| 100% | ETH | 3 | A letter in the Icelandic alphabet that can be described as a voiced or voiceless alveolar non-sibilant fricative |
| 38% | SLAG | 4 | Something left over from the Bessemer process that could be used in fertilizer or as a cement additive |
| 37% | LINKINGVERB | 11 | Word such as "be" ... or a punny description of the seven-letter word that can create new action words when its letters are inserted in the breaks of the circled action words |
| 36% | NOSE | 4 | Part of the face that could be described as Roman or Grecian |
| 36% | HOTSAKE | 7 | Drink that can be described as jyoh-kan or astu-kan, depending on the temperature |
| 33% | MISSIONIMPOSSIBLE | 17 | Popular action film franchise ... or what trying to find the item in this puzzle can be described as |
| 33% | DEAL | 4 | Agreement that could be described as "raw" or "fair" |
| 32% | ADAPTATION | 10 | *2002 movie in which a Susan Orlean work is described as “that sprawling New Yorker shit” . . . or what the answer to each starred clue is |
| 32% | ANAGRAM | 7 | A word or phrase that can be formed using the letters of another word |
| 32% | MASS | 4 | Catholic church service that could be described as "high" or "midnight" |
| 32% | BEER | 4 | Drink that could be described as hoppy or malty |
| 32% | FURNITUREASSEMBLY | 17 | Ikea task, and a task that can be applied to the sets of circled letters in this puzzle |
| 32% | GUESS | 5 | ___ the Gibberish, Instagram game filter that can be uploaded as a story |
| 31% | PAPA | 4 | Family member that's also a letter in the NATO alphabet |
| 31% | EWE | 3 | Farm female that can be used as a pronoun in a rebus |
| 31% | EWE | 3 | Farm animal that can be used as a pronoun in a rebus |
| 31% | ALE | 3 | Bar order that could be either in a bottle or on tap |
| 31% | TEE | 3 | Alphabet that can be a shirt type or a junction |
| 31% | PUMPKIN | 7 | Fall vegetable that can be carved into a lantern or baked as a pie |
| 30% | OMEGA | 5 | Last letter in the Greek alphabet, or a luxury watch brand |
| 30% | GENIPAP | 7 | Unripe fruit found in Florida that can be used as a tattoo dye (and insect repellent!) |
| 30% | EAR | 3 | Auditory organ that might be drawn as a "C" in the cartoons |
| 30% | TEE | 3 | Letter that can be a shirt type or a junction |
| 30% | SHARD | 5 | Item that can be described by changing its last letter to a P |
| 30% | BOMB | 4 | Piece in the game Stratego that can only be defeated by a Miner |
| 30% | UREA | 4 | Substance that showed, in 1828, that something previously produced only as a by-product of life, could be created in the lab |
| 30% | SUNROOF | 7 | The top of a car that can be opened in summer |
| 29% | ATEST | 5 | Event that could be seen as far away as Las Vegas in the '50s |
| 29% | SHE | 3 | Pronoun that can be spelled with a slash between the first and second letters |
| 29% | STU | 3 | Name that can be found in the letters preceding V |