Poirot ___ a Client: Christie, 5 letters
Becomes an also-ran, 5 letters
Blows it in extra innings, say, 5 letters
Can't sustain, as the beat, 5 letters
Comes in second out of two, 5 letters
Comes in second, third or fourth, 5 letters
Comes up short, say, 5 letters
Doesn't get the award, 5 letters
Drops in the standings, perhaps, 5 letters
Emulates many Las Vegas visitors, 5 letters
Falls short, in points, 5 letters
Finishes a close second, 5 letters
Gets the booby prize, 5 letters
Gets the consolation prize, 5 letters
Gets the high score... in golf, 5 letters
Goes down in a playoff, say, 5 letters
Goes down in defeat, 5 letters
Heads for the cellar, 5 letters
Ice-T's The Winner ___, 5 letters
Is eliminated from competition, 5 letters
Meets one's Waterloo, 5 letters
Qualifies for the booby prize, 5 letters
Shakes, so to speak, 5 letters
Succeeds with one's diet, 5 letters
Surrenders the title (to), 5 letters
Takes it on the chin, 5 letters
Wins the battle of the bulge, ironically, 5 letters
Crosses the international date line from east to west, 9 letters
Continues on a bad streak, 10 letters
Gets penalized, board-game style, 10 letters
Has to wait for the next round, perhaps, 10 letters
Takes a bath, so to speak, 8 letters
Takes a real beating, 8 letters
Is embarrassed, in a way, 9 letters
Suffers embarrassment, 9 letters
Suffers in reputation, 9 letters
End of the warning, 11 letters
Becomes discouraged, 10 letters
Becomes disillusioned, 10 letters
Spends too much time in a time suck, say, 10 letters
Candidate Gingerbread Man..., 13 letters
Flies off the handle, 7 letters
Sot lies in a whirlpool and gets mad (5,2), 7 letters
Misplace single fruit?, 12 letters
Popular New Year's resolution, 14 letters
Fails to make money with, as an investment, 7 letters
Ditches a jamboree guest?, 14 letters
Becomes discouraged, 15 letters
Draws the short straw, 8 letters
Gets the short end of the stick, 8 letters
Picks the short straw, 8 letters
Feel the effect of headwinds, say, 9 letters
Starts seeing things out of balance, 16 letters
Does poorly in Congressional election, 10 letters
Experiences a power reduction, perhaps, 10 letters
Gets behind, in a way, 9 letters
Falls at the hands of, 7 letters
Receives fewer votes than, 7 letters