| 100% | DAUB | 4 | Paint without trying to stay within the lines, say |
| 52% | BLED | 4 | Didn't stay within the lines, say |
| 42% | RING | 4 | What sumo wrestlers try to stay within |
| 39% | SPEEDUP | 7 | Try to beat the light, say |
| 39% | REACHIN | 7 | Try to steal the basketball, say |
| 39% | ADDS | 4 | Tries to find the bottom line |
| 39% | TEMPTED | 7 | Trying to resist the rich dessert, say |
| 38% | PAGE | 4 | Try to find on the road, say |
| 38% | MOOD | 4 | ___ killer (one who tries to spoil the fun, say) |
| 37% | SOI | 3 | "___ said to the..." (joke line) |
| 36% | ELOPED | 6 | Said "I do" without the to-do |
| 36% | WENTSOLO | 8 | Tried to make it on one's own without the band (2 wds.) |
| 35% | EMAILED | 7 | Contacted without a trip to the post office, say |
| 35% | FRY | 3 | Go to the beach without sunscreen, say |
| 35% | SILVER | 6 | The kind of lining every cloud is said to have |
| 34% | SUMO | 4 | Sport whose athletes try to avoid crossing the line? |
| 34% | SEAM | 4 | Line from the ankle to the waist, say |
| 34% | AHEAD | 5 | Closer to the finish line, say |
| 34% | RACE | 4 | Run to the finish line, say |
| 34% | ITOO | 4 | Poem with the lines "Nobody'll dare / Say to me, / 'Eat in the kitchen'" |
| 33% | RESISTINGAREST | 14 | Trying to stay awake? |
| 33% | TREADINGWATER | 13 | Trying to stay afloat |
| 33% | LURK | 4 | Try to stay unseen |
| 33% | SPYFALL | 7 | Game in which one player tries to glean information from the other players without being caught |
| 33% | AVOID | 5 | Try to stay away from |
| 33% | BAIL | 4 | Try to stay afloat, perhaps |
| 33% | ENJAMBMENT | 10 | Flow of one line of a verse to the next without pause |
| 33% | ALPACINO | 8 | Actor with the line "Say hello to my little friend!" |
| 32% | KEEPMEPOSTED | 12 | "I want to stay informed!," or what might be said by the answers to the starred clues? |
| 32% | ITOO | 4 | Langston Hughes poem with the lines "Nobody'll dare / Say to me, / 'Eat in the kitchen,' / Then" |