A small case I investigated, about seven crannies intermittently interspersed among some completely individual items, acquired super-colossal international intrigue!
The investigation.
In each instance, a small number of wide interstices between single objects contained vitally important clues, but most did not.
| Meat Loaf album (4 wds.) | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ||||||||
| Dogs originating where Northumberland meets Scotland (2 wds.) | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ||||||||
| Create (3 wds.) | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ||||||||
| Drinking without stopping for breath (hyph.) | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ||||||||
| Things the meek may avoid | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ||||||||
| Old "sulfide"-free name for (C2H5)2S (2 wds.) | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ||||||||
| "Turn this ship sharply away from port!" (hyph.) | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ||||||||
| Last two letters of the first answer, slangily (2 wds.) | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ||||||||
| Bushmills, say (2 wds.) | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ||||||||
| Capsicum that's generally milder than a Serrano (2 wds.) | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ||||||||
| Cavalry force celebrated by Tennyson (2 wds.) | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ||||||||
| As per the title's continuation, this unflukish answer (or any of 10 others) | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ||||||||
| Infrastructure that provides snailmail service (2 wds.) | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ||||||||
| Emergence into sight once more | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ||||||||
| Of the country Mecca is in (2 wds.) | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ||||||||
| Pattern of stress or emphasis in a word sequence ending in a period (2 wds.) | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ||||||||
| Plaid (but not tartan) pattern once popular among ewe-raisers (2 wds.) | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ||||||||
| Universal unlockers (2 wds.) | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ||||||||
| The act of branding something as ignominious | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ||||||||
| Those from Cluj-Napoca, say | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ||||||||
| "Circular files" for trash | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ||||||||
| Bodies involved in Lyonization (2 wds.) | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? | ?? |
The cast of characters.
It was interesting where they did (or did not) leave clues, and what, and how often.
| Adrian Smith | I_ | ||
| Advance one (multispace) column | III_ | ||
| Answer just above with axes switched | IX_ | ||
| Author of the Hellenica Oxyrhynchia | XI_ | ||
| Cipher | IV_ | ||
| Clam | V_ | ||
| Digression ender | II_ | ||
| Fictional vampire hunter | II_ | ||
| Flat lookalike | IV_ | ||
| Frown, often | VIII_ | ||
| Good move | VI_ | ||
| Michael Moriarty film | V_ | ||
| Move your paper up a little | VII_ | ||
| Nicholas Hoult character | III_ | ||
| Pierce Laboratory building | I_ | ||
| Polar explorer Dongchen | VI_ | ||
| Psion | VII_ | ||
| Send a typewriter part all the way back | XI_ | ||
| Sharp lookalike | X_ | ||
| Susceptance | X_ | ||
| Treble barleycorn | IX_ | ||
| Warhol novel | VIII_ |
The conclusion.
| Ic | Iea | IIc | IIea | IIIea | IVea | IIIc | IVc | Vc | VIc | Vea | VIIc | VIea | VIIea | VIIIea | IXea | VIIIc | IXc | Xc | Xea | XIea | XIc |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ๗ | ๒ | ๑ | ๔ | ๕ | ב | ๖ | ๘ | ๓ | א |