| 100% | SOFTC | 5 | The first letter of "circle" (but not the fourth) |
| 92% | HARDC | 5 | The fourth letter of "circle," but not the first |
| 86% | SOFTC | 5 | The fourth letter of "cancel," but not the first |
| 86% | SILENTB | 7 | The fourth letter of "bomb," but not the first |
| 81% | SOFTG | 5 | The fifth letter of "garage," but not the first |
| 81% | SOFTG | 5 | The sixth letter of "garbage," but not the first |
| 80% | SOFTC | 5 | The fourth (but not the first) letter of "cancel" |
| 69% | SOFTG | 5 | The first letter in "gigantic," but not the third |
| 61% | TAU | 3 | First letter in the fourth quarter of the Greek alphabet |
| 60% | DEE | 3 | First name that sounds like the fourth letter of the alphabet |
| 60% | MAJORITY | 8 | With the circled letters, large but not often vocal voting bloc |
| 60% | TARA | 4 | Author Westover whose memoir is spelled out in the first letters of this puzzle's eight circled schools |
| 58% | SOFTC | 5 | The third letter of 13-Down (but not the second) |
| 58% | INITIAL | 7 | The first letter of your name |
| 57% | TSE | 3 | The first letter of "tsar," in Cyrillic |
| 56% | ASIN | 4 | "... which is the first letter of ..." |
| 56% | ASIN | 4 | "...which is the first letter of..." |
| 56% | GOD | 3 | What each set of circled letters is, relative to the first word in its answer |
| 56% | INITIALS | 8 | The first letters of your first name and surname |
| 56% | ACROSTIC | 8 | The first letter of each line spells a word |
| 55% | GOODRATING | 10 | First set of circled letters |
| 55% | ABC | 3 | First letters of the alphabet |
| 55% | KENTUCKYDERBY | 13 | First leg of the Triple Crown, whose levels of success can be found in this puzzle's circled letters |
| 55% | TRI | 3 | What the first letter of 11-Across represents |
| 55% | ALPHA | 5 | First letter of the Greek alphabet |
| 55% | ALIF | 4 | First letter of the Arabic alphabet |
| 55% | ALEPH | 5 | First letter of the Hebrew alphabet |
| 55% | ALIF | 4 | First letter of the Urdu alphabet |
| 55% | PARTNERS | 8 | With the circled letters, investors not involved in the management of their businesses |
| 54% | EAR | 3 | What the first letter of 56-Down stands for |