| 100% | ACHES | 5 | Some things to complain about after you've just played flag football for the first time in nine years |
| 30% | RADIO | 5 | It was used to play music for the first time in 1906 |
| 29% | CLASS | 5 | Remember the first time you were chosen as the ___ monitor (student leader) and got to be in charge for the day? Best. Day. Ever! |
| 27% | TICKS | 5 | Things to check for after a walk in the woods |
| 27% | JUSTICEGINSBURG | 15 | Subject of this puzzle, who once said "Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you" |
| 26% | TWO | 3 | First digit in the year we're about to welcome: 2025 |
| 26% | ALYN | 4 | Kirk ___, the first actor to play Superman in live-action for the 1948 movie |
| 26% | VINYLS | 6 | Records that outsold CDs in 2022, for the first time in 35 years |
| 26% | GRAYHOLE | 8 | Outer space phenomenon photographed for the first time in 2019 |
| 25% | SAUDI | 5 | ___ Arabia (nation where women voted for the first time in 2015) |
| 25% | WOMENSWORLDCUP | 14 | FIFA event held for the first time in 1991 (3 wds.) |
| 25% | PREMIERES | 9 | Plays for the first time |
| 25% | SAUDIS | 6 | Women who were legally permitted to drive for the first time in 2018 |
| 24% | COEDS | 5 | Some University of Virginia undergrads in 1969, for the first time |
| 24% | JAMESBOND | 9 | British spy played by 33-Across for the first time in 48-Across (2 wds.) |
| 24% | MARINEONE | 9 | Presidential carrier that flew with an all-women crew for the first time in 2009 |
| 24% | PARAMORE | 8 | Band that played its song “Misery Business” in 2022 for the first time since retiring it four years earlier |
| 24% | TETRIS | 6 | Video game “beaten” for the first time, in 2023, by thirteen-year-old Willis Gibson, who advanced so far that the screen froze |
| 24% | ELSA | 4 | "For the First Time in Forever" duettist |
| 24% | CAROLEKING | 10 | "You've Got a Friend" singer/pianist who was the first woman to win a Grammy for Song of the Year (2 wds.) |
| 24% | SALESMAN | 8 | "Death of a ___," first ever play to win a Tony Award for Best Production in four different years |
| 23% | PROTEM | 6 | For the time being, in some titles |
| 23% | MET | 3 | Got to know for the first time |
| 23% | SWUM | 4 | Like the English Channel for the first time in 1875 |
| 23% | PLANA | 5 | The first thing to try (and hope for the best) |
| 23% | BRITNEYSPEARS | 13 | Musician whose first single "... Baby one more time" topped the charts in 1998 when she was just 17 years old: 2 wds. |
| 22% | RBG | 3 | Initials of the person who said "Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you" |
| 22% | DANCINGQUEEN | 12 | 39-Down song with the lyrics "Where they play the right music, getting in the swing / You come to look for a king" |
| 22% | ELSA | 4 | One of two Disney characters singing "For the First Time in Forever" |
| 22% | NEWLYWEEDS | 10 | Tends to a garden for the first time? |