Pavlov's Guide to Crosswords

It's no Secret that certain Key words in clues have misled me Time and again. These words are frequently exploited in the more challenging American puzzles - often at the start of the clue in the case of the proper nouns. I'll add to this list as I come across new candidates ... it's a work in progress.

If you see this in a clue ...	You should be thinking ...
A	baseball player
American	airline
Angel	baseball player
Auburn	university

Bad	German bath
Banks	actress Tyra
Bard	a college
Bean	your head
Beetle	car
Begin	Israeli PM Menachim
Bench	baseball catcher Johnny
Bird	basketballer Larry
Bond	007
Boulder	place in Colorado
Bounty	paper towel
Boxer	dog
Bread	money
Brit	journalist Brit Hume
Brown	a university
Buck	dollar

Cab	wine
Cabbage	money
Caddy	car
Capital	currency
Card	baseball player
Cash	singer Johnny
Cell	mobile phone
Cellar	bottom of a league
Child	Julia Child
Citation	racehorse
Common	rapper
Continental	airline
Converse	shoes
Crawl	swimming
Creamer	golfer Paula
Cuban	entrepreneur Mark
Cupid	reindeer
Curly	Stooge Curly Howard

Dancer	reindeer
Dash	dashboard
Diamond	baseball
Dog	frankfurter
Dogs	your feet
Dollar	car rental
Dough	money
Due	2 in Italian
Duke	a university
Early	Civil War general
Explorer	web browser

Field	Sally Field
Fine	Stooge Larry Fine
First	baseball
Flip	comedian Flip Wilson
Flower	rivers (they flow)
Flower power	hydroelectricity
Forest	Actor Whitaker
Fox	Tribe
Frank	hot dog
Friday	Dragnet
Friday	Robinson Crusoe

Gary	place in Indiana
Glass	Ira Glass of public radio
Golf	VW car
Grinder	submarine sandwich
Guinness	records

Happy	dwarfs
Hatch	senator Orrin
Head	head of cattle
Head	toilet
Heat	firearms
Heat	basketball team
Hero	submarine sandwich
Hill	US Congress
Hog	motorcycle
Holder	Attorney General Eric
Home	baseball
Hook	pirate
Hook	punch
Hoops	basketball
Hopper	painter Edward
Howard	a university
Hunter	a college

If you see this in a clue ...	You should be thinking ...
I	iodine
Jazz	basketball team
Kale	money
Key	the national anthem

Lab	dog
Lash	Lash LaRue
Lava	soap
Lawless	Xena portrayer Lucy
Lettuce	money
Life	cereal
Lightning	ice hockey team
Local	local train
Loop	Chicago neighborhood

Mad	a magazine
Magic	basketball team
Mason	Perry Mason
Mayo	Irish county
Meadow	Meadow Soprano
Merit	cigarettes
Mix	cowboy actor Tom
Mobile	city in Alabama
Mop	head of hair
More	a magazine

Nancy	place in France
Napoleon	Animal Farm
Napoleon	pastry
National	car rental
Nice	place in France
Number	anesthetic (makes you numb)

If you see this in a clue ...	You should be thinking ...
O	baseball player
O	magazine
O	oxygen
Olympus	cameras
Opera	web browser

Paint	horse
Paradise	Sal Paradise of On the Road
Parenting	a magazine
Parliament	cigarettes
People	magazine
Pilot	pen
Post	cereals
Red	baseball player
Remote	TV changer
Rocket	basketball player
Rush	Radio host Limbaugh

Safer	CBS News man Morley
Sales	Soupy Sales, pie target
Save(s)	baseball stat
Second	baseball
Secret	deodorant
Semi	truck
Sentence	prison time
Shape	a magazine
Shower	baby or bridal
Side	side dish
Singer	sewing machines
Sister	nuns
Snowball	Animal Farm
Solo	Han Solo
Speaker	baseballer Tris
Steal	baseball
Stern	violinist Isaac
Stock	Soup
Strawberry	baseballer Darryl
Street	Perry Mason's secretary
Street	skier Picabo
Subway	sandwiches
Sumac	soprano Yma

Temple	a university
Third	baseball
Thunder	basketball team
Time	magazine
Tours	place in France
Toy	small dog
Urban	country musician Keith
Us	magazine
Venus	Venus Williams
Vixen	reindeer

If you see this in a clue ...	You should be thinking ...
W	magazine
W	a president
Washington	actor Denzel
White	newspaper editor
Wizards	basketball team

This feature is named in honor of Ivan Pavlov, the pioneer of classical conditioning.