| 100% | CHERRIES | 8 | Life is just a bowl of __ |
| 60% | METAPHOR | 8 | "Life is a bowl of cherries," e.g. |
| 58% | PITS | 4 | "If Life Is a Bowl of Cherries What Am I Doing in the ___?" (Erma Bombeck book) |
| 58% | ERMA | 4 | "If Life Is a Bowl of Cherries, What Am I Doing in the Pits?" writer Bombeck |
| 57% | BOWL | 4 | "Life is Just a ___ of Cherries," 1931 song by Ray Henderson which was re-recorded by Doris Day in 1967 |
| 52% | BARREL | 6 | Not just a game, this is a gathering of monkeys |
| 52% | ERMA | 4 | Bombeck who wrote If Life Is a Bowl of Cherries, What Am I Doing in the Pits? |
| 52% | OLDS | 4 | "They are just a bunch of sixteen year ___ looking to have some fun." |
| 52% | SLOGAN | 6 | Just Do It is a popular one of these |
| 51% | INCH | 4 | Measurement that is just over 8% of a foot |
| 50% | SHAMBLES | 8 | A state of disorder, one's life might be in them |
| 50% | YOUNGATHEART | 12 | Feeling like age is just a number, and an apt description of 18-, 25-, 40-, and 53-Across |
| 49% | OPHELIA | 7 | Love of Hamlet's life, who is a drowning victim |
| 49% | SMILELINES | 10 | Wrinkles that might be the result of a joyful life |
| 49% | GOLDFISH | 8 | Pet that lives in a bowl of water |
| 49% | AGE | 3 | Is just a number |
| 49% | LIFE | 4 | A bowl of cherries? |
| 49% | EAR | 3 | A mantis is the only animal known to have just one of these |
| 48% | AGE | 3 | ___ is just a number |
| 48% | AGE | 3 | "___ is just a number" |
| 48% | ITLL | 4 | "___ be just a minute" |
| 47% | BED | 3 | "Life is not a ___ of roses" |
| 47% | BEERANDSKITTLES | 15 | A bowl of cherries, in Chelsea |
| 47% | ANT | 3 | Household sighting that one hopes is just a speck of dirt |
| 47% | ANALOGY | 7 | "Life is like a box of chocolates," e.g. |
| 47% | ANALOGY | 7 | "Life is like a box of chocolates," for example |
| 46% | AGE | 3 | It is just a number |
| 46% | EAT | 3 | Enjoy a bowl of fruit? |
| 46% | RELAX | 5 | "It was just a joke!" |
| 46% | TENOR | 5 | Singer whose range is just above that of a baritone |