| 100% | ESSES | 5 | Four letters in ''Mississippi'' |
| 100% | ESSES | 5 | Four letters in "Mississippi" |
| 82% | ESSES | 5 | Four letters in ''sessions'' |
| 82% | ESSES | 5 | Four letters in "scissors" |
| 77% | ABCD | 4 | First four letters in the alphabet |
| 75% | ABCD | 4 | First four letters in a popular song |
| 72% | ESSES | 5 | Four in Mississippi |
| 68% | IOWA | 4 | Besides Ohio and Utah, the only state with four letters in its name |
| 67% | UCLA | 4 | School where Jackie Robinson lettered in four sports (abbr.) |
| 66% | USAIR | 5 | Company that added four letters to its name in 1997 |
| 65% | DOTS | 4 | Four markings in ''Mississippi'' |
| 62% | DOT | 3 | One of four in Mississippi |
| 62% | ESSES | 5 | There are four in Mississippi |
| 62% | ESS | 3 | One of four in Mississippi |
| 61% | ASAP | 4 | Urgency confirmed in four letters |
| 61% | EMPTYEXCUSE | 11 | Lame justification for the letter substitution in four puzzle answers? |
| 60% | SYL | 3 | One of four in Mississippi: Abbr. |
| 60% | ASAP | 4 | Right away, in four letters |
| 59% | NEWS | 4 | First letters of the words hidden in the four longest answers |
| 59% | AWRINKLEINTIME | 14 | Classic young adult novel ... or hint to the path taken by four letters in the answers to the starred clues |
| 59% | NEWYEAR | 7 | What the last four letters of eight key answers in this puzzle might be considered, cryptically |
| 59% | ACAI | 4 | Four-letter fruit pronounced in three syllables |
| 59% | WISEUPTO | 8 | Become aware of … or a homophonic description of four letter shifts in this puzzle's grid |
| 57% | PADI | 4 | Four-letter scuba training body founded in 1966 |
| 57% | HALL | 4 | Only four-letter room in Clue |
| 57% | FORK | 4 | What the letters added to the four "stirred" words in this puzzle spell |
| 56% | BOTTOMLINE | 10 | Upshot, so to speak . . . or something missing from a capital letter in four of this puzzle’s clues? |
| 55% | MAIL | 4 | Four letters, say |
| 55% | MAIL | 4 | Four letters, perhaps |
| 55% | SMUT | 4 | Four letter word |