| Common defenses | 15 |
| Columbo heard a lot of them | 27 |
| ''The dog ate my homework'' and the like | 56 |
| What suspects need | 18 |
| They may fall apart under cross-examination | 43 |
| Suspects' excuses | 21 |
| Suspects' defenses | 22 |
| Suspect stories | 15 |
| Stories told in court | 21 |
| Stories on the stand | 20 |
| Stories on stands | 17 |
| Some witnesses | 14 |
| Perps need good ones | 20 |
| Out providers | 13 |
| Mystery stories? | 16 |
| Means of exoneration | 20 |
| Legal excuses | 13 |
| Ike's excuses? | 18 |
| Ike has plenty of them | 22 |
| Explanations to get you off the hook | 36 |
| Excuses, excuses | 16 |
| Excuses heard in "L.A. Law" | 37 |
| Excuses for defendants | 22 |
| Excuses at court | 16 |
| Detectives hear a lot of them | 29 |
| Defendants' spouses, sometimes | 34 |
| Crime stories? | 14 |
| Courtroom defenses | 18 |
| Cops sometimes crack them | 25 |
| Con man's excuses | 21 |
| Clapton "Journeyman" rocker "No ___" | 56 |
| "Where were you on the night of" stories | 50 |
| "I was home asleep at the time of the murder" and others | 66 |
| "I was at my mother's," and others | 48 |
| "I was at my girlfriend's at the time," and others | 64 |
| Shade of blue | 13 |
| Blue shade | 10 |
| Wonderland visitor | 18 |
| Subject of this puzzle | 22 |
| Wonderland girl | 15 |
| A Roosevelt | 11 |
| Mel's Diner waitress | 24 |
| Kind of blue | 12 |
| Tea party guest | 15 |
| Light blue | 10 |
| Carroll heroine | 15 |
| Author Walker | 13 |
| Writer Walker | 13 |
| Wonderland guest | 16 |
| Rocker Cooper | 13 |
| TV waitress | 11 |
| Ralph's wife | 16 |
| Pulitzer winner Walker | 22 |
| One of "The Honeymooners" | 35 |
| Carroll kid | 11 |
| "The Color Purple" author Walker | 42 |
| "... a grin without a cat!" thinker | 45 |
| Writer Munro | 12 |
| Tea-party crasher | 17 |
| Tea party attendee | 18 |
| Shock rocker Cooper | 19 |
| Ralph's wife on "The Honeymooners" | 48 |
| One of the "Honeymooners" Kramdens | 44 |
| Mrs. Kramden | 12 |
| "Curiouser and curiouser!" speaker | 44 |
| Wonderland lass | 15 |
| Trixie's sitcom pal | 23 |
| Tarkington's "___ Adams" | 38 |
| Ralph Kramden's wife | 24 |
| Ralph Kramden's better half | 31 |
| Rabbit follower | 15 |
| Queen of Hearts irritator | 25 |
| One of the honeymooners | 23 |
| Novelist Walker | 15 |
| Mrs. Ralph Kramden | 18 |
| Mrs. Longworth | 14 |
| Mad Hatter guest | 16 |
| Lewis Carroll heroine | 21 |
| Housekeeper on "The Brady Bunch" | 42 |
| Gobel's wife | 16 |
| Girl who went through a looking glass | 37 |
| Girl who chased a rabbit | 24 |
| Dennis the Menace's mother | 30 |
| Carroll girl | 12 |
| "Tiny ___" | 20 |
| "The Brady Bunch" housekeeper | 39 |
| "Meridian" author Walker | 34 |
| ___ In Chains | 13 |
| White Rabbit's chaser | 25 |
| White Rabbit chaser | 19 |
| Teddy Roosevelt's daughter | 30 |
| Tea-party attendee | 18 |
| Tea party crasher | 17 |
| Storybook adventurer | 20 |
| She followed a rabbit down a hole | 33 |
| She falls at the beginning of her story | 39 |
| She doesn't live here anymore | 33 |
| She "Doesn't Live Here Anymore" | 45 |
| Roosevelt's daughter | 24 |
| Rabbit-chaser of fiction | 24 |