SPINNER
Credit: LA Times Crossword
Sylvia Bursztyn and Barry Tunick  (Idea and #1-6)

The answers to the clues below will have something in common.

1. Broke down
2. One that got away
3. Wren and Robin
4. The stuff of life
5. Happened
6. The Student Prince, for one
7. Hold everything!
8. "After surgery" designation
9. Ornamental horticulture
10. Chip on your shoulder
11. Ideal society

HINTS:
1. The title is a clue.
2. The same three-letter word is hidden in the answer to each clue.

Answers:

1. went TO Pieces
2. losT OPportunity
3. chrisTOPhers
4. proTOPlasm
5. came TO Pass
6. lighT OPera
7. sTOP the music
8. posT-OPerative
9. TOPiary
10. something TO Prove
11. uTOPia