| 100% | CYRUS | 5 | ___ the Great, founder of the first Persian empire |
| 99% | CYRUS | 5 | ___ the Great, founder of the first Persian empire called Achaemenid |
| 70% | CYRUS | 5 | Founder of the Persian Empire |
| 68% | AUGUSTUS | 8 | Founder and first emperor of the Roman empire |
| 60% | FRANZJOSEFI | 11 | Founder of the Austro-Hungarian empire |
| 60% | RAYKROC | 7 | Founder of the McDonald's empire |
| 59% | ANNLEE | 6 | Founder of the first U.S. Shaker colony |
| 59% | ANNLEE | 6 | Founder of the first Shaker colony in America |
| 58% | OSMAN | 5 | Founder of the Ottoman Empire |
| 56% | BISMARCK | 8 | Founder of the German Empire, Otto von __ |
| 55% | BRANSON | 7 | Richard __, founder of the Virgin empire |
| 55% | KLING | 5 | With 19-Across, its high council meets in the Great Hall of the First City |
| 55% | LEAGUE | 6 | __ of Nations, founded after the First World War |
| 54% | AUGUSTUS | 8 | First emperor of the Roman empire |
| 54% | IRAN | 4 | The Persian empire as of today |
| 53% | OPIONEERS | 9 | First novel of the Great Plains trilogy |
| 53% | SHAH | 4 | Ruler of the Persian Empire |
| 52% | HURON | 5 | First Nations group of the Great Lakes region |
| 52% | LONDONZOO | 9 | Home of the first hippopotamus in Europe since the Roman Empire |
| 52% | GRETA | 5 | First name of the founder of Fridays for Future |
| 52% | EUDOXIA | 7 | __ Lopukhina; first wife of Peter the Great |
| 52% | ERIE | 4 | Alphabetically, the first of the Great Lakes |
| 51% | TAMERLANE | 9 | First ruler of the Timurid Empire who died in 1405 |
| 51% | JAY | 3 | First name of the title character in "The Great Gatsby" |
| 51% | SONINKE | 7 | Group of people who founded the Ghana Empire |
| 51% | WALT | 4 | First name of Disney empire founder |
| 51% | ASA | 3 | ___ Philip Randolph, civil rights activist and founder of the first AFL-chartered African American-led labor union |
| 50% | SEALS | 5 | Animals whose habitat can be found in the first three letters of their name |
| 50% | SAMUELGOMPERS | 13 | Founder and first president of the American Federation of Labor: 2 wds. |
| 48% | ALTHEAGIBSON | 12 | Tennis great who was the first person of color to win a Wimbledon championship (2 wds.) |