| 100% | COINED | 6 | Like the word "truthiness," by Stephen Colbert |
| 48% | WELSH | 5 | Like the word "cwm" |
| 47% | SACRED | 6 | Like the word of God |
| 47% | MISUSED | 7 | Like the word "its," often |
| 47% | ARABIC | 6 | Like the word 16-Across |
| 47% | CZECH | 5 | Like the word robot, etymologically |
| 47% | MISUSED | 7 | Like the word “lay,” often |
| 47% | ARAMAIC | 7 | Like the words of Jesus |
| 46% | SPANISH | 7 | Like the words in un diccionario |
| 45% | GENITIVE | 8 | Like the word "curiae" in "amicus curiae" |
| 45% | REGIONAL | 8 | Like the words "hoagie" and "kitty-corner" |
| 45% | RHYMELESS | 9 | Like the words orange, wolf and ninth |
| 45% | MISUSED | 7 | Like the words "literally" and "ironic," often |
| 44% | MISUSED | 7 | Like the word "ironic" in place of "unfortunate," often |
| 43% | ASIAN | 5 | Like the mynah, by origin |
| 42% | SOMALI | 6 | Like the novelist Nadifa Mohamed, by birth |
| 42% | SOBER | 5 | Like the designated driver, by design |
| 42% | LATESHOW | 8 | With "The," after-hours series hosted by Stephen Colbert: 2 wds. |
| 42% | HOST | 4 | Stephen Colbert role for the 2017 Emmy awards |
| 42% | RED | 3 | Like the Triple Word Score squares in Scrabble |
| 42% | SOUR | 4 | Like the grapes in a fable by Aesop |
| 41% | RLESS | 5 | Like the Boston-accented pronunciation of many words |
| 41% | SLAIN | 5 | Like the Jabberwock, by the vorpal blade |
| 41% | APT | 3 | Very fitting, like the perfect word |
| 41% | AUGEAN | 6 | Like the stables cleaned by Hercules |
| 41% | NEMEAN | 6 | Like the lion slain by Hercules |
| 41% | NEMEAN | 6 | Like the lion killed by Hercules |
| 41% | DIOR | 4 | Designer whose name, as noted by Jean Cocteau, sounds like a portmanteau of the French words for “God” and “gold” |
| 41% | AVANTGARDE | 10 | Like the work spelled out by the circled letters |
| 41% | SLIMY | 5 | Like the trail left by a slug |