| 100% | JOHNYOUNG | 9 | The first astronaut to make five spaceflights |
| 49% | NEILARMSTRONG | 13 | First astronaut to walk on the moon: 2 wds. |
| 47% | SHY | 3 | Unlikely to make the first move |
| 47% | TIMID | 5 | Unlikely to make the first move |
| 46% | TIMID | 5 | Reluctant to make the first move, say |
| 46% | LODESTONE | 9 | It was used to make the first compass |
| 46% | SHY | 3 | Like someone unlikely to make the first move |
| 44% | SNL | 3 | Buck Henry was the first to host it five times, briefly |
| 43% | WHIP | 4 | First object made by humans to break the sound barrier |
| 43% | STTERESA | 8 | First woman to be made doctor of the Roman Catholic Church |
| 42% | SCHIRRA | 7 | Astronaut Wally, the first person to go into space three times |
| 41% | BRAEKHUS | 8 | Cecilia ___, Norwegian boxer who was the first-ever boxer to hold five world titles simultaneously |
| 41% | GLENN | 5 | First U.S. astronaut to circle the earth |
| 41% | GENE | 4 | NASA Flight Director Kranz who directed Apollo 11's mission to make the first lunar landing |
| 41% | GALILEO | 7 | Astronomer who was the first to discover that the Milky Way was made up of stars |
| 41% | HONDAACCORD | 11 | First car from a Japanese manufacturer to be made in the U.S. (1982) |
| 40% | NEIL | 4 | First name in NASA's prestigious list of astronauts who have been to the moon |
| 40% | AMY | 3 | I was known for my beehive hairdo and I was the first British woman to win five Grammys |
| 40% | SAGAN | 5 | He said "If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe" |
| 39% | INITIAL | 7 | With 36-Across, first encounter, or what the answers to the starred clues make? |
| 39% | GREENNEWDEAL | 12 | Proposed climate legislation ... or an apt description for the first five letters of the answers to the starred clues |
| 39% | CARL{SAGA}N | 11 | Scientist who said, “If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe” |
| 39% | ABEL | 4 | The first to die |
| 38% | SPELLITOUT | 10 | Leave no room for misinterpretation ... or what the first words of the answers to the five starred clues do, literally |
| 38% | THUG | 4 | The first to embrace lout |
| 38% | TOIL | 4 | The first lubricant to work |
| 38% | CASCA | 5 | The first to stab Caesar |
| 38% | TRENT | 5 | The first to hire river |
| 38% | TRAVEL | 6 | The first composer to journey |
| 38% | EVE | 3 | The first mother, to Christians |