| INCARCERATED | Three of the 25 new MacArthur fellows, Reginald Dwayne Betts, Nicole Fleetwood, and Desmond Meade, work with this category of person |
| FELON | 2019 Reginald Dwayne Betts poetry collection examining the effects of incarceration |
| GENIUSGRANT | Prize won by Nicole Fleetwood in 2021 |
| KIESELAYMON | 2022 MacArthur Fellow with the memoir "Heavy" |
| GRANTEE | MacArthur Fellow, e.g. |
| MARDI | "___ Gras Carnival" (1898; one of the 25 movies added to the National Film Registry this year, as announced Dec. 14; 13 of the others herein have asterisked clues) |
| EXPECTANTMOTHER | Might the next part come to one of the 25? (9,6) |
| BILLYBUDD | No. 6 on the ABA Journal's list of the 25 greatest law novels ever (by Herman Melville) |
| TIME | Magazine that in 1997 named Tiger Woods one of the 25 most influential people in America |
| PAMIRS | Space station landing in step with 5 of the 25 (6) |
| CLIVESTAPLESLEWIS | Author of The 25 Chair |
| GRANDSTAND | Tiered seating area commanding the best view of a stadium, circus or racecourse; or, a sports programme whose hosts included Frank Bough and Desmond Lynam (10) |
| HOOVERDAM | This structure created Lake Meade and megawatts of hydro-electricity and was named for the Republica |
| CADILLAC | American marque behind the Fleetwood and Seville (8) |
| MICKS | Fleetwood and Ronson of rock |
| HOLE | The ?, 2001 film thriller starring Thora Birch and Desmond Harrington (4) |
| NEVERHAVEIEVER | 2020-2023 Netflix series featuring Niecy Nash-Betts as the therapist of teenager Devi Vishwakumar: 4 wds. |
| EDDIE | First name of Mr Hope, the Emmerdale character played by Nigel Betts from 2003 until 2007 (5) |
| ALMADA | Which city is connected to Lisbon by the 25 de Abril Bridge, the longest suspension bridge in the world? (6) |
| ANTONI | Bradford, 2013-16 Fleetwood and 2017-20 Plymouth midfielder (6,8) |
