Battute from "The Simpsons"

Hidden clues

A number of subtle clues, and a few red herrings, were planted in Part One for viewers who wanted to unravel the mystery.

* Almost every clock is set at three or nine o'clock. The point of the clocks was to teach the viewer to view the sundial at the end upside down.
* An important clue for identity of the culprit is when Mr. Burns looks from his balcony and talks about stealing candy from a baby.
* When Mr. Burns collapses on the sundial, he points at W and S, although from his viewpoint, the W looks like an M.
* Many of the suspects have the letters S and W or M in their initials and the intention was that several "obvious" suspects could be eliminated by the letters. Several characters already had names with those initials, but some were made up specifically for this episode:

o Principal Skinner's full name is revealed to be "W. Seymour Skinner" on a diploma in his office.
o Mr. Burns calls Santa's Little Helper the "Simpson Mutt".
o Moe's liquor license reveals that his full name is Moe Szyslak.
o Grampa's gun was a Smith & Wesson.

* Just before entering Mr. Burns's office to spray paint his name, Homer stands in front of a sign that says "IN ONLY", but his head blocks all of the letters except "NO", and a small arrow can be seen pointing at him.
* A television in Moe's Tavern shows that "Pardon My Zinger" is broadcast on weekdays at 3 PM on Comedy Central. It is later revealed that Burns is shot at 3 PM. At the meeting, Smithers reveals that he never misses the show and afterwards is seen heading in the opposite direction that Burns heads.
* During the scene at the town hall, several citizens are seen stroking guns: Skinner has a silenced handgun, Moe has a shotgun, Barney has a derringer, and Smithers has a standard handgun.
* As Mr. Burns collapses on the sundial, it is seen that the gun he was previously carrying has gone missing. This was inserted as an intentional freeze frame clue.