| AARONJUDGE | ... This Yankee, who hit an AL-record 62 home runs this season; his initials are used in our theme entries |
| CALRIPKENJR | This Hall of Fame shortstop grounded into an AL record 350 career double plays; "O" my! |
| NOSY | No end to this Yankee prying (4) |
| XRAY | This Yankee succeeds by right, indeed |
| AARON | Judge who hit 62 home runs in 2022 |
| URDU | Language used in our duet (4) |
| URN | Container that has to be used in our necropolis (3) |
| MASH | The 2019 Cannes Film Festival runs this month in France; in 1970, this American black comedy won the event's top honor |
| AROD | Nickname of the former Yankee who hit 696 home runs: Hyph. |
| GORE | Former Vice-President who defeated Yankovic in an Al-versus-Al segment of the animated show "Celebrity Deathmatch" |
| RAINFOREST | World ___ Day is June-22; can you find four residents of this habitat hiding in our theme entries? |
| BTS | K-pop stars who gave a speech to and played one of their videos for the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 20; they're also playing in our theme entries |
| DROP | Ball ___ (NYE event in NYC ... and what happens in our theme entries) |
| BRR | Sound heard in cold weather ... and in our theme entries |
| WORDLE | Language puzzle that's sweeping the internet; the five-letter words in our theme entries are eight of the best first guesses, per a Jan. 20 USA Today piece |
| FOUR | With 118-A and 119-A: Common player formation you'll see at the World Cup-and in our theme entries |
| HIDDENGEMS | They're awesome, but few know about them; you can find them in our theme entries |
| ARAB | One with an "al-" in his name, often |
| AMOK | Wild type runs this in a mess, one's heard (4) |
| RANCH | In TV's Bonanza, the Cartwright family ran this kind of cattle-producing property (it was named Pond |
