| 100% | HOWABOUTH | 9 | Q: ___ / A: Correct! In the first square |
| 68% | START | 5 | Word by the first square in a board game, often |
| 64% | ISTHEREAG | 9 | Q: ___ / A: Indeed, in the fourth square |
| 57% | ACADEMY | 7 | The first A in BAFTA |
| 56% | SWAM | 4 | Competed in the first leg of a triathlon |
| 56% | SWAM | 4 | Participated in the first third of a triathlon |
| 56% | OUTSWAM | 7 | Defeated in the first part of a triathlon |
| 56% | ACE | 3 | The first card in a deck |
| 56% | ANYAS | 5 | Q: ___ / A: Yes, two, in the second and sixth squares |
| 55% | UPON | 4 | Word in the first sentence of a fairy tale |
| 55% | BTEN | 4 | Square in the first column of bingo |
| 55% | ALSO | 4 | The first "a" in a k a |
| 55% | ALAN | 4 | The first "A" in A.A. Milne |
| 55% | ALSO | 4 | The first "A" in A.K.A. |
| 55% | AZALEA | 6 | Last flower in the first section of a botanical dictionary |
| 55% | SCARLET | 7 | A Study in __, the first Sherlock Holmes account |
| 55% | PIXELS | 6 | The first P in a resolution's PPI |
| 55% | STEPONE | 7 | The first instruction in a list of instructions |
| 54% | TIMES | 5 | Square where the words in this puzzle's dropping balls may be heard at the end of a song's first verse |
| 54% | DOESITHAVEANN | 13 | Q: ___ / A: There are two, in the third and seventh squares below |
| 54% | IGUESSM | 7 | Q: ___ / A: There's one in the fifth square |
| 54% | ASK | 3 | The first "A" in Reddit's A.M.A. |
| 54% | MOTOROLA | 8 | The first company to sell a cellphone, in 1973 |
| 54% | DASHER | 6 | The first reindeer Santa calls in a Moore poem |
| 54% | OPENS | 5 | Makes the first move in a game |
| 53% | PAWN | 4 | The first piece usually moved in a game of chess |
| 53% | TUE | 3 | The first of two T's, in a familiar sequence |
| 53% | LED | 3 | Took the first position in a procession, say |
| 53% | ONCE | 4 | Usually the first word in a fairy tale |
| 53% | OPEN | 4 | Make the first bid in a bridge game |