| 100% | NOOSE | 5 | The loop it's best to be out of |
| 69% | NOOSE | 5 | Loop that it's good to stay out of |
| 66% | SORTS | 5 | What it's not good to be out of |
| 60% | SORTS | 5 | It's unsettling to be out of them |
| 60% | WOODS | 5 | It's nice to be out of them |
| 59% | HARM | 4 | It's best to stay out of its way |
| 55% | ERR | 3 | It is better to ___ on the side of caution |
| 55% | EDA | 3 | LeShan who wrote "It's Better to Be Over the Hill Than Under It" |
| 55% | LESHAN | 6 | Eda who wrote "It's Better to Be Over the Hill Than Under It" |
| 55% | VARIETY | 7 | It's said to be the spice of life |
| 54% | IMITATION | 9 | It's said to be the sincerest form of flattery |
| 53% | BEAUTY | 6 | It's said to be in the eye of the beholder |
| 52% | WAVELENGTH | 10 | It's good for team members to be on the same one |
| 51% | REALDEAL | 8 | Something considered to be a supremely good example of its kind, with "the" |
| 50% | GROOVE | 6 | It's good to be in one |
| 50% | FAILURE | 7 | It's said to be "the mother of success" |
| 50% | ANGER | 5 | It's good to be slow to it |
| 49% | AMONG | 5 | "It's nice to be ___ friends" (in the company of) |
| 49% | ONESELF | 7 | Something it's good to be |
| 49% | BACKORDERED | 11 | Like goods that are temporarily out of stock ... or a hint, alphabetically, to the answers to the starred clues |
| 49% | WARY | 4 | "It's always advisable to be ___ of the unknown." |
| 49% | DONE | 4 | Ready to be taken out of the oven |
| 48% | COMINGUPFORAIR | 14 | Emerging out of the water to breathe, as this puzzle's aquatic mammals are preparing to do |
| 48% | PAR | 3 | Number it's good to be under |
| 48% | ALARM | 5 | Reason to get out of bed in the morning (if it’s across the room) |
| 47% | EPI | 3 | It could be to the left of center |
| 47% | RUT | 3 | It's hard to get out of |
| 47% | DATEDUP | 7 | Was out of one's league, so to speak |
| 47% | MISERY | 6 | Good thing to be put out of |
| 47% | ROOF | 4 | Now you know what to look for, but where is it? (1/5) Did it fall out when Santa landed on the ___ of the house? |