| 100% | OTHER | 5 | Parent loses first alternative |
| 48% | EITHER | 6 | Word introducing first alternative |
| 43% | DRAW | 4 | Win or lose alternative |
| 42% | ADIOS | 5 | Radios lost first sign-off |
| 41% | LAVA | 4 | Grub loses first real hot stuff |
| 41% | COACH | 5 | Alternative to first-class |
| 41% | ECONOMY | 7 | Alternative to first-class |
| 40% | CANINE | 6 | Tooth is able to lose first line |
| 39% | EPT | 3 | Alternative to Clearblue or First Response |
| 39% | ALANIS | 6 | First name in 1990s alternative rock |
| 39% | NEWDAD | 6 | Certain first-time parent |
| 38% | KANSASCITYCHIEF | 15 | Losing player in the first Super Bowl |
| 38% | COACH | 5 | Plane alternative to first-class |
| 36% | REM | 3 | Georgia group that was one of the first alternative rock bands |
| 36% | ARK | 3 | Lost religious object in the first Indiana Jones movie |
| 36% | ARK | 3 | Lost relic sought in the first Indiana Jones movie |
| 36% | USE | 3 | Rhyming alternative to lose, in a saying |
| 35% | REM | 3 | Georgia band considered to be one of the first alternative rock groups |
| 35% | DADA | 4 | First word for many babies, to a parent's delight |
| 35% | PLANB | 5 | Alternative when one's first idea falls through (2 wds.) |
| 35% | REM | 3 | Alternative rock band whose first album was "Murmur" in 1983 |
| 34% | RAIDERS | 7 | Indiana Jones' first movie, __ of the Lost Ark |
| 34% | SHOE | 4 | First thing lost in the "For Want of a Nail" proverb |
| 34% | ARK | 3 | Lost object that was raided in the first Indiana Jones movie |
| 34% | INHERITANCE | 11 | First novel in 39-Across's "The Lost Bride" romance series |
| 34% | ONEANDDONE | 10 | Like a team that loses in the first round |
| 34% | EGGTOSS | 7 | Game in which the first player to crack loses? |
| 34% | JANES | 5 | ___ Addiction, alternative rock band that headlined the first Lollapalooza |
| 33% | CLASS | 5 | First ___ (alternative to flying economy) |
| 33% | REM | 3 | Alternative rock band whose first single was 1981's "Radio Free Europe" |