| 100% | THUS | 4 | He didn't win, but he did gain a few laughs, ____ setting in motion a phenomenal career. |
| 29% | TINMAN | 6 | He didn't have a heart in The Wizard of Oz |
| 29% | ALSORANS | 8 | They were in it but didn't win it |
| 28% | INITIATE | 8 | Set in motion, as a discussion |
| 28% | ACTIVATE | 8 | Set in motion, start a reaction |
| 27% | LAUNCHING | 9 | Setting a spacecraft in motion |
| 27% | RESPIN | 6 | Set a top in motion again |
| 26% | ACTONE | 6 | When a play's plot is set in motion |
| 26% | SWAM | 4 | Did a few laps in the pool |
| 26% | WRATH | 5 | "The Grapes of ___," novel by John Steinbeck, set in the Great Depression, that was a major reason for him winning the Nobel Prize |
| 26% | SWAM | 4 | Did a few laps in the pool, say |
| 26% | AGEE | 4 | He won a posthumous Pulitzer Prize in 1958 |
| 25% | ESSES | 5 | There's a few in Mississippi but Alabama, right next door, doesn't have any at all |
| 25% | PER | 3 | "He's not a baker ___ se, but he does like to make cookies" |
| 25% | DI{DOT} | 7 | French printer Firmin ___ (Hint: If you didn't know of him, his name is one letter off from a word in this clue) |
| 24% | HANDSOME | 8 | A car is a beauty in US but he is __ in UK |
| 24% | SIMON | 5 | Do only what he says, in a game |
| 24% | OWN | 3 | We bore in mind their ___ individual requirements but didn't do special favours for any of them. |
| 24% | RHETT | 5 | He didn't give a damn |
| 24% | ALROKER | 7 | He set a Guinness World Record in 2014, reporting for 34 consecutive hours |
| 24% | CAMETONOTHING | 13 | "Then my friend set me up with a recluse, but he ..." |
| 24% | MISSEDTHECUT | 12 | "I was in a serious relationship with a hippie, but he ..." |
| 24% | LESLIE | 6 | He won a Tony for playing Aaron in Hamilton |
| 23% | DIED | 4 | Didn't get a single laugh |
| 23% | INHALE | 6 | Clinton said he didn't do it |
| 23% | SATIDLE | 7 | Didn't do a thing |
| 23% | ZERO | 4 | Number of games won by the losing player in a "bagel" set, in tennis |
| 23% | HAHA | 4 | A few laughs |
| 23% | HAHAHA | 6 | A few laughs |
| 23% | STARTUP | 7 | Setting in motion |