| 100% | BYES | 4 | Direct entries into the second round in a sport tournament |
| 44% | BASKETBALL | 10 | A sport in which two teams attempt to score the most points by throwing a round object into a hoop |
| 41% | SEMI | 4 | Game in a tournament round after the quarters |
| 37% | SEMI | 4 | Second-to-last round in a tournament, for short |
| 37% | CHIP | 4 | Round in a poker tournament |
| 37% | LOSSES | 6 | The second number in a record |
| 35% | ELIM | 4 | Kind of round in a tournament, informally |
| 35% | SEMI | 4 | Penultimate round in a tournament, for short |
| 35% | AILEY | 5 | The second A in AAADT |
| 34% | MARTIAL | 7 | The second M in MMA (the sport) |
| 34% | TEAMS | 5 | Sides in a sport, such as the Dodgers and Giants |
| 34% | BYE | 3 | Freebie into the next tournament round |
| 33% | ALAI | 4 | Second word in a two-word rhyming sport name |
| 33% | SEEDS | 5 | The top players in a tennis tournament's bracket |
| 33% | FINALISTS | 9 | The last competitors in a contest or tournament |
| 33% | TOTALIZING | 10 | Make into the final figure in a sum |
| 32% | GAY | 3 | What the second letter in a certain multiletter initialism stands for |
| 32% | PATROL | 6 | Make the rounds in a police car |
| 32% | DISASTERCLASS | 13 | The opposite of a clinic, in sports |
| 32% | TEA | 3 | It was thrown into the harbor in a 1773 "party" |
| 32% | DOUGHNUT | 8 | Round pastry with a hole in the middle |
| 32% | ROTUNDA | 7 | Round area in the middle of a building |
| 32% | ATOP | 4 | ___ the standings (leading a division in sports) |
| 31% | SKIN | 4 | You could lose some of this in a slide into second |
| 31% | FLASHBACK | 9 | Scene in a movie that's a glimpse into the past |
| 31% | SEMIS | 5 | Tournament games in the round right before the finals |
| 31% | DISCGOLF | 8 | Sport in which frisbees are thrown into a basket |
| 31% | ADO | 3 | Second word in the title of a Shakespeare comedy |
| 31% | YACHT | 5 | Entry in a celebrated international sports competition since 1851 |
| 31% | PELE | 4 | Sports star with a signed jersey in the Vatican |