| RAUL | Castro who recently stepped down as Cuban president |
| DHS | Govt. agency whose leader, Kirstjen Nielsen, recently stepped down |
| COLEUS | - - - amboinicus, plant known as Cuban oregano or country borage (6) |
| ELON | Musk who stepped down as CEO of Twitter |
| KATYPERRY | Singer who stepped down as an "American Idol" judge in 2024 |
| AGNEW | Former cricketer who stepped down as BBC chief cricket correspondent in 2024 |
| RICHARDTICE | Chairman of Reform UK who stepped down as party leader after Nigel Farage decided to stand in the 2024 General Election (7,4) |
| SALESFORCE | It doesn't always work; in 2022, Marc Benioff, who founded this firm in 1999, reassumed the sole CEO title when Bret Taylor stepped down as co-CEO after just one year |
| RESIGNED | Stepped down as patient (8) |
| ALIT | Stepped down, as from a train |
| ENNINFUL | He has just stepped down as editor of British Vogue (6,8) |
| EDWARD | He has just stepped down as editor of British Vogue (6,8) |
| FIDEL | - - - Castro, former Cuban president |
| ARTURO | Castro who created and starred in the Comedy Central series "Alternatino" |
| CASTRO | Raul, ex-Cuban president who formally succeeded his ailing brother Fidel in 2008 (6) |
| CASTROPHYSICIST | Scientist whose field is Cuban president Raul? |
| HARRY | Prince who will no doubt have a quieter birthday this September, having stepped down from life as a senior royal (5) |
| DENG | Chinese leader who stepped down in 1989 |
| ABE | Longtime Japanese P.M. who stepped down in 2020 |
| LARRY | King who stepped down in 2010 |
