| 100% | CAUTIOUSOPTIMISM | 16 | Feeling described as "hoping for the best, but fearing the worst" |
| 50% | HOPE | 4 | "___ for the best but prepare for the worst." |
| 50% | HOPE | 4 | "___ for the best but prepare for the worst" |
| 49% | HOPE | 4 | "___ for the best, but prepare for the worst" |
| 43% | PRAYED | 6 | Hoped for the best |
| 43% | PRAY | 4 | Hope for the best |
| 41% | EDIT | 4 | Change ... one hopes for the better |
| 41% | TAKE | 4 | "___ the cake," idiom used to describe something that stands out, either as the best or the worst |
| 40% | PLANA | 5 | The first thing to try (and hope for the best) |
| 39% | EST | 3 | Suffix for the best or the worst |
| 39% | EDIT | 4 | Change for the better, as a manuscript |
| 38% | MINI | 4 | "___ Hollywood," former name for the Spanish Western theme park used as a set for "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" |
| 38% | WISHWELL | 8 | Hope the best for: 2 wds. |
| 38% | ABOVEONESSTATIONWAGON | 21 | Feeling too good for the family car? |
| 36% | DEJAVU | 6 | Feeling that some describe as a glitch in the Matrix |
| 36% | LEASTWORST | 10 | Bad, but better than the alternatives |
| 35% | BADDEST | 7 | Sounds like the worst but it means best, toughest |
| 35% | WILDESTDREAMS | 13 | Taylor Swift power ballad with the lyrics “He’s so tall and handsome as hell / He’s so bad, but he does it so well” |
| 34% | SERAPE | 6 | Wear for Clint Eastwood in "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" |
| 34% | HONESTY | 7 | Billy Joel ballad with the lyrics "But if you look for truthfulness / You might just as well be blind" |
| 33% | FASTRELIEF | 10 | The only thing we have to fear is ... feeling better quickly? |
| 33% | BOOMORBUST | 10 | Having "very good" and "very bad" as the two possible outcomes |
| 33% | DUNKINSPIKED | 12 | Canned drink whose Mocha flavor was described as tasting "like a coffee-flavored beer, but worse" |
| 33% | ALARMED | 7 | Fearing the worst |
| 32% | PLATTE | 6 | River facetiously described as "a mile wide at the mouth, but only six inches deep" |
| 32% | GRAHAME | 7 | Gloria —, Best Actress in a Supporting Role Oscar winner for The Bad and the Beautiful |
| 32% | TOPEE | 5 | Alternate name for the US Marine Corps pith helmet, described as "Helmet, sun, rigid, fiber" |
| 32% | IDEALLY | 7 | For the best results |
| 32% | HOPING | 6 | ___ for the best |
| 32% | HOPE | 4 | ___ for the best! |