The first installment of "When Pots Explode..." sappy soap opera music please...

Well, the above photo tells it all... actually I can't repeat here what I actually said when I opened the kiln... lets just say it rhymes with 'fit'... And actually I haven't even looked at the other pieces if anything else exploded.
This was just a bisque firing, and not glazing, and it did damage the bowl next to it, but not too bad. This was a covered bowl, and I love doing covered bowls and I am seriously wondering if the lid wouldn't allow air to escape. Technically you are supposed to fire the lids on the pieces, so they don't warp, and normally I have a hole in the lid, because I usually put a decorative handle on later, so its vented, but this one I did solid, it didn't really need a handle the way I designed it and had a good tight fit, but not too tight, at least I thought. And my other suspicion is that for what ever reason, I do have more trouble with the red clay blowing like this because of air bubbles, which sometimes cannot be detected, until now.... I wedge it just like the other stoneware clay before throwing, but maybe it needs more of it.
Oh well, maybe everything else is OK. But I think from now on, if no hole is in the lid for a handle, its fired separately, I'd rather have a lid that's might be a bit off, than this mess, now to dig out the vacuum cleaner, and maybe shed a tear... it was such a nice piece.