"Getting Carded," by Pam Amick Klawitter

Constructor's Comments

When I first tried my hand at constructing, themes were difficult to come by.  However, with a few years of experience under my belt, ideas seem to pop up everywhere!  This theme came to me when I was reading something about peridot and noticed the word Perot in there for some reason.  The thought of H ROSS PERIDOT cracked me up (I'm easily amused), and I took it from there.

I worked with David on a couple of Orange County Register puzzles and was thrilled when he made this new venue available to constructors.  As a writer and retired educator, I have found crossword constructing to be a great way to keep up with current events and pop culture and to keep my language skills as sharp as possible.

Editor's Comments

I had a feeling Pam started with H ROSS PERIDOT.  When I judge add-a-letter themes, my two main criteria are humor and unexpectedness, and that theme entry in particular received top marks in both categories.  The other three theme entries are also very nice.  Speaking of humor, one of Pam's signature touches is an extra dose of funny clues.  My favorite clue in this puzzle is [Long dammed river] for NILE . . . that's just a beauty, especially for an entry that you wouldn't necessarily expect to have many clever cluing possibilities!