| ACHIEVE | A Greek character, the first woman to win |
| PHIZ | Face Greek character, the last character (4) |
| THETA | Greek character the volunteers wanted here |
| ISAIAH | Old Testament character: the first of the major Hebrew prophets (6) |
| ORCHARD | Tough to follow Tolkein character - the first solution here? (7) |
| MARIECURIE | The first woman to win a Nobel Prize, and the only woman to have won it twice (for Physics in 1903 and Chemistry in 1911) (5,5) |
| IRENE | This chemist and her husband received the 1935 Nobel Prize for their discovery of artificial radioactivity; she is also the daughter of the first woman to win a Nobel Prize (first name only) |
| EDITH | Forename of the novelist Wharton who drew inspiration from her experiences within the elite circles of New York's high society during the Gilded Age, becoming the first woman to win a Pulitzer Prize ( |
| MANTEL | Hilary ___, the first woman to win the Booker Prize twice, for the novels Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies |
| BERTHA | ______ von Suttner became, in 1905, the first woman to win the Peace Prize; she played a key role in creating the Nobel Peace Prize as well |
| LAGERLOF | Swedish author of the children's classic The Wonderful Adventures of Nils, who became the first woman to win a Nobel Prize in Literature (8) |
| MARIE | First name of the first woman to win a Nobel Prize |
| LITTLEMO | Nickname of the tennis player who at the age of 18 became first woman to win all four Grand Slam tournaments during the same year (6,2) |
| MARGARETCOURT | Australian tennis player who was the first woman to win the Grand Slam in the Open Era: 2 wds. |
| KATHRYNBIGELOW | First woman to win a best director Oscar, for the 2009 war film The Hurt Locker |
| KATHRYN | The first woman to win a 4 for best director (2009) |
| BIGELOW | The first woman to win a 4 for best director (2009) |
| ARAB | Ons Jabeur, the first ... woman to win a WTA tournament. (4) |
| JEN | Cartoonist Sorensen who was the first woman to win the Herblock Prize |
| ZAHA | Hadid who was the first woman to win the Pritzker Architecture Prize |
