When the thing blew up? (5)

I believe the answer is:

night

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'when the' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this defines the answer.

'thing blew up?' is the wordplay.
'blew up?' is an anagram indicator (I've seen 'blown up' mean this).
'thing' anagrammed gives 'NIGHT'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for night that I've seen before include "''Twas the ... before Christmas, when all through the house / Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse''" , "A Hard Day's (the Beatles)" , "What proverbially follows day" , "late" , "Time for turning" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Independent.

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