| SMOKEYBEAR | Character who's wary of the starts to this puzzle's theme answers |
| AHMED | Masood __, Walford man who's wary about girlfriend Carol Jackson getting close to David Wicks again (5) |
| THEME | Subject that's habitually exasperating from the start to this setter (5) |
| WATERFRONT | Like oceanside resort property ... and what the starts to the answers to starred clues can have? |
| DISTRUSTED | Was very wary of the driest dust being whipped up (10) |
| CAMERASHY | Arrived impetuously without finishing call, wary of the paparazzi (6-3) |
| CAVE | Be wary of the dog: ____ canem |
| CALIFORNIA | Its "saintly" cities include the starts to 16-, 28-, 37- and 43-Across |
| COCONUT | Fruit that can be the source of the starts of the answers to starred clues |
| MIXEDGREENS | Salad choice, and a literal description of the starts of the answers to starred clues |
| BATH | Appropriate room for the sequence comprised of the starts of 18-, |
| NOHITTER | Feat that, as of the start of 2018, has been achieved by every baseball team except the San Diego Padres |
| ALONGCAMEABIRD | Description of the start of some Road Runner cartoons? |
| RABBLE | In another way, babel right at the start to the common people |
| JERICHO | In Paris, I got wealthy by outsourcing from the start to the old city (7) |
| PAGE | Pay at the start to get on section of website (4) |
| DRAWFIRSTBLOOD | Forward played with solid tactical brilliance at the start to open the scoring |
| TROT | Pace of progress from the start to decay |
| TRACE | Find the start to the event (5) |
| GERMINATION | Process of the start of growth |
