What do the stars mean on word scrimmage puzzle?

Answer 1

It means you add additional points for the letter that is entered in the space where the star is located. The amount of additional points is noted at the end of the line with the blank circles.

For example:

SUTTMOT (7 scrambled letters)

Unscrambled = Utmost (6 letter word)

The star was behind the third letter = "M" worth 6 points.

A note at end of line read, "3rd letter + 7 points".

So the "M" was actually worth 6 + 7 = 13 points.