| 100% | TEL | 3 | Letters with Nor or Sask |
| 52% | USS | 3 | Letters with Arizona or Maine |
| 48% | ENE | 3 | Spanish letter with or without a tilde |
| 45% | EMBOSSED | 8 | Decorated with relief patterns or lettering |
| 44% | SELECT | 6 | Pick, with or without the first letter |
| 44% | CHAIN | 5 | Word with mail or letter |
| 44% | CHAIN | 5 | Word with link or letter |
| 43% | PLOTS | 5 | Units of land, with or without the first letter |
| 43% | GOATMILK | 8 | Alternative to 2% … with or without the shaded letter |
| 42% | PLANETARY | 9 | With 36-Down, astronomical rarity ... or a hint to the circled letters |
| 42% | SLICED | 6 | With 57-Across, deli offering ... or a hint to the circled letters |
| 42% | PLAYOFFS | 8 | They might eliminate teams … with or without the shaded letter |
| 42% | MADAM | 5 | Polite term of address, with or without its third letter |
| 42% | BEER | 4 | Source of a buzz … with or without its last letter? |
| 41% | ENES | 4 | Spanish letters with (or without) tildes |
| 41% | SUITE | 5 | One might have three parts, with or without its last letter |
| 40% | TAKE | 4 | With 6-Across, go in a board game ... or what the circled letters do |
| 40% | REBUS | 5 | Puzzle format that combines pictures with letters to depict words or phrases |
| 39% | PARTING | 7 | With 58-Across, what this puzzle's circled letters are ... or what they're doing |
| 39% | SISTER | 6 | With 64 Across, Audre Lorde book... or a hint to this puzzle's circled letters |
| 39% | OINK | 4 | It comes out of a pen, either with or without its first letter |
| 39% | EMOTIONS | 8 | Things that might be raised in court … with or without the shaded letter |
| 39% | FACECARD | 8 | It may be half of a blackjack … with or without the shaded letter |
| 38% | BUBBLETEA | 9 | Beverage mixed with tapioca pearls ... or a description of this puzzle's circled letters? |
| 38% | GIF | 3 | Internet term whose first letter is either pronounced with a hard or soft G |
| 38% | OPER | 4 | Letters with 0 |
| 38% | INONEEARAND | 11 | With 113-Across, heard but disregarded ... or a hint to interpreting the Across answers with circled letters |
| 38% | BOBOLINKS | 9 | Birds with short finch-like bills ... or, what the sets of circled letters literally are? |
| 38% | THU | 3 | Abbr. for a word also with abbrs. by its first four or first five letters |
| 37% | AKA | 3 | Letters with an alias |