Related Clues:

• Mermaid, say, on a ship ... or a hint to the starred answers
• New beginning, as spelled by the new beginnings in this puzzle’s theme answers
• Purely nominal leader
• Blabbing informant
• Carved bust on a ship
• Clean slate
• Reason for a track race do-over
• Thought about Hattie's exterior, with a proudly displayed bust
• New beginning, and what the first words of the answers to the starred clues can literally have
• Running early?
• *Informer
• Female with a line prepared about celebrity makes flawed beginning
• Synthetic tree decoration with timer at first going too quickly
• Failed attempt to produce most counterfeit watercolours, for example
• Person acting as a decoy