O- Starter of many an Irish surname
OT- NFL period if game is tied in regulation
ROT- Decay
TRIO- The Stooges, The Musketeers, or the Little Pigs
RATIO- π vis-a-vis circumference and diameter
AORTIC- Related to the largest artery
EROTICA- Titillating literature
REACTION- Per Newton, an equal and opposite event
CREMATION- Alternative to a casket burial
IMPORTANCE- Being Earnest, in an Oscar Wilde play