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The Investigation

Looks like there's been a murder!
Examining these cryptic clues may reveal what the murderer left behind...
In clue order (Across then Down), they will comprise a description of the suspect.

grid

Clues:

  • Place to punt garbage's been announced
  • Rid counterpart of, for example, love
  • Senator Kennedy blinks quite deliberately
  • Shred on a farm, trapping old nobleman
  • Spanish article comes from editorial ultra religious biases
  • Stair end for hideout
  • Stout cousin paired flags with hesitation
  • Trace of smoked tungsten is soft
  • Waterproof camping item's valve restricts brook

1,2,3:
Incomplete Evidence 1: The location

4,5,6,7,8,9:
Incomplete Evidence 2: What our unnerv'd suspect claims to be

10,11,12,13 14,15,16,17,18:
Incomplete Evidence 3: How this evidence is compiled

The Trial

It seems like our killer has removed all traces of themself from the evidence...

The crime:
Beating another with a [Evidence 1]

The motive:
Stealing a [Evidence 3A.1] held in [Evidence 3B.2]
Blood was not the only liquid spilled in this crime.
In addition to RED RUM, half of another drink (relevant to [Evidence 3A.1]) can be found on the floor.

The charge:
The murderer should now [Evidence 3A.2]

Redemption:
Perhaps the murderer was just involved with the [Evidence 2].
In that case, a [Evidence 3B.1] could mark a new beginning for them.

The Resolution

Evidence 3B.2 [2]
Evidence 3A.1 [1]
Evidence 1 [6]
Evidence 3B.1 [5]
Evidence 3A.2 [1]

What has this tragedy caused?
What can we use to prevent future incidents like this?

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1 Answer 1

13
$\begingroup$

The Investigation

It turns out these cryptic clues all have something in common:

They each contain an extra letter!

Solving them gives the following answers:

Place to punt garbage's been announced - BIN (~been)
Rid counterpart of, for example, love - E.G. + O
Senator Kennedy blinks quite deliberately - _TE D_
Shred on a farm, trapping old nobleman - BAR(O)N
Spanish article comes from editorial ultra religious biases - _L _A _S
Stair end for hideout - DEN*
Stout cousin paired flags with hesitation _LAG_ + ER
Trace of smoked tungsten is soft - W + IS + P
Waterproof camping item's valve restricts brook - TA(R)P

We can arrange these in the grid as such:

...ted.
..lager
.baron.
wisp...
.n.....

If we arrange the clues in the order they'd be listed in a crossword, we do in fact get a depiction of the suspect from

the extra letters, which now spell out BIRDBRAIN!

And using the numbers in the grid, we get three incomplete pieces of evidence:

1, 2, 3 = BAR, which is certainly a plausible location
4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 = WRONG'D, which they would be if they are in fact not guilty
10, 11, 12, 13 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 = NEAT PILES, which is a pretty neat way to compile evidence if you ask me

The Trial

If the killer has removed all traces of themself from the evidence, we should probably

add them back. BAR and WRONG'D could easily both be missing the word CROW, making them CROWBAR and WRONG CROWD, respectively. As for the NEAT PILES, it seems we have to split that up into four parts based on the trial documentation - and if we break it up as N EAT PIL ES, we can get CROWN, EAT CROW, PILCROW, and ESCROW!

Thus, we have the trial as follows:

The crime:

Beating another with a CROWBAR

The motive:

Stealing a CROWN held in ESCROW

The charge:

The murderer should now EAT CROW

Redemption:

Perhaps the murderer was just involved with the WRONG CROWD.
In that case, a PILCROW could mark a new beginning for them.

As for the drink spilled at the scene of the crime,

my instinct is Crown Royal, but I suspect there are other drinks that could fit.

The Resolution

If we take our completed evidence and

index into the words by the number in brackets, it gives us a word:

eScrow
Crown
crowbAr
pilcRow
Eat crow

So it would seem that this incident has caused quite a

SCARE

And the best way to prevent future murders might well be a

SCARECROW!

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4
  • $\begingroup$ Very impressive! But could you explain your first step? I see some of the logic, but not why you chose the ones you did, nor how you got the answers. $\endgroup$
    – Aos Sidhe
    Feb 7, 2023 at 16:10
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ @AosSidhe cryptic clues can be tricky to understand if you've never seen them before. this is a really good overview of the major types of wordplay. in these clues specifically, I saw rot13(gur ubzbcubar bs ORRA/OVA va gur svefg pyhr naq gur irel erpbtavmnoyr R.T. naq B va gur frpbaq pyhr naq ernyvmrq gung obgu pyhrf jbhyq unir zngpuvat qrsvavgvba unyirf vs abg sbe bar rkgen yrggre. sebz gurer vg jnf whfg n znggre bs ybbxvat sbe jbeqf gung pbhyq unir n yrggre erzbirq naq fgvyy znxr frafr). hopefully that helps $\endgroup$
    – juicifer
    Feb 7, 2023 at 17:57
  • $\begingroup$ In the second to last clue, why is "soft" P? $\endgroup$
    – user168715
    Feb 7, 2023 at 21:08
  • $\begingroup$ @user168715 rot13(uggcf://ra.jvxvcrqvn.bet/jvxv/Qlanzvpf_(zhfvp)#Qlanzvp_znexvatf) $\endgroup$
    – juicifer
    Feb 7, 2023 at 22:15

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