The Bitterroot Wash Trouble: a free Western logic-grid puzzle

Word came into the sheriff's office a little after noon: trouble out by Bitterroot Wash, and four riders who'd all been somewhere else, to hear them tell it. The territory expects an answer by sundown.

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

Mayordomo Eliseo Sosa was carrying the knotted well line, plain as day.
Vicente Ochoa wasn't carrying the cracked plow point.
You can rule out Wheat Flats for Mayordomo Eliseo Sosa.
Sister Hannah Flake kept well clear of Picacho Point.
Mayordomo Eliseo Sosa swore never to have set foot in Cerro Prieto, and the ledger agrees.
No one puts Mayordomo Eliseo Sosa at Picacho Point.
Vicente Ochoa was never at Wheat Flats.
Vicente Ochoa never laid hands on the muddy flour sacking.
Sister Hannah Flake swore off any connection to the cracked plow point, and the ledger agrees.
The deputy struck Wheat Flats off Sister Hannah Flake's account.

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.