The Sinkhole Draw Matter: a free Western logic-grid puzzle

The deputy rode out to Sinkhole Draw on a Tuesday and came back with four statements, no two of which agreed on the weather. Take it a line at a time.

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

Ottie Gaunt was at Sinkhole Draw — that much is settled.
Nobody could connect Old Ridge Barlow to the falsified assay slip.
The spliced bell rope wasn't Doc Isabel Rennick's.
It wasn't Lum Sing who turned up with the spliced bell rope.
Old Ridge Barlow wasn't carrying the spliced bell rope.
Lum Sing had nothing to do with the broken wax seal.
Nobody could place Lum Sing at Squeeze Canyon.
The broken wax seal never belonged to Old Ridge Barlow.
Old Ridge Barlow kept well clear of Squeeze Canyon.
Old Ridge Barlow was never at Bitter Spring.

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.