INTEMPERATE
Credit: LA Times Crossword
Sylvia Bursztyn and Barry Tunick  (#1-8)

The answers to the clues below will have something in common.

1. Get a move on!
2. Pickle or jam
3. Salami and pastrami
4. Chickened out, as in getting married
5. Nonplus, in a way
6. Show-off
7. Emotionless
8. Start a car without the key
9. Abruptly give up a habit
10. Mouth woe
11. Controversial issue
12. Direct phone connection for emergencies
13. Touchy subject
14. Some salesmen do it
15. Avoid or treat rudely
16. Not making any sense
17. Long-unsolved crime, often

Answers:

1. Hotfoot it!
2. Hot water
3. Cold cuts
4. Got cold feet
5. Stop cold
6. Hotdog
7. Cold-blooded
8. Hotwire
9. Quit cold turkey
10. Cold sore
11. Hot potato
12. Hot line
13. Hot button
14. Cold call
15. Give the cold shoulder
16. Full of hot air
17. Cold case