| 100% | WILLA | 5 | ___ Player, first Black woman to become president of a four-year college |
| 44% | LEE | 3 | Rebecca ___ Crumpler (first Black woman to become a medical doctor in the US) |
| 43% | TONI | 4 | First name of the first Black woman to win a Nobel Prize in Literature |
| 41% | HELENNASH | 9 | First Black woman to work at Washington University School of Medicine |
| 41% | SALESMAN | 8 | "Death of a ___," first ever play to win a Tony Award for Best Production in four different years |
| 40% | JULIEDASH | 9 | First black woman to direct a feature-length film distributed theatrically in the United States |
| 38% | ERIN | 4 | ___ Jackson, first Black woman to win a Winter Olympics gold medal in an individual sport (2022) |
| 36% | BONO | 4 | First musician to be a ''Time'' Person of the Year |
| 36% | RETTON | 6 | First woman to appear on the front of a Wheaties box |
| 36% | ENERO | 5 | First month of the year, to many a 5-Down character |
| 36% | CZECH | 5 | Nationality of a poet and playwright who became the first president of his country |
| 35% | ORR | 3 | First hockey player to win Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year |
| 34% | MORRISON | 8 | First Black woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature |
| 34% | LINCOLN | 7 | Abraham ___, 16th President of the U.S.A. and the first to sport a beard in office |
| 34% | WALTER | 6 | ___ Payton Man of the Year, annual award presented to a philanthropic NFL player |
| 34% | SHIRLEYCHISHOLM | 15 | First black woman elected to Congress, 1968 |
| 34% | MARIYARUSSELL | 13 | First Black woman awarded a Michelin star |
| 34% | BACKBOARD | 9 | Hoop holder, and a hint to the first four letters of each asterisked answer |
| 34% | ARAISININTHESUN | 15 | First play written by a Black woman to be produced on Broadway |
| 34% | HALLEBERRY | 10 | First Black woman to win the Oscar for Best Actress: 2 wds. |
| 33% | ALTHEA | 6 | Gibson who was first Black woman to win Grand Slam |
| 33% | JACKIESTILES | 12 | 2016 Women's Basketball Hall of Fame inductee who was the first Division I player to score over 1,000 points in a season: 2 wds. |
| 33% | PARTINGSHOT | 11 | End of a testy exchange, and what can be found four times in this puzzle, thanks to four black squares |
| 33% | SHIRLEYCHISHOLM | 15 | First Black woman elected to the U.S. Congress |
| 33% | NORMA | 5 | Woman's name that becomes a man's name when its first letter is added to the end |
| 33% | SHIRLEY | 7 | ___ Chisholm, first Black woman elected to Congress |
| 33% | ALTHEAGIBSON | 12 | In 1957, she became the first person of color to win a Wimbledon championship (2 wds.) |
| 33% | TERM | 4 | Four years, for a President |
| 33% | CURIE | 5 | Surname of the first woman to win a Nobel prize |
| 32% | CHISHOLM | 8 | Shirley, first Black woman elected to US Congress |