| GOBLINMODE | Oxford Word of the Year 2022 |
| VAX | Oxford Word of the Year for 2021 |
| ROT | Brain ___: 2024 Oxford Word of the Year |
| RIZZ | Charming and stylish; Oxford's word of the year for 2023 (4) |
| OTHERLANDS | Thomas Halliday nonfiction book subtitled A World In The Making, Foyles Non-Fiction Book of the Year 2022, recently published in paperback (10) |
| GREG | ___ Ellis, AT's 'Carp Angler of the Year' 2022 (4) |
| LEVY | Dave ___, Angling Times Carp Angler of the Year (2022) (4) |
| BETH | BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2022 (4,4) |
| MEAD | BBC Sports Personality of the Year 2022 (4,4) |
| DAVELEVY | Named 'Carp Angler of the Year 2022' (*dye valve) (4,4) |
| GOBLIN | With 27 Across, Oxford's Word of the Year for 2022, defined as self-indulgent behavior |
| SOYLENT | "___ Green", 1973 film set in the year 2022 (7) |
| GREEN | Richard Fleischer film set in the year 2022 that starred Charlton Heston (7,5) |
| SOYLENTGREEN | 1973 sci-fi film starring Charlton Heston set in the year 2022 (7,5) |
| GASLIGHTING | M-W's 2022 Word of the Year: "the act or practice of grossly misleading someone" |
| JOY | "Face With Tears of ___" (non-word that was named Oxford Dictionaries' Word of the Year in 2015) |
| BRAINROT | 2024 Word of the Year, per Collins Dictionary (just the shaded squares) or Oxford (the entire entry) |
| EMOJI | The Oxford Dictionaries 2015 "Word" of the Year is one |
| POSTTRUTH | Political term that was the Oxford Dictionaries' 2016 Word of the Year |
| GIF | Oxford American Dictionary's 2012 word of the year, and the key to this puzzle's theme |
