The Cañón del Oso Reckoning: a free Western logic-grid puzzle

The trouble at Cañón del Oso reached the territorial paper before it reached the sheriff, which tells you something. Work it through, and mind the ledger.

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

Wire Pete Nash was at Cañón del Oso — that much is settled.
Everyone agreed: Windmill Sam Ordway had the lump of harness wax.
Cyrus Mott was never linked to the stained bed tarp.
You can rule out Thicket Bottom for Cyrus Mott.
Nobody saw Windmill Sam Ordway anywhere near Alder Sink.
Cyrus Mott had no use for the bent bit shank.
Wire Pete Nash swore off any connection to the bent bit shank, and the ledger agrees.
The deputy struck Thicket Bottom off Windmill Sam Ordway'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.