| 100% | FIRSTDOWN | 9 | Result of a completed pass in football, perhaps: 2 wds. |
| 51% | GAIN | 4 | Result of a completed pass, usually |
| 50% | FREEKICK | 8 | Result of a foul in soccer (2 wds.) |
| 47% | LOSS | 4 | Result of a sack, in football |
| 46% | SPLITPOT | 8 | Result of a poker tie: 2 wds. |
| 46% | DEFENSIVELINE | 13 | Part of a football team featured in this puzzle: 2 wds. |
| 46% | FAMINE | 6 | Result of a failure in the monsoons, perhaps |
| 46% | ONERUN | 6 | Result of a bases-loaded walk: 2 wds. |
| 45% | HATHAIR | 7 | Result of wearing a baseball cap, perhaps (2 wds.) |
| 44% | FATLIP | 6 | Result of a punch to the mouth: 2 wds. |
| 44% | TIE | 3 | Result of a double KO in a fighting game, perhaps |
| 43% | DREWPEARSON | 11 | Wide receiver who popularized the term "Hail Mary pass" in a 1975 playoff game who is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2021 (2 wds.) |
| 43% | ASSIST | 6 | In football, a crucial pass that results in a goal |
| 42% | ONEON | 5 | Result of a leadoff single (2 wds.) |
| 41% | MRKITE | 6 | Subject of a benefit, in a Beatles song: 2 wds. |
| 41% | PETROCK | 7 | 1970s fad gift of a stone in a box: 2 wds. |
| 41% | GOESLONG | 8 | Throws a Hail Mary pass, in football (2 wds.) |
| 41% | HAILMARY | 8 | Long, desperate pass at the end of a football game: 2 wds. |
| 41% | INT | 3 | Undesirable result of trying to make a pass in working hours (abbr.) |
| 40% | HAILMARY | 8 | Long, unlikely-to-succeed pass in football: 2 wds. |
| 40% | FACEMASK | 8 | Front part of a football helmet: 2 wds. |
| 40% | DUETO | 5 | As a result of: 2 wds. |
| 40% | STAGEMOM | 8 | Parent who hangs out in the wings of a theater, perhaps: 2 wds. |
| 39% | BILLIEEILISH | 12 | Singer who released "Birds of a Feather" in 2024: 2 wds. |
| 39% | ENDZONES | 8 | Rectangles on either side of a football field: 2 wds. |
| 39% | ROOTROT | 7 | Result of overwatering a houseplant, often (2 wds.) |
| 39% | DARTTEAM | 8 | Group of players in a pub, perhaps (2 wds.) |
| 39% | POND | 4 | Result of a dam, perhaps |
| 39% | EARLYRETIREMENT | 15 | Result of a buyout, perhaps |
| 39% | DUEL | 4 | Result of a slap, perhaps |