| 100% | NUB | 3 | Pencil that's almost used up |
| 88% | NUB | 3 | Pencil that's almost completely used up |
| 57% | NUB | 3 | Pencil that's been much used |
| 55% | STUB | 4 | Pencil that's been worn down to almost nothing |
| 54% | NUB | 3 | Pencil that's been used nearly to the eraser |
| 54% | SHARP | 5 | Like a pencil that's ready to use |
| 50% | LIPLINER | 8 | Makeup pencil that helps plump up one's pout: 2 wds. |
| 45% | GMO | 3 | Technology that's used to produce almost all the world's cotton, in brief |
| 45% | ARGON | 5 | Noble gas that makes up almost 1% of the Earth's atmosphere |
| 44% | ARM | 3 | Upper limb that is used in boxing |
| 43% | COILED | 6 | Wound up, like a hose that's not in use |
| 43% | NUB | 3 | Pencil that's seen better days |
| 41% | ATECAPITAL | 10 | Used up one's financial resources? |
| 41% | NUB | 3 | A pencil that's mostly eraser |
| 40% | GRAPHITE | 8 | A shiny black substance that is used in pencils |
| 40% | STUB | 4 | Pencil that's about ready to be thrown away |
| 40% | SMALLTALK | 9 | Idle chatter that might use up a lot of someone's spoons |
| 39% | NUB | 3 | Pencil that's about at the end of its usefulness |
| 39% | DRYMARTINI | 10 | Cocktail that’s almost all gin |
| 39% | BPLUS | 5 | Grade that’s almost an “A” |
| 39% | TIE | 3 | Dilbert's accessory that sticks up |
| 39% | ILK | 3 | Kind that's almost silk? |
| 39% | DROID | 5 | Creation that's almost human |
| 39% | JELLICLES | 9 | T S Eliot's cats that meet up at a ball |
| 39% | ATEINTO | 7 | Used up gradually, as one's savings (2 wds.) |
| 38% | EATINTO | 7 | Use up gradually, as one's savings (2 wds.) |
| 38% | GASCAN | 6 | Container that's almost always red |
| 38% | ETHER | 5 | Anaesthetic that’s used there |
| 38% | IRE | 3 | Something that's worked up |
| 38% | POSSE | 5 | Group that's rounded up |