| FALA | WWII First Dog who is honored in this puzzle and enshrined in the FDR Memorial in Washington DC |
| YAM | Staple crop for the Igbo people that is honored in a late-summer festival |
| INSPINNER | Novel by Dymphna Cusack and Florence James about the experience of people at home in Australia during WWII (first published in 1951), Come ... (2,7) |
| MAYALIN | Designer of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington DC (4,3) |
| LINCOLN | City with its own memorial in Washington DC (7) |
| SUPERBOWL | Event that could feature any of the athletes found in five squares in this puzzle ... and a Feb. 9, 2025, event featuring the athletes spelled out in the first letters of five Across entries and then |
| FBIAGENTS | Govt. employees encoded by the nine other longest across entries in this puzzle ... and who might be called in to decode them |
| CORDERO | Angel who was the first Puerto Rican enshrined in the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame |
| SHARKINFESTEDWATERS | Dangerous area for those in the top row of this puzzle, and a hint to the words under the six black tins in the grid |
| INDC | Where the FDR Memorial is |
| SOUTHERNOCEAN | Body of water officially recognized by the National Geographic Society earlier this month; its four cousins are found north of it in this puzzle (and on a globe) |
| WORD | Type of ladder in this puzzle, and the third step in it |
| DOLLAR | Kind of sign seen in this puzzle, and word that can follow the start of answers to starred clues |
| TEST | Any of the eight circled words in this puzzle, and what's spelled out by their intersections |
| CROSSPOLLINATED | Hybridized, botanically ... or like four pairs of answers in this puzzle (and the circled letters they intersect on)? |
| ILIE | He was enshrined in the Tennis Hall of Fame the same year as Guillermo |
| EDMONIALEWIS | Old Arrow-Maker and his Daughter sculptor who is honored on a 2022 U.S. postage stamp (2 wds.) |
| EUGENIECLARK | Marine biologist known as the Shark Lady who is honored on a 2022 U.S. postage stamp (2 wds.) |
| LEAP | Event celebrated in this puzzle, and an example of how the theme works |
| ADDAMS | Surname of a family whose members can be found in nine rows in this puzzle ... and whose names contain circled letters that, reading down, spell a word describing them |
