| 100% | WHEAT | 5 | Golden grain that needs about 4 months of hard work to grow before it's ready to become our daily bread |
| 42% | OATS | 4 | Wholesome breakfast grains that need 4 months of care by farmers before they make it to our bowls |
| 37% | RYE | 3 | Grain of choice for Reuben loaves which takes about 9 months to grow before it reaches our ovens |
| 30% | RICE | 4 | Crop that thrives in waterlogged fields and takes nearly 6 months of hard work by farmers before reaching our plates |
| 28% | MILLET | 6 | Tiny grain such as proso or foxtail, which takes about 3 months of steady care before it reaches our stores |
| 24% | MOOSE | 5 | North American animal that, as an adult, needs about 10,000 calories daily to maintain its weight |
| 22% | TYRE | 4 | Car part that needs air to work (how it's spelled in Britain) |
| 22% | HOMEALONE | 9 | 1990 film that Roger Ebert called "so implausible that it makes it hard for us to really care about the plight of the kid" |
| 22% | EONS | 4 | Stretches of time that it's really hard to get your head around |
| 21% | CAFE | 4 | "Insomnia ___" working title of the series before it became "Friends" |
| 21% | CODE | 4 | Message that needs to be cracked before it can be read |
| 21% | ROBINDIANGELO | 13 | Writer of the bestseller "White Fragility: Why It's So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism" (2 wds.) |
| 21% | YUMA | 4 | Arizona city that produces about 90 percent of all leafy vegetables grown in the United States from November to April |
| 20% | MARINADE | 8 | Liquid that adds taste to meat before it's cooked |
| 20% | BAGEL | 5 | Bread that's boiled before it's baked |
| 20% | PAM | 3 | Girl's nickname that becomes its full name when you attach "ela" to the end of it |
| 20% | FOAL | 4 | It's hard to believe that Big Jake, now weighing about 2600 lbs, started out as this at a mere 240 lbs in 2001 |
| 20% | SLEEP | 5 | Something that crossword constructors working to deadlines are often in dire need of |
| 20% | RUT | 3 | It's hard to get out of |
| 20% | WHITEELEPHANT | 13 | It's hard to get rid of |
| 20% | MAFIA | 5 | "___: The Game of Survival," based on the party game of the same name where players need to identify the "murderer" before it's too late |
| 20% | ERIC | 4 | Name that becomes a grain if you move its first letter to the end |
| 20% | WHEAT | 5 | Grain that isn’t used at the restaurant Owamni because it was introduced to the Americas after the arrival of Europeans |
| 20% | RNC | 3 | Reince Priebus headed it before becoming chief of staff to POTUS |
| 20% | NOOSE | 5 | Loop that it's good to stay out of |
| 19% | INERTGAS | 8 | It's hard to get a reaction out of it |
| 19% | RUT | 3 | Groove it's hard to get out of |
| 19% | DDT | 3 | WHO guidelines suggest that absence of mosquito resistance to this chemical must be confirmed before its use |
| 19% | IRON | 4 | It makes up about a third of our planet's mass |
| 19% | STUB | 4 | Pencil that's about ready to be thrown away |