| 100% | CREEL | 5 | Fishing basket, or a fishing rod spool if you ignore the first letter |
| 49% | ALAN | 4 | Boy's name that becomes a girl's name if you move the first letter to the end |
| 49% | OLEG | 4 | Man's name that becomes a popular toy brand if you move the first letter to the end |
| 48% | FRUIT | 5 | What you get if you change the first letter in "demon," "dime" or "drape"? |
| 47% | EMIL | 4 | Man's name that becomes a distance if you move the first letter to the end |
| 47% | IHOP | 4 | Commercial name that becomes a Native American tribe if you move its first letter to the end |
| 47% | ENOS | 4 | Biblical man's name that becomes a body part if you move the first letter to the end |
| 46% | ERIC | 4 | Name that becomes a grain if you move its first letter to the end |
| 46% | TWEEZERS | 8 | Tool whose name is a rock band if you remove the first and last letters |
| 45% | AMY | 3 | Girl's name that becomes a different girl's name if you switch the first two letters |
| 45% | NEVILLE | 7 | Name that, if you pronounce the first two letters individually, sounds like a synonym for 22 Across |
| 45% | SANSA | 5 | Winterfell character on "Game of Thrones" ... or, if you change the fourth letter to T, a wintertime character |
| 41% | SNORT | 5 | Pig's sound, or a pig's body part if you change the fourth letter to a U |
| 41% | FINCH | 5 | Bird whose name becomes a unit of length if you remove its first letter |
| 41% | RAMI | 4 | Name that becomes another name if you move the first letter to the end |
| 40% | MOOSE | 5 | Mammal that becomes a bird if you change its first letter |
| 40% | OPAL | 4 | Gemstone that becomes a buddy if you remove its first letter |
| 40% | SMOOT | 5 | Early 20th-century senator Reed who becomes pointless to debate if you remove the first letter? |
| 40% | EROS | 4 | Love symbol that names another love symbol if you move the first letter to the end |
| 40% | EXTRACT | 7 | Remove, or, if you put a space after the fifth letter, a feature of five of this puzzle's Across answers |
| 39% | FSH | 3 | Answer to the riddle "What do you call a fish with no eyes?"... or a hint to this puzzle's circled letters |
| 39% | AYE | 3 | Word that keeps the same meaning if you move its first letter to the end |
| 39% | IRAN | 4 | Country whose name becomes another country if you change the last letter to a Q |
| 38% | AVIS | 4 | Company name that becomes another company name if you move its first letter to the end |
| 38% | AVIS | 4 | Commercial name that becomes another commercial name if you move its first letter to the end |
| 38% | WRISTS | 6 | Body parts that become other body parts if you change the second letter to an A |
| 38% | RONA | 4 | Woman's name that becomes another woman's name if you switch the first and third letters |
| 37% | BRADS | 5 | Fasteners ... or, if you change the fourth letter to an S, what the fasteners might be made of |
| 37% | JOANN | 5 | Two-syllable woman's name that becomes a one-syllable woman's name if you drop the last letter |
| 37% | ALBEN | 5 | Truman veep Barkley whose name sounds like a musical record if you change the last letter to an "m" |