The Slag Bottoms Reckoning: a free Western logic-grid puzzle

Nobody in the county will say plainly what took place at Slag Bottoms, so the deputy wrote down what could be proved and left the rest. 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

Cornish Tom Trewin's presence at Slag Bottoms was no secret.
Refugio Barela wasn't carrying the bent assay ladle.
Nobody could connect Refugio Barela to the slit ore pannier.
The deputy struck Smelter Ridge off Judge Amos Pell's account.
The deputy struck the broken wax seal off Refugio Barela's account.
Cornish Tom Trewin was never linked to the slit ore pannier.
Nan Ferrell kept well clear of Bone Wagon Road.
It wasn't Judge Amos Pell who turned up with the broken wax seal.
The broken wax seal never belonged to Cornish Tom Trewin.
Judge Amos Pell swore never to have set foot in Bone Wagon Road, and the ledger agrees.

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.