The Alameda Bottoms Business: a free Western logic-grid puzzle

Something went wrong at Alameda Bottoms, and the only honest account of it is the one set down in the ledger below. 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

Widow Ynez Trujillo was placed at Camino Real, plain as day.
The horsehair snare wasn't Josiah Crandall's.
Perla Bustos had no use for the muddy flour sacking.
Perla Bustos wasn't carrying the horsehair snare.
You can rule out the muddy flour sacking for Josiah Crandall.
Nobody could place Josiah Crandall at Alameda Bottoms.
Nobody could connect Josiah Crandall to the knotted well line.
Whatever else is true, Perla Bustos wasn't at Alameda Bottoms.
Faustino Ibarra swore off any connection to the horsehair snare, and the ledger agrees.
Perla Bustos was never at Ojo Frío.

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.