| 100% | ADVANCE | 7 | To rise in rank, to make progress |
| 65% | DENT | 4 | Make a ___ in (start to make progress with) |
| 57% | ELEVATORKEY | 11 | Firefighter's term for the secret to rising in the ranks? |
| 49% | FLOUNDEREDAROUND | 16 | Struggled to make progress |
| 49% | STAGNATE | 8 | Fail to make progress |
| 49% | ABOVE | 5 | Superior in rank to |
| 47% | NEGOTIATE | 9 | Debate in order to make a deal |
| 46% | MORN | 4 | Time to rise, in poetry |
| 46% | ADAPT | 5 | Make adjustments to fit in |
| 46% | LOVER | 5 | Jack, to Rose, in "Titanic" |
| 46% | ATBAT | 5 | In position to make a round trip, so to speak |
| 46% | STEPPING | 8 | Event that helps one to make progress, __ stones |
| 46% | TOLL | 4 | Payment that many wait in line to make |
| 46% | STEWPOT | 7 | Huge cooking vessel in which to make casseroles |
| 46% | CAULKING | 8 | Sealing joints in pipes to make them watertight |
| 46% | AUTOCLAVE | 9 | Machine used in hospitals to make tools sterile |
| 46% | NINTENDO | 8 | Company founded in 1889 to make playing cards |
| 46% | EDIT | 4 | To make changes in a document |
| 46% | EARLY | 5 | "... ___ to rise, makes a man..." |
| 45% | SPEAKERS | 8 | Devices that come in pairs to make music louder |
| 45% | STOMA | 5 | Plant part aptly hidden in "opens to make energy" |
| 45% | ESPOUSE | 7 | To make another their partner in marriage |
| 45% | LITTLEBYLITTLE | 14 | Way to make incremental progress |
| 45% | POT | 3 | Vessel to make spaghetti in |
| 45% | BETS | 4 | Wagers to make in Vegas |
| 44% | AXL | 3 | Rose who rose to fame in the 1980s |
| 44% | DENT | 4 | Make a ___ in (show a little progress with) |
| 44% | FEVER | 5 | Rise in body temperature, to fight an infection |
| 44% | FLUCTUATE | 9 | To rise and fall in an irregular manner |
| 44% | ADVERTISE | 9 | Make something known in order to sell it |