| Sly |
| Wary |
| Shrewd |
| Artful |
| Cunning |
| Sketchy |
| Evasive |
| Cautious |
| Warily shy |
| Hardly open |
| Tight-lipped |
| Not forthright |
| Not forthcoming |
| Somewhat shrewd |
| Cleverly guarded |
| Not easily duped |
| Cautiously shrewd |
| Hesitant to commit |
| Hardly forthcoming |
| Cautious, as a reply |
| Displaying shrewdness |
| Hesitant about committing oneself |
| Kinda guarded, or a homophonic hint to the starred answers |
| Shrewd ... and a phonetic hint to this puzzle's four longest answers |