The Clue
Machinations (4 letter answer)
The Answer
PLOT
Tags
Notes
The answer PLOT is seen frequently, appearing about once every 140 puzzles.
Related Clues
Cabal
Collude
Conspiracy
Conspire
Garden ___
One to grow on?
Intrigue
Quadrat
Scenario
Scheme
Basic thread
Christie forte
Churchyard unit
Coup start
Flower bed
Gunpowder was one
Heart of fiction
Hitchcock's "Family ___"
Makings of a coup
Narrative structure
Novel action
Novel creation
Novel need
Novel thread
Novelist's need
Paranoiac's worry
Paranoid's fear
Parcel of land
Patch of ground
Piece of ground
Story line
Underhanded plan
Whodunit feature
It may thicken
It often thickens
It sometimes thickens
Screenwriter Lehman's "Family ___"
A bad one may contain holes
Definition
PLOT as a noun:
1. (plot, secret plan, game) = a secret scheme to do something (especially something underhand or illegal); "they concocted a plot to discredit the governor"; "I saw through his little game from the start"
2. (plot, plot of ground, patch) = a small area of ground covered by specific vegetation; "a bean plot"; "a cabbage patch"; "a briar patch"
3. the story that is told in a novel or play or movie etc.; "the characters were well drawn but the plot was banal"
4. a chart or map showing the movements or progress of an object
PLOT as a verb:
1. plan secretly, usually something illegal; "They plotted the overthrow of the government"
2. (diagram, plot) = make a schematic or technical drawing of that shows how things work or how they are constructed
3. (plat, plot) = make a plat of; "Plat the town"