| 100% | RICE | 4 | Jollof ___ (West African dish that I downed many a time as a child) |
| 35% | TLC | 3 | Group that turned down "Hit Me Baby One More Time" |
| 33% | GRIOT | 5 | Word that can refer to a West African oral historian or a Haitian pork dish |
| 31% | IMIGHT | 6 | "Put me down as a maybe" |
| 31% | BOWERY | 6 | Manhattan playhouse that burned down many times |
| 31% | LONGEST | 7 | Most time-consuming, as a movie |
| 30% | FOREVERYOUNG | 12 | Memoir by 35-Across about her time as a child star in Hollywood (2 wds.) |
| 29% | RAISING | 7 | Bringing up, as a child that sounds like a dried fruit |
| 29% | HARDER | 6 | Taking more time, probably, as a test |
| 29% | OKRA | 4 | Ingredient used to thicken many a West African stew |
| 29% | LETTUCE | 7 | Vegetable that serves as a base for many salads |
| 28% | HIPPO | 5 | African animal that may weigh as much as a rhinoceros, for short |
| 28% | OKRA | 4 | Vegetable that's often fried as a Southern side dish |
| 28% | MEMORYLANE | 10 | Old Dominion No. 4 country single with the lyrics "Yeah, I might as well live there, baby / That's where I spend most of my time" (2 wds.) |
| 28% | CRYIN | 5 | 1993 Aerosmith hit that begins "There was a time / When I was so broken-hearted" |
| 28% | TENMINUTES | 10 | "Can I have a bit more time?" |
| 27% | PROPOSAL | 8 | "Will you marry me?" gesture that is a popular break-time sight in most stadium sports |
| 27% | SPY | 3 | I ___, guessing game that can be played as a diversion during a road trip |
| 27% | STALEJOKE | 9 | Gag that has been told a few too many times (2 wds.) |
| 27% | BARBIE | 6 | Film starring Margot Robbie as a children's doll that you probably watched in theaters in 2023 |
| 27% | GMT | 3 | Time zone that is used as a central reference point for all the others: Abbr. |
| 27% | COMMA | 5 | Punctuation mark that might appear many times in a long list of words |
| 27% | DIME | 4 | Coin that's smaller than a penny but worth 10 times as much |
| 27% | ANEW | 4 | Once more as if for the first time, a fresh go |
| 27% | THEYHAVENOTSAIDENOUGH | 21 | ''I have been complimented many times . . . I always feel that __'' |
| 27% | ROCKIER | 7 | More up-and-down, as a relationship |
| 27% | ALIVE | 5 | “Stayin’ ___” (disco hit that can be used as a timing aid when performing CPR) |
| 26% | OFT | 3 | Many a time |
| 26% | OFTEN | 5 | Many a time |
| 26% | STALE | 5 | Like a joke that's been told too many times |