| 100% | EXERESIS | 8 | Removal, as of an appendix |
| 57% | GERM | 4 | Start, as of an idea |
| 57% | GERM | 4 | Origin, as of an idea |
| 57% | DROPI | 5 | Descent, as of an airplane |
| 57% | DEMISE | 6 | Downfall, as of an empire |
| 57% | GERM | 4 | Beginning, as of an idea |
| 57% | ONSET | 5 | Beginning, as of an illness |
| 57% | BASIS | 5 | Foundation, as of an argument |
| 57% | BOUT | 4 | Attack, as of an illness |
| 57% | GIST | 4 | Essence, as of an explanation |
| 57% | BADCASE | 7 | Severe form, as of an illness |
| 57% | CRUX | 4 | Central point, as of an argument |
| 57% | BADCASE | 7 | Extreme form, as of an illness |
| 57% | TRACE | 5 | Tiny amount, as of an element |
| 57% | ONSET | 5 | Earliest phase, as of an illness |
| 57% | ONSET | 5 | First stage, as of an illness |
| 57% | ONSET | 5 | Early stage, as of an illness |
| 57% | ONSET | 5 | Very beginning, as of an illness |
| 54% | DEBUT | 5 | First appearance, as of an actor in a movie |
| 53% | APOCRYPHA | 9 | Books included as an appendix to the Old Testament in certain versions of the Bible |
| 52% | RETRO | 5 | Evocative of an earlier time, as fashion |
| 51% | EVICTIONS | 9 | Forcible removals, as of tenants |
| 51% | INPROTEST | 9 | As an act of defiance |
| 51% | ETS | 3 | Subjects of an as-yet-fruitless search, briefly |
| 51% | EMPEROR | 7 | Head of an Empire, as Akihito from Japan |
| 50% | SNUB | 4 | Lack of an expected nomination, as at the Oscars |
| 50% | BAM | 3 | The sound of an impact, as in comic books |
| 50% | QAT | 3 | Leaves of an Arabian shrub chewed as a drug |
| 50% | NASAL | 5 | As an alternative, left of the nose |
| 49% | INRETURN | 8 | As part of an exchange |