| 100% | FLOE | 4 | Word first used by Arctic explorers |
| 50% | DIBS | 4 | Word often used by Barney on "How I Met Your Mother" to lay first claim |
| 48% | PARKA | 5 | Hooded jacket worn by Arctic explorers |
| 44% | POCKETVETO | 10 | Presidential power first used by James Madison |
| 43% | SONAR | 5 | Underwater detection system first used by da Vinci |
| 43% | CZAR | 4 | Title first used by Simeon I of Bulgaria |
| 43% | PAGANISM | 8 | Term for polytheism first used by early Christians |
| 43% | STEVIA | 6 | Leaf sugar substitute first used by the Guarani |
| 43% | YEAH | 4 | Word often used by John Wick |
| 42% | NERD | 4 | Word for an introverted intellectual that was first used by Dr. Seuss |
| 42% | ESSO | 4 | Brand name first used by Standard Oil of New Jersey |
| 40% | HARD | 4 | ___-boiled, phrase meaning "tough and cynical" that was first used by Mark Twain |
| 39% | MAMA | 4 | First words spoken by a baby, perhaps |
| 38% | SUBALTERN | 9 | Term first used by Antonio Gramsci to mean a subject excluded from hegemonic power structures |
| 37% | NEE | 3 | Word used to identify a woman by her maiden name |
| 37% | START | 5 | Word by the first square in a board game, often |
| 37% | SUNSHINE | 8 | First word of #1 titles by Donovan and John Denver |
| 37% | AYE | 3 | Word a first mate uses to agree with the captain |
| 36% | BLIGHTY | 7 | Term for England used by soldiers of the First and Second World Wars |
| 36% | NEE | 3 | Word followed by a last name that’s no longer used |
| 36% | TWEEN | 5 | Word for someone between 9 and 12 that was first used by J.R.R. Tolkien |
| 35% | SHIPBUILDER | 11 | Professional who uses the first words of the starred answers |
| 35% | AID | 3 | Helpful word that could be proceeded by Farm, Band or first |
| 34% | THY | 3 | Word used three times in the first four lines of the Lord's Prayer |
| 34% | SWAG | 4 | Slang term for an expert's rough estimate, purportedly first used by US Army General William Westmoreland in the Vietnam War |
| 34% | TWENTYQUESTIONS | 15 | Game suggested by the first words of 17-, 25- and 42-Across |
| 34% | MATINEEIDOL | 11 | Figure described by the first words of 17-, 28- and 45-Across |
| 34% | QUAD | 4 | Play without words by Samuel Beckett first performed on television in 1981 |
| 34% | DEATH | 5 | First word in titles by Arthur Miller and Agatha Christie |
| 34% | SBS | 3 | Brand name used by NYC's MTA rapid transit service that first came into service in 2008 |