| 100% | CLEAVAGE | 8 | Tendency of a mineral to break along smooth lines |
| 37% | PASS | 4 | Take advantage of a broken line |
| 35% | SETUP | 5 | Part of a joke that leads to the punch line |
| 35% | AXIAL | 5 | Relating to a line of rotation |
| 35% | NEXT | 4 | Shout to a line of customers |
| 35% | NEXT | 4 | Shout to a line of waiters |
| 35% | WEAKLINK | 8 | Part of a chain that's likeliest to break: 2 wds. |
| 35% | SNELL | 5 | Part of a fishing line to which a hook is attached |
| 35% | NEXT | 4 | What one at the head of a line likes to hear |
| 35% | SNELL | 5 | Part of a fishing line to which the hook is attached |
| 35% | REEL | 4 | Part of a fishing rod used to wind up the line |
| 34% | DYNASTIC | 8 | Relating to a line of hereditary rulers |
| 34% | AHOUSEDIVIDED | 13 | Start of a Lincoln line, and a hint to the circled letters |
| 34% | SOLILOQUY | 9 | Lines of a play spoken to no one in particular |
| 34% | NEXT | 4 | Cashier's shout to a line of customers |
| 33% | OMEN | 4 | Sign of something to come, like a broken mirror |
| 33% | DARKLING | 8 | Line of Keats' Ode to a Nightingale "__ I listen" |
| 33% | CAESURA | 7 | An emphatic break in a poem or line of verse |
| 33% | DEARSIR | 7 | Opening line of a letter to a gentleman: 2 wds. |
| 33% | CROSSWIND | 9 | It blows at right angles to a line of travel |
| 33% | BETSYDEVOS | 10 | VP Pence voted to break a tie and approve her nomination as Secretary of Education |
| 33% | VICIOUSCYCLES | 13 | Hard patterns to break ... or a punny description of the climbs up the circled letters |
| 33% | CLEF | 4 | Symbol normally placed at the beginning of a line of music to indicate the pitch |
| 33% | ETHOS | 5 | Tendency of a culture |
| 32% | PAD | 3 | "Leap" follower to give a line of interactive children's tablets |
| 32% | TICTACTOEISAMID | 15 | First line of a couplet pertinent to this puzzle |
| 32% | AGO | 3 | "We broke up a month ___ . . ." (first line of Olivia Rodrigo's "Happier") |
| 32% | WHOISTHIS | 9 | Question to a mysterious voice on the other end of the line |
| 31% | SATIN | 5 | Fabric of silk and rayon closely woven to give a smooth glossy appearance |
| 31% | SATIN | 5 | Fabric of silk and rayon closely woven to give a smooth, glossy appearance |