| 100% | WHATSNEW | 8 | "As state names go, it's the commonest first word" |
| 51% | NEW | 3 | First word in the names of four states |
| 46% | WEST | 4 | First word in a U.S. state name |
| 46% | ARMENIAN | 8 | Member of the first state to adopt Christianity as its religion |
| 44% | AGE | 3 | It's just a number, as the saying goes |
| 44% | LOS | 3 | First word in the name of the U.S.'s most populous county |
| 43% | FIELDHOCKEY | 11 | Sport played on the first word of its name |
| 43% | ARENAFOOTBALL | 13 | Sport played in the first word of its name |
| 43% | TABLETENNIS | 11 | Sport played on the first word of its name |
| 43% | ALA | 3 | State, in short, which had as its first permanent capital the community of Cahaba, now a ghost town |
| 43% | RAIN | 4 | Its name in Botswana is the same as the word for "money" |
| 43% | CITY | 4 | Word in the names of four U.S. state capitals |
| 43% | TIGERSLAM | 9 | Winning four consecutive majors over a two-year span, as named for the first to do it |
| 43% | NEW | 3 | First word in four state names |
| 42% | ENSE | 4 | First word of the Bay State motto |
| 41% | CITY | 4 | Last word in the names of four U.S. state capitals |
| 41% | SAN | 3 | First word in the names of many California cities |
| 40% | GEORGIA | 7 | The ___ Satellites, rock band that features USA's Callaway Gardens' state in its name |
| 40% | YAHOO | 5 | Its first name was Jerry and David’s Guide to the World Wide Web |
| 40% | TRACY | 5 | "30 Rock" character with the same first name as its actor |
| 40% | LITE | 4 | First word in the rhyming name of a peg toy |
| 40% | TONYCURTIS | 10 | "Some Like It Hot" star whose first name is the same as a Broadway award: 2 wds. |
| 40% | ETTA | 4 | It can go after the male first name "Henri" to create a female first name |
| 40% | DICTIONARY | 10 | It has the first & last word |
| 40% | ILIAD | 5 | Its first word translates as "wrath" |
| 40% | CAROLINA | 8 | The ___ Chocolate Drops, string band that features USA's Charlotte Hornets' state in its name |
| 40% | PONCEDELEON | 11 | Explorer who in 1513 became the first European to set foot in 14-Across, and gave the state its name: 3 wds. |
| 40% | VETERAN | 7 | NY state town named after Green Bently, its first settler, who fought in the American Revolution and the French and Indian War |
| 39% | EMMA | 4 | It dethroned Sophia as the #1 baby girl's name in the U.S. in 2014 |