First crossword clue

The most likely answers for the crossword clue “First” are START, EARLY or FRONT, with 5 letters. Below are 59 answers from 3 to 12 letters, best match first in each length, then what each top answer means and how to tell them apart.

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The best answers, explained

LOW 3 letters · noun

the lowest forward gear ratio in the gear box of a motor vehicle; used to start a car moving

BEST 4 letters · adverb

in a most excellent way or manner “he played best after a couple of martinis”

START 5 letters · noun

the time at which something is supposed to begin “they got an early start”

OFFSET 6 letters · noun

the time at which something is supposed to begin

OPENING 7 letters · noun

the first performance (as of a theatrical production) “the opening received good critical reviews”

ORIGINAL 8 letters · adjective

preceding all others in time or being as first made or performed “the original inhabitants of the Americas”

BEGINNING 9 letters · noun

the time at which something is supposed to begin

INITIATIVE 10 letters · adjective

serving to set in motion “the initiative phase in the negotiations”

INTRODUCTORY 12 letters · adjective

serving to open or begin “began the slide show with some introductory remarks”

Telling them apart

With 4 squares, BEST, DAWN and FUZZ all fit. The first letter tells them all apart: B → BEST · D → DAWN · F → FUZZ. Fill in that crossing answer first.

With 5 squares, START, EARLY, FRONT, BASIC, PRIME and ALPHA all fit. The first letter tells them all apart: S → START · E → EARLY · F → FRONT · B → BASIC · P → PRIME · A → ALPHA. Fill in that crossing answer first.

With 6 squares, OFFSET, MAIDEN, ELDEST, OUTSET, SECOND and VIRGIN all fit. The second letter tells them all apart: F → OFFSET · A → MAIDEN · L → ELDEST · U → OUTSET · E → SECOND · I → VIRGIN. Fill in that crossing answer first.

Other forms of this clue

Clues often use another form of the word, and the answer then takes the same form: “firsts” wants an answer that ends the same way.

What “first” means

• noun: the first or highest in an ordering or series (“He wanted to be the first”)
• noun: the first element in a countable series (“the first of the month”)
• noun: the time at which something is supposed to begin
• noun: the fielding position of the player on a baseball team who is stationed at first of the bases in the infield (counting counterclockwise from home plate)

A clue usually points at one of these senses, so the right answer is the one that matches the sense the puzzle means: check it against the crossing words.

About these answers

We match the clue against our own thesaurus and dictionary (Open English WordNet): words that mean the same as FIRST, and words whose definition is FIRST. We don't copy answers from newspaper puzzles, so a clue that leans on trivia or wordplay may need the crossing letters instead.