Great Escape

by Aussie Meyer
Solving Tips

Story

Empress

Exactly when and how the Empress of Blandings (winner of the Fat Pigs competition at the Shropshire Agricultural fair) broke out of her sty and started enjoying a spot of liberty, we cannot say; there were no witnesses to the great escape. Cyril Wellbeloved, the pigman, was out on the tiles that fateful evening, celebrating a football pool win at the Emsworth Arms. Clarence, who normally worried over the ebony champion like a mother, was forced to put on a stiff collar and attend a dinner at nearby Matchingham Hall by Lady Constance that night. When the award winning porker did not appear for breakfast the next morning, a general alarm went out and the household was alerted to keep a sharp eye out for her. Lord Emsworth offered a sizable reward for her return.

That she was still on the premises became obvious as there were repeated pig sightings in the next 24 hours! The Empress made fleeting appearances in the rose garden, the tennis court, Lady Constance's boudoir, the billiard room, the gazebo and the butler's pantry. A different person made each of these six sightings, the roster including: Lady Julia Fish and Lady Constance, Gally Threepwood, Beach the butler, Cyril Wellbeloved (pigman), and Clarence (Earl of Emsworth).

Yet the well-upholstered piggy remained at liberty by employing various devices and stratagems. The Empress used a different trick each time she was sighted. At one meeting she outsmarted her pursuer, at another she outran the stalker. In one venue, she actually hid from the pig spotter, at another sighting she took direct action and knocked over the hunter. In her bid for freedom she also bit one of the seekers, and the incessant pursuit so chafed her that she actually turned the tables and chased one of the parties who sighted her.

In the end, of course, her spree of wanderlust gave way to the pangs of hunger, and she toddled back to her sty on her own for a well-deserved banquet at the trough. Gally attempted to compile the facts of the Empress's grand romp for his memoirs, writing down the facts in cryptic clues to form a mystery.

Can you decipher who spotted the Empress where, and how the pig effected her getaways, from these 6 clues?


./Labels/h_Spotter.png ./Labels/h_Trick.png
./Labels/v_Lady_Julia_Fish.png ./Labels/v_Lady_Constance.png ./Labels/v_Gally_Threepwood.png ./Labels/v_Beach.png ./Labels/v_Cyril_Wellbeloved.png ./Labels/v_Clarence.png ./Labels/v_Outsmarted.png ./Labels/v_Outran.png ./Labels/v_Hid.png ./Labels/v_Knocked_over.png ./Labels/v_Bit.png ./Labels/v_Chased.png
./Labels/v_Location.png ./Labels/h_Rose_Garden.png Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark
./Labels/h_Tennis_Court.png Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark
./Labels/h_Boudoir.png Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark
./Labels/h_Billiard_Room.png Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark
./Labels/h_Gazebo.png Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark
./Labels/h_Butler_s_Pantry.png Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark
./Labels/v_Trick.png ./Labels/h_Outsmarted.png Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark
./Labels/h_Outran.png Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark
./Labels/h_Hid.png Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark
./Labels/h_Knocked_over.png Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark
./Labels/h_Bit.png Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark
./Labels/h_Chased.png Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark Mark
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x o blank x o blank x o blank x o blank
x o blank x o blank x o blank x o blank
JavaScript Grid by Scott Noyes

Clues

  1. The six pig seekers were: Lady Constance, Gally Threepwood, the man who spotted her in the rose garden, the person who saw her on the tennis court, the party who was bitten by the pig, and the one that the Empress hid from.
  2. The four males in pursuit were Beach, Clarence, the person who spotted the pig in Lady Constance's boudoir, and the fellow who was knocked over by the piggy.
  3. Lady Julia and one of her brothers (Gally or Clarence) are (in some order) the one who spotted the pig in the butler's pantry and the one who was outrun by the porker.
  4. The person who saw the Empress in the gazebo (not Beach the butler) was not the one outsmarted by the pig.
  5. The Empress did not chase Lady Constance.
  6. The Empress did not hide from Lady Julia or Cyril the pigman, and she didn't hide in the gazebo.



Solving Tips


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