Solution: Licorice-flavored quaff - NYT Crossword

Ooh, this is a tricky, tricky spot. For a “licorice-flavored quaff,” I went alcoholic and reached for “anisette,” which perfectly fits the clue and its place in the puzzle. That gave me “act” for 112A, “Flexible spade, say,” which made no sense, but it’s such a little thing that I found it easy to overlook. Then at 121A, there’s another rather vague clue: “In which belts are worn.” I solved that one first, from crosses — it has to be KARATE. That made me revise “anisette” to ANISETEA, which I thought rhymed with “poinsettia” until I figured out the break: ANISE TEA. Then, finally, “act” became ACE, which makes sense as “flexible” if your ACE is wild.