| 100% | MEETCUTE | 8 | Adorable encounter in a rom-com |
| 79% | MEETCUTE | 8 | First encounter in a rom-com |
| 61% | MEETCUTE | 8 | Plot point in a rom-com |
| 58% | MEETCUTE | 8 | Early scene in a rom-com, often |
| 57% | TROPE | 5 | Meet-cute in a rom-com, e.g. |
| 57% | TROPE | 5 | Busy businesswoman in a rom-com, e.g. |
| 57% | TROPE | 5 | Meet cute in a rom-com, e.g. |
| 53% | HAL | 3 | "Shallow" guy in a 2001 rom-com |
| 51% | MEETCUTE | 8 | First encounter in a romcom |
| 50% | UFO | 3 | One encountered in a close encounter |
| 50% | MEETCUTE | 8 | First encounter in a romcom (Hyph.) |
| 49% | PICKLE | 6 | Vegetable one encounters in a difficult situation |
| 49% | HARRY | 5 | Film character who "met" 8-Across in a classic 1989 rom-com |
| 47% | UFO | 3 | Craft in a close encounter |
| 46% | AMELIE | 6 | Title character played by Audrey Tautou in a quirky 2002 Oscar-nominated French rom-com |
| 46% | UFO | 3 | One side in a close encounter |
| 46% | UFO | 3 | Controversial craft in a close encounter |
| 46% | MEETCUTE | 8 | Plot device in many a rom-com |
| 46% | ETS | 3 | Beings involved in a "close encounter": Abbr. |
| 45% | 13GOINGON30 | 11 | 2004 rom-com in which a middle schooler is transformed into an adult overnight |
| 45% | FORGETPARIS | 11 | 1995 Billy Crystal rom-com with a meet-cute that takes place in France |
| 45% | MYSTICPIZZA | 11 | 1988 rom-com set in a New England restaurant |
| 45% | AGE | 3 | Issue once raised in a Reagan-Mondale encounter |
| 44% | UFOS | 4 | Crafts in a "close encounter of the third kind" |
| 44% | FIVE | 4 | "The ___ Seasons," 1981 rom-com about a group of friends on vacation ... with 40a added in |
| 43% | TROLL | 5 | Tall creature with great strength that the "Harry Potter" trio encountered in a bathroom |
| 43% | THEINVENTIONING | 15 | 2009 rom-com set in a world where everyone is truthful |
| 43% | MAIDINMANHATTAN | 15 | Jennifer Lopez rom-com set in a New York hotel |
| 43% | UFO | 3 | Vehicle that might be involved in a close encounter: Abbr. |
| 43% | LOVEACTUALLY | 12 | 2003 rom-com in which Alan Rickman played a married man flirting with his secretary: 2 wds. |