The Rincón Creek Trouble: a free Western logic-grid puzzle

Nobody in the county will say plainly what took place at Rincón Creek, so the deputy wrote down what could be proved and left the rest. See what the facts will carry.

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

Tobias Creel was placed at Alder Sink, plain as day.
Wire Pete Nash was nowhere near Cañón del Oso.
The deputy struck the cold pipe ash off Tobias Creel's account.
Nobody saw Wire Pete Nash anywhere near Rincón Creek.
Tobias Creel had no use for the stiff rawhide reata.
Tobias Creel never laid hands on the bent bit shank.
Adelia Thorne stayed well away from Rincón Creek.
The bent bit shank wasn't Etta Boyce's.
Wire Pete Nash wasn't carrying the stiff rawhide reata.
The stiff rawhide reata never belonged to Etta Boyce.

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.