Only Time Will Tell

The solution: THE BUTLER did it, and it's all meta to solve! What does "Only Time Will Tell" indicate? The Introduction tells the storyline and, yes, the plot points are just saying that everyone has a possible reason to want the victim dead, especially Edward -- but logically, why would he murder his wife during a party with guests around? Another clue (40D) indicates that Duvall and the two others seem not to know about the apparent murder weapon. Are we missing something meta related? If you look at the grid, you will notice the "S" in the center -- the Sinclair monogram "etched" on the clock's face (mentioned in the Introduction). Now, list the 9 clued events in chronological order (note the time of their occurrence) and then imagine the minute hand extending from the center of the grid and the letter it might point to at each 5-minute segment (e.g. 6:45 = T, 7:25 = H, ...) and you get THE BUTLER!

More about the murderer: Why is "the butler" so cliche for murder mysteries? Part of the reason is because the high-profile types are the focus of an investigation. However, mention of "a servant" in 57A hints that there are others in the house besides the guests. Too often those others feel "unseen" and marginalized, and sometimes as a result turn to crime against those in power.

Fantastic! MINUTE HAND really helped me see what to do once I had the clues in order.

Enjoyed that very much!

Okay this is great. But took me a while to figure out what the minute hand pointed to

Uh... not to nitpick but ... isn't the center of the grid an "E" rather than an S?

Any one else figure the letter under the plate had been intended for Edward?

Really fun puzzle! I recognized the clock face and tried to use the minute hand to spell something in chronological order without success because I didn’t extend my “clock” to the edge of the grid. After random guesses of everyone, I came back to the butler.

I guessed which squares to use for the five minute increments just by eyeballing it, but I was curious as to how accurate those directions were. It turns out that they are remarkably close to exact: arctan(4/7) in degrees is 29.74, the distance a minute hand will travel in 4 minutes and 57+ seconds.

I started with TAEBUTP and figured either the Sinclair mansion was in Scotland, or my clock face was a little distorted. Decided it had to be The Butler and easy to backsolve to the correct minute locations. Fun but deadly..

It's ALWAYS the butler! Any of us that have watched old movies, or listened to old tropes knows that "The Butler did it". I got all the letters but I was not sure how to order them. I first got LETTERHUB and started looking in the middle when my anagramatical mind said "THE BUTLER silly!" Now I see that it is, appropriately, in temporal order, very "handy". Nice job Darth, I enjoyed it.

Love it!

I had a hard time fitting a round object on a square object. Spatial numbness I call it. Thanks.

I kept trying to connect the 15-minute markers along a straight line or an arc, and kept getting nonsense. Finally figured it out.

To my knowledge, in all her stories and novels, Agatha Christie never had the butler do it. I always wondered where this trope came from. Probably Hollywood. Anyway, great puzzle, Darth.

Great idea. I messed up by drawing a circle inscribed in the square of the grid and looked for squares sitting on that circle rather than at the edges. I also wondered if the PENDULUM and UMBRELLA might be pointing at something. Eventually I discarded the wrong ideas.

Needed every single nudge, but finally saw it. I'm not so great with the visualizing types of metas. You have no idea how long I tried to make something using sempahore. Thanks for the puzzle, Darth!

Finally got there off the nudges! Fun puzzle! I printed a square clock face and a blank grid to trace out the lines, however in my morning bleariness I placed the dial on the D in departure rather than the E… which threw me off, though my lines I drew were close enough for “THEB”… so I saw “The” however I stared for a while at my initial solution of the bntpuo… lol I had a feeling it was butler and a quick recount got me centered. Thanks Darth. Really enjoyed it!

I had a feeling it was going to be the butler, but it took us a long time to see the metanism. Fantastic puzzle! By the way, it's pretty plain to me that the butler tried to frame Duvall, by stealing his umbrella and hiding it inside the clock. That's why the clock stopped!

Amazing construction! I had the right metanism before looking at the nudges, but I didn't follow through on it because it felt so fuzzy. I couldn't tell which letter was supposed to be at the :10, :25, etc. non-quarter-hour slots. But hey, if the 70A 71A is frozen, how is it pointing out the meta letters? :thinking_face:

Darth, my first path was wrong but you inadvertently gave me an idea for a future meta. So extra thanks!

LOL!!! I almost entered that as a WAG because it's such a cliche and 9 letters... but wanted to have a reason to do so first. VERY clever, Darth.

I was being a bit too literal with my clock face. Drew a circle that covered the 12, 3, 6, and 9 spots, and then it was guessy which squares were the other numbers on that circle. But that gave me T…UT.E and I figured it out from that. Now, I need to know where the E comes from in THE. I see 6:45 for T, 7:25 for H, then the next chronological one is 8:40, which is B. Where was the E? (I would have expected it to be in the position where Renoir is, but that clue does not contain a time stamp. ?

Cute!!

Butler late than never. Absolute Classic! Forget about nudges, needed a pendulum upside the head. Thanks Darth!

Butler late than never. Got that one at Dr. Tom’s second hand pun store. Awesome construction and murder for me without the nudges. Thanks, Darth!

This is insane. One of the most layered and creative crossword puzzles I've ever played. Bravo!

Fantastic ! Very well executed ! Subtle clueing with the title, Monogram - S - in the center of the grid, hinting with the minute hand, symmetrical placement of the odd-minute intervals at :10, :40 etc all underscore your attention to detail. This is a work of art. :)