| 100% | PROBLEM | 7 | A difficult situation; a puzzle |
| 73% | DILEMMA | 7 | A difficult situation; predicament |
| 71% | TOUGH | 5 | Difficult, as a puzzle |
| 71% | BAILED | 6 | Fled a difficult situation |
| 70% | RESORT | 6 | Strategy in a difficult situation |
| 70% | PUTINATIGHTSPOT | 15 | Drove into a difficult situation |
| 70% | EASES | 5 | Relieves, as a difficult situation |
| 70% | COPE | 4 | Manage a difficult situation somehow |
| 70% | COPE | 4 | Deal with a difficult situation |
| 70% | BAILS | 5 | Flees a difficult situation, informally |
| 70% | COPE | 4 | Adjust to a difficult situation |
| 69% | STRUGGLEBUS | 11 | Facetious metaphor for a difficult situation |
| 68% | PICKLE | 6 | Vegetable one encounters in a difficult situation |
| 65% | SPOT | 4 | In a tight ___ (in a difficult situation) |
| 61% | ARMOR | 5 | Plot ___ ("protection" whereby the protagonist of a story always survives a difficult situation) |
| 61% | LINING | 6 | *Every cloud has a silver ___, idiom that emphasizes advantages in a difficult situation |
| 61% | EYE | 3 | "In the ___ of the storm..." (right in the middle of a difficult situation) |
| 61% | CREEK | 5 | Up the ___ without a paddle (in a difficult situation) |
| 60% | SKY | 3 | Difficult area of a jigsaw puzzle, maybe |
| 58% | PICKLE | 6 | "To be in a ___," phrase inspired by Shakespeare that means "to be in a difficult situation" |
| 57% | OUTONALIMB | 10 | In a risky situation, and something found four times in this puzzle |
| 55% | MESS | 4 | "This is a ___." (difficult situation) |
| 53% | TOTALGRIDLOCK | 13 | Nightmarish Manhattan traffic situation ... or a possible title for this puzzle |
| 52% | SPOT | 4 | In a tough ___ (difficult situation) |
| 52% | DOUBLEOT | 8 | High-stakes gridiron situation, and a feature of eight long puzzle answers |
| 51% | CAN | 3 | "Open a ___ of worms" (difficult situation) |
| 51% | MESS | 4 | Difficult situation |
| 51% | SPOT | 4 | Difficult situation |
| 51% | NODUS | 5 | Difficult situation |
| 51% | HOTSEAT | 7 | Difficult situation |