Sue's last name is a reference to Max von Sydow, the actor who played Ming the Merciless in the Flash Gordon movie. The 1980 one, not the earlier serials.

I wanted to do something in today's strip about Sue getting coupons redeemable for free malteds but only if redeemed while on a date with Sid, but it didn't fit, and made no sense. So, even though "making no sense" isn't usually a good reason to cut an idea, we accepted it as one this time.