14 October 2018

Corruption

In response to plaintive wish for more populist subjects, CORRUPTION has been devised especially for the Enigmatic Variations series, running....

Solvers are faced with a grid which has a line below it, always a sure-fire indication that proof of understanding the theme will be required, as the preamble goes on to confirm:



"Nine clues lack a definition, seven of which appear in the grid reformed after a thematic adjustment. The remaining two are untouched by such corruption.  All clues have been corrupted by an additional letter in wordplay, which in clue order provide most of a thematic quotation, the completion of which should be written below the grid.   One grid entry is in Collins as is one plural."

Corruption Solution Grid
 The dénouement can eventually be worked out:


Frank SERPICO was an NYPD police officer who battled against a pandemic of corruption within the force, as portrayed by AL PACINO  in the film SERPICO.  In the grid, seven felons “MOBSTER, MOLESTER, TRIGGERMAN, CRIMINAL, SMUGGLER, MISCREANT and MISDOER”, each hand out (M)oney in order to avoid records.  The corrupted versions give no hint of their true activities.  The additional letters from wordplay provide the quotation from the film “(THE) REALITY IS THAT WE DO NOT WASH OUR OWN LAUNDRY, IT JUST GETS…” completed by DIRTIER