| 100% | TEASE | 5 | The first to relax and ridicule |
| 59% | TURN | 4 | The first to run off and spin |
| 49% | YELLEN | 6 | First woman to head both the Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve |
| 48% | TYSON | 5 | First heavyweight boxer to simultaneously hold the WBA, WBC, and IBF belts |
| 48% | BLAZEATRAIL | 11 | Be the first to accomplish something (and do it spectacularly!) |
| 48% | ABEL | 4 | The first to die |
| 48% | JOSECANSECO | 11 | Retired ballplayer who was the first to hit 40 homers and steal 40 bases in the same season: 2 wds. |
| 47% | BATHTUBS | 8 | Containers to wash and relax in, enjoy the bubbles |
| 47% | MIDDLEC | 7 | First note learned on the piano, and a homophonic hint to the starred answers |
| 47% | THUG | 4 | The first to embrace lout |
| 47% | CASCA | 5 | The first to stab Caesar |
| 47% | TRENT | 5 | The first to hire river |
| 47% | THUG | 4 | The first to embrace hooligan |
| 47% | TRAM | 4 | The first to knock carriage |
| 47% | TRAM | 4 | The first to knock transport |
| 47% | STEVIENICKS | 11 | First woman to be inducted twice into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame |
| 47% | ROSES | 5 | "Stop and smell the ___," idiom that means to slow down and relax |
| 47% | HOWE | 4 | Julia ___, first woman elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters |
| 47% | PLANA | 5 | The first thing to try (and hope for the best) |
| 46% | YURIGAGARIN | 11 | Russian who was the first person to travel into space and orbit the earth (1961): 2 wds. |
| 46% | FOREIGNLANGUAGE | 15 | What's left when you remove the first and last letters of the answers to starred clues |
| 46% | INDIEGOGO | 9 | Online platform that was one of the first websites to offer crowdfunding for business and personal goals |
| 46% | TASK | 4 | The first to demand a mission |
| 46% | TALLOW | 6 | The first to permit candle material |
| 46% | THEM | 4 | The first to mix? Not us |
| 46% | TRENT | 5 | The first to hire a river |
| 46% | THEM | 4 | The first to sew? Not us |
| 46% | THEM | 4 | The first to join? Not us |
| 46% | ADELE | 5 | First person to appear simultaneously on the American and British covers of Vogue (Oct. 2021) |
| 46% | DIAS | 4 | Bartolomeu ___, maritime explorer and first European to round the Cape of Good Hope |