| 100% | EKE | 3 | ___ out a win (take first place by a hair) |
| 70% | EKE | 3 | ___ out a win (barely take first place) |
| 59% | ANOSE | 5 | Win by ___ (barely take first place): 2 wds. |
| 56% | EKE | 3 | ___ out a victory (barely take first place) |
| 52% | WIN | 3 | Take first place on a podium |
| 52% | WON | 3 | Took first place in a race |
| 51% | WINBYALONGSHOT | 14 | Take first place in a whiskey drinking contest? |
| 51% | EKES | 4 | ___ out a victory (wins by a hair) |
| 49% | EDGED | 5 | Beat out by a hair |
| 48% | EKE | 3 | ___ out a win (barely beat second place) |
| 47% | EKED | 4 | ___ out a win (was victorious by a small margin) |
| 46% | NOSE | 4 | Win by a ___ (eke out a victory) |
| 45% | EXCLUDER | 8 | Draught __; placed by a door to keep out cold air |
| 45% | NEAT | 4 | Without a hair out of place |
| 45% | NEAT | 4 | Not having a hair out of place |
| 45% | TIDY | 4 | With nary a hair out of place |
| 45% | TIDY | 4 | Not a hair out of place, say |
| 45% | INDIANAPOLISD | 13 | Event first won by a Marmon Wasp |
| 44% | BANK | 4 | Place where you might go to take out a loan |
| 41% | EDGED | 5 | Won by a nose, with "out" |
| 41% | EDGED | 5 | Won by a narrow margin, with "out" |
| 40% | MAN | 3 | "A Single ___," 1964 novel by Christopher Isherwood whose plot takes place over a single day |
| 40% | CAROL | 5 | "A Christmas ___," 1843 novella by Charles Dickens whose plot takes place over a single day |
| 40% | DALLOWAY | 8 | "Mrs. ___," 1925 novel by Virginia Woolf whose plot takes place over a single day |
| 40% | WIN | 3 | Take first place |
| 40% | WON | 3 | Took first place |
| 40% | BARELY | 6 | By a hair |
| 40% | EKE | 3 | ___ out a victory (win by a nose) |
| 40% | SEIZE | 5 | "___ the Day," 1956 novel by Saul Bellow whose plot takes place over a single day |
| 40% | CZECHEREDFLAG | 13 | "Wow! The car from Prague ekes out the victory by a nose and takes the ___!" |