| LOSER | "The Biggest ___" |
| LOSER | "The Biggest ___" (NBC reality show) |
| LOSER | "The Biggest ___" (reality show about getting fit) |
| LOSER | "The Biggest ___" (reality show hosted by Bob Harper) |
| LOSER | "The Biggest ___" (reality show with weigh-ins) |
| LOSER | "The Biggest —" |
| LOSER | "The Born ___" (classic comic strip) |
| LOSER | #2 or #3 |
| LOSER | #2 or #3, say |
| LOSER | 28-Down's opposite |
| LOSER | 36-Down, notably |
| LOSER | Aesop’s hare, notably |
| LOSER | Also-ran |
| LOSER | Any of three semifinalists, eventually |
| LOSER | Beck song that begins "In the time of chimpanzees I was a monkey" |
| LOSER | Beck's first hit song |
| LOSER | Booby prize recipient |
| LOSER | Booby prize winner |
| LOSER | Booby-prize recipient |
| LOSER | Born ___ (person who's destined to fail) |
| LOSER | Bottom dog |
| LOSER | Change roles with no-hoper |
| LOSER | Checkmated chess player, for example |
| LOSER | Chump |
| LOSER | Complete dweeb |
| LOSER | Concession speech deliverer |
| LOSER | Concession speech giver |
| LOSER | Consolation prize recipient |
| LOSER | Cornwallis, at Yorktown |
| LOSER | Daniil Medvedev vis-à-vis Novak Djokovic in the 2023 U.S. Open final, e.g. |
| LOSER | Deadbeat |
| LOSER | Deadbeat, e.g. |
| LOSER | Defeated candidate |
| LOSER | Defeated competitor |
| LOSER | Defeated contestant |
| LOSER | Defeated one |
| LOSER | Defeated person |
| LOSER | Defeated player |
| LOSER | Dewey, to Truman |
| LOSER | Doofus |
| LOSER | Dork |
| LOSER | Down-on-one's-luck sort |
| LOSER | Drawer of the short straw |
| LOSER | Dud |
| LOSER | Dweeb |
| LOSER | Exchange roles with no-hoper |
| LOSER | Fabled hare, e.g. |
| LOSER | Failure |
| LOSER | Felon, informally |
| LOSER | Final finisher |
| LOSER | Flop |
| LOSER | Goliath, notably |
| LOSER | Good sport, perhaps |
| LOSER | Hapless sort |
| LOSER | Hard luck case |
| LOSER | Hardly a winner |
| LOSER | He can't buy a break |
| LOSER | Insult delivered while making an L on one's forehead |
| LOSER | Insult signified by the thumb and pointer finger on one's forehead |
| LOSER | Jenga tower toppler, e.g. |
| LOSER | Juvenile put-down |
| LOSER | Last person? |
| LOSER | Last place holder, say |
| LOSER | Last to cross the finish line |
| LOSER | Last-place finisher |
| LOSER | Like the hare in a fable |
| LOSER | Locker room sulker |
| LOSER | Luckless fellow |
| LOSER | Luckless one |
| LOSER | Luckless sort |
| LOSER | Many a 15-Down player |
| LOSER | Many a gambler |
| LOSER | Misfit |
| LOSER | Ne'er-do-well |
| LOSER | Not a medalist |
| LOSER | Not a winner |
| LOSER | Olympian who doesn't medal |
| LOSER | One bested by the winner |
| LOSER | One not allowed in the winners' circle |
| LOSER | One of the 87-Down |
| LOSER | One snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, say |
| LOSER | One who can't 21-Down |
| LOSER | One who can't catch a break |
| LOSER | One who comes off worse in a contest |
| LOSER | One who doesn't go past a semi? |
| LOSER | One who doesn't win |
| LOSER | One who draws the short straw |
| LOSER | One who finishes last |
| LOSER | One who's beaten |
| LOSER | Paper, vis-à-vis scissors |
| LOSER | Pathetic person |
| LOSER | Person defeated |
| LOSER | Person who comes in last place |
| LOSER | Person who draws the short straw |
| LOSER | Person who might get a participation trophy |
| LOSER | Person who's never victorious |
| LOSER | Player over 21, perhaps |
| LOSER | Player who topples the Jenga tower |
| LOSER | Postgame moper |
| LOSER | Postgame sulker |
| LOSER | Put-down from Donald Trump |
| LOSER | Runner-up |
| LOSER | Runner-up in a race |
| LOSER | Runner-up to exchange roles |
| LOSER | Sad sack |
| LOSER | Schlemiel |
| LOSER | Schlimazel |
| LOSER | Schlub |
| LOSER | Schlump |
| LOSER | Scissors vis-à-vis rock, e.g. |
| LOSER | Second best |
| LOSER | Second or third person? |
| LOSER | See 143-Down |
| LOSER | Short straw drawer |
| LOSER | Short-straw drawer |
| LOSER | Sore __ |
| LOSER | Sore ___ (one who reacts badly to failure) |
| LOSER | Sore ___ (one who reacts poorly to failing) |
| LOSER | Sore ___ (one who's ungracious in defeat) |
| LOSER | Sore ___ (poor sport) |
| LOSER | Sore ___ (someone who reacts poorly to a defeat) |
| LOSER | Sore ___, someone who may be salty for not winning |
| LOSER | Successful dieter |
| LOSER | Swap roles with no-hoper |
| LOSER | Taunt indicated by an extended index finger and thumb by the forehead |
| LOSER | Taunting word |
| LOSER | Terse putdown |
| LOSER | The Beatles' "I'm a ____" |
| LOSER | The defeated |
| LOSER | The hare, in "The Tortoise and the Hare" |
| LOSER | The hare, notably |
| LOSER | The hare, to the tortoise |
| LOSER | The one with 0 in 7-0 |
| LOSER | The vanquished |
| LOSER | Unfortunate fellow |
| LOSER | Unsuccessful competitor |
| LOSER | Unsuccessful person |
| LOSER | Unsuccessful trophy seeker |
| LOSER | Usually disappointed one |
| LOSER | Vanquished |
| LOSER | Vanquished one |
| LOSER | Washout |
| LOSER | Who pays all legal costs under the so-called "English rule" |
| LOSER | Winner of a consolation prize |
| LOSER | Winner's opposite |
| LOSER | X-O-X line in tic-tac-toe, e.g. |
| LOSER | “Better luck next time” addressee |