The term CONTEST EFFORT can be broken down into two crossword solutions: ENTRY (5 letters) and ESSAY (5 letters). An ENTRY is a submission to a competition or contest, while an ESSAY is a piece of writing that expresses the author's opinion on a particular topic. In the context of a contest effort, an ENTRY would be the initial submission to the competition, while an ESSAY could be a written component of the contest that is used to judge the contestants.