| AFTERLIFE | Subtitle of the most recent Ghostbusters movie (9) |
| FURYROAD | Subtitle of the most recent Mad Max movie (4,4) |
| ENDGAME | Subtitle of the most recent Avengers film (7) |
| SPLITFIRE | Star car in "Ghostbusters" movie |
| RECKONING | Subtitle of the latest Mission: Impossible movie (3,5,9) |
| FREAKSHOW | Subtitle of the fourth season of "American Horror Story": 2 wds. |
| EMPIRE | Chilly subtitle of the latest Ghostbusters movie (6,6) |
| FROZEN | Chilly subtitle of the latest Ghostbusters movie (6,6) |
| ACCRA | Capital and largest city of Ghana, host of the most recent edition of the African Games (5) |
| JEDI | Final word in the title of the most recent "Star Wars" movie |
| SEA | Last word of the most recent version of "America the Beautiful" |
| NEVERMIND | leonard cohen song (from the album at #23-Across) which is the theme tune of the most recent season |
| LETHAL | The title of the most recent series of BBC detective drama Strike, starring Tom Burke (6,5) |
| WHITE | The title of the most recent series of BBC detective drama Strike, starring Tom Burke (6,5) |
| DEADRECKONING | Navigation term used in the title of the most recent 'Mission Impossible' film (4,9) |
| ELENA | First name of the most recent woman appointed to the US Supreme Court |
| ODDLY | Yvie ___ (weird winner of the most recent season of RuPaul's Drag Race) |
| KEATON | Star of the most recent Academy Award winner for Best Picture |
| CODA | Winner of the most recent Best Picture Oscar |
| NEWSCAST | TV account of the most recent events |
