1. What do the following words have in common?

OWN
ONE
ASH
EAR
UTTER
AMBER

2. What do the following names and words have in common?

CON
RON
VAN
AGO
RAN
RATE
DEAL
SLANDER

Answers:

1. Each word can be preceded by CL to make a new word:

CLOWN
CLONE
CLASH
CLEAR
CLUTTER
CLAMBER 

2. Each name or word can be preceded by I .

ICON
IRON
IVAN
IAGO
IRAN
IRATE
IDEAL
ISLANDER

Credit : LA Times Crossword
Sylvia Bursztyn and Barry Tunick
I OPENERS