The Dry Gulch Affair: a free Western logic-grid puzzle

The sheriff has four riders, one afternoon at Dry Gulch, and a stack of statements that cannot all be true. Sort out who was where before the trail goes cold.

This free Rookie logic-grid puzzle has 4 suspects, 4 locations, and 4 pieces of evidence. New to logic grids? Start with the pencil-solving guide.

How to mark the grid

●: These two belong together.
✕: These two are ruled out.
blank: Still undecided.

How to play

Click, tap or press Enter on a cell to cycle it: blank, then ● for a confirmed pairing, then ✕ for one you have ruled out. Nothing fills itself in — the deductions are yours to make. Use the arrow keys to move around the grid.

Fill obvious Xs does the bookkeeping only: for each ● you have marked, it crosses off the rest of that pairing's own row and column. It never adds a ●, never reads a clue, and never changes a mark you made.

On a narrow screen the grid scrolls sideways.

Every case has exactly one solution, and it is always reachable by deduction alone. Nothing here guesses for you, and Check will not tell you which mark is wrong.

Clues and evidence

The bloodstained bandana came off Redeye Hank, and there's no arguing it.
The deputy struck Coyote Bend off Miss Delacroix's account.
Miss Delacroix had no use for the snapped bowstring.
You can rule out Coyote Bend for Boone Talbot.
Miss Delacroix kept well clear of Copper Basin.
Boone Talbot never laid hands on the scorched playing card.
Boone Talbot was never once placed at Copper Basin.
No one puts Boone Talbot at Dry Gulch.
Miss Delacroix had nothing to do with the scorched playing card.
Nobody saw Deacon Frye anywhere near Copper Basin.

The grid

On a narrow screen the grid scrolls sideways.

Your marks, completions and streak are saved in this browser only. There is no account, and clearing your browser data clears that local progress. If you accept analytics, the site sends anonymous puzzle-usage events; it never sends your grid marks, clues or solution.

If you want a hundred more

Five volumes, printed and portable

Each Frontier Logic volume collects 100 western mystery logic-grid puzzles, every one with exactly one solution and a complete answer key. Every volume stands alone, in standard and large print.