joey | 26 |
| The Star-Spangled Banner | 24 |
| The Star Wars films, e.g. | 25 |
| The Star of _____ | 17 |
| The Star of India, e.g. | 23 |
| The Star City of the South | 26 |
| The stand-in always has to ___ | 30 |
| The Stamp Act, e.g. | 19 |
| THE STAKES | 10 |
| The stage | 9 |
| The staff of life | 17 |
| The staff departs | 17 |
| The St. Lawrence R. flows through it | 36 |
| The SS Manhattan was the first commercial ship to cross it | 58 |
| The squeaky wheel gets the grease, but also... | 46 |
| The squares of "three squares" | 40 |
| The square root of nueve | 24 |
| The square root of IX | 21 |
| The square root of cuatro | 25 |
| The square of the square of i | 29 |
| The Spy Who Came In From the Cold | 33 |
| The spy in "The Spy Who Came In From the Cold" | 56 |
| The Spruce Goose was one | 24 |
| The Sprats, e.g. | 16 |
| The spot | 8 |
| The sport of shooting, in Soissons | 34 |
| The sport of rowing racing shells | 33 |
| The Spokane Shock's org. | 28 |
| The spit in a spit roast, e.g. | 30 |
| The Spirit ___ Louis | 20 |
| The Spirit of St. Louis, e.g. | 29 |
| The spirit of Russia? | 21 |
| The spine of South America | 26 |
| The spinach eater | 17 |
| The spider bugs | 15 |
| The spicknel | 12 |
| The spice of life, so it's said | 35 |
| The spice of life | 17 |
| The Sphinx's is "blank and pitiless as the sun," per Yeats | 72 |
| The Sphinx had a famous one | 27 |
| The Sphinx and the Parthenon? | 29 |
| The sphere one moves in | 23 |
| The sperm stops here, briefly | 29 |
| The spendthrift ___ | 19 |
| The spendthrift scuba diver usually ___ | 39 |
| The speed of sound | 18 |
| The Spectrum, e.g. | 18 |
| The Specials' milieu | 24 |
| The Spartans, briefly | 21 |
| The Spartans' sch. | 22 |
| The Spartans of the N.C.A.A. | 28 |
| The Spartans of the Big Ten: Abbr. | 34 |
| The Spanish ___ (1588 invasion fleet) | 37 |
| The Spanish I love? | 19 |
| The space who's also the mascot of Cowboy-opoly? | 52 |
| The Sox, on the scoreboard | 26 |
| The Soviets' Order of ___ | 29 |
| The Southwest's ___ Desert | 30 |
| The southwest wind | 18 |
| The Southern states | 19 |
| The Southern Crown | 18 |
| The southeast wind | 18 |
| The South, once: Abbr. | 22 |
| The South, in the Civil War: Abbr. | 34 |
| The South, in 1860-61 | 21 |
| The South's ironclad | 24 |
| The south wind | 14 |
| The south of France? | 20 |
| The south of France | 19 |
| The South and the Southwest | 27 |
| The South | 9 |
| The sourge of serge | 19 |
| The Source, e.g.? | 17 |
| The sour taste of Robespierre's tenure? | 43 |
| The Soup ___ | 12 |
| The Sounds song inspired by Pat Benatar? | 40 |
| The sounds of time? | 19 |