SEAFOOD
This dish, fried squid, can be served with dipping sauces like remoulade or marinara
One theory suggests this yuletide salutation goes back to a letter sent by a 16th century English bisho
Merry Christmas
All due respect to Mr. Willis, but "now I have a machine gun ho-ho-ho"? & taking place during a holiday party? It's a Christmas movie!
Die Hard
It tells you what's in a book
table of contents
Wool, or to steal
fleece
Traditional uses for these little tinned fishies include adding them to puttanesca sauce or Caesar dressing for umami
Anchovies
The covert Cold War-era MK-Ultra program sought to develop means of using this technique on human subjects
Mind control
In this 2003 movie, we learned "They tried using gnomes & trolls, but the gnomes drank too much"
Elf
Bryan Berg built a very tall one of these precarious structures; it took 1,000 decks just for the spire
house of cards
In recent slang "on" this means your makeup, hair, nails, face & just whole vibe look amazing
fleek
It's not just humans; starfish also like to eat this bivalve with a fluted shell, the main ingredient in coquilles St.-Jacques
Scallops
Around 1930, these tests were entrenched in the American school system; Scantron sheets came later
Multiple choice
Chevy Chase learned a metal plate in Cousin Eddie's head made him forget who he was for a bit after using a microwave in this comedy
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
If you got COLA at work, it could be this kind of adjustment or allowance to your salary
cost of living
The alma mater of Keir Starmer & Mark Knopfler is this city's university
Leeds
This seafood stew gets its name from Provençal words for "boil" & "lower"
Now used to describe any product in tip-top shape, this term stems from the world of numismatics
Mint condition
The tagline to this 1996 Christmas comedy with Arnold Schwarzenegger was "Two dads, one toy, no prisoners"
Jingle All the Way
Whether prince or president, but often more permanent than prime minister, it's a nation's titular ruler
head of state
It's an internal organ associated with melancholy
The spleen
An Italian dialect gives us this name for the European sea bass, which is often served with lemon
Branzino
A desktop fixture for years, this icon that allows users to access local drives was renamed when Windows 8.1 was introduced
My computer
It's all in the cards in this movie: "Just because it's Christmas... (and at Christmas you tell the truth)... to me, you are perfect"
Love Actually
3-word phrase for the legal responsibility for demonstrating guilt
burden of proof
A special year of special grace in the Catholic Church
A jubilee