(JEANNE) DARST, FICTION RUINED MY FAMILY — As a kid I was absolutely terrified of cliches. My father forbade them. If you said, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink," my father would go ballistic.... Mom violated this rule about every five seconds.
| A. | Sleeping with the fishes | DEAD |
| B. | Clumsy as an ox (2 wds.) | ALLTHUMBS |
| C. | Fair and square; on the button | RIGHT |
| D. | Hair-trigger temper (2 wds.) | SHORTFUSE |
| E. | Vanishing point? (2 wds.) | THINAIR |
| F. | Much ado about nothing | FUSS |
| G. | Vantage high above the daily grind (2 wds.) | IVORYTOWER |
| H. | Bee's knees, something else (2 wds.) | CATSMEOW |
| I. | Neck and neck, even-steven | TIED |
| J. | On a bad losing streak (hyph.) | ICECOLD |
| K. | Marching to a different drummer | OFFBEAT |
| L. | When there's not a moment to spare (3 wds.) | NICKOFTIME |
| M. | Take to the cleaners | ROUT |
| N. | Akin to apples and oranges or night and day | UNALIKE |
| O. | What star-crossed lovers are (hyph.) | ILLFATED |
| P. | Keyed up; on tenterhooks | NERVOUS |
| Q. | A piece of cake (3 wds.) | EASYASABC |
| R. | "There's no place like home" speaker | DOROTHY |
| S. | Enough to make your skin crawl | MACABRE |
| T. | Fair maid or strapping lad | YOUTH |
| U. | Seen in the limelight time and again | FAMOUS |
| V. | Good at being palsy-walsy | AMIABLE |
| W. | Seized the moment (2 wds.) | MADEHAY |
| X. | With no why or wherefore | IDLY |
| Y. | Busy bee, eager beaver, pistol (2 wds.) | LIVEWIRE |
| Z. | Teamed up to do a hard day's work | YOKED |