| 100% | APOEM | 5 | MacLiesh said it "should not mean / But be" |
| 69% | POEM | 4 | It "should not mean / But be," per Archibald MacLeish |
| 63% | POEM | 4 | "A ___ should not mean / But be": MacLeish |
| 63% | POEM | 4 | "A ___ should not mean / But be": Archibald MacLeish |
| 50% | TACIT | 5 | Meant but not said |
| 50% | ARUNDHATI | 9 | Novelist Roy who said, “Our strategy should not only be to confront empire but to lay siege to it” |
| 48% | SEEN | 4 | What children should be (but not heard), they say |
| 48% | PEEN | 4 | It's not meant to be used on nails |
| 46% | MOUTH | 5 | Say but not really mean |
| 46% | ENDS | 4 | Means justifiers, it is said |
| 46% | CLAUSE | 6 | Grammar says it can be restrictive or not |
| 45% | AIR | 3 | It can be thin but not fat |
| 45% | ANGLE | 5 | It may be right, but not left |
| 45% | AIR | 3 | It can be fresh but not insulting |
| 45% | LAW | 3 | It can be broken, but not fixed |
| 45% | TIRE | 4 | It might be flat but not sharp |
| 45% | AWRY | 4 | Not as it should be |
| 45% | AMISS | 5 | Not as it should be |
| 45% | OFF | 3 | Not where it should be |
| 44% | AGE | 3 | Francis Bacon said it "will not be defied" |
| 44% | SEEN | 4 | "Children should be ___ but not heard" |
| 44% | DRESSING | 8 | It may be French or Italian, but not German |
| 44% | TENSE | 5 | It may be perfect or simple, but not both |
| 44% | ENDS | 4 | They justify the means, it is said |
| 43% | ZETA | 4 | Greek letter that sounds like it should be last, but isn't |
| 43% | UTAH | 4 | Its name is said to mean "people of the mountains" |
| 43% | LOWERFORTYEIGHT | 15 | Alabama is in it, but Alaska is not |
| 43% | APOEM | 5 | It's said to be not as lovely as a tree |
| 42% | SEEN | 4 | What children should be, and not heard, they say |
| 42% | NATO | 4 | The U.K. is in it, but Ire. is not |