The Sunken Meadow Job: a free Western logic-grid puzzle

Word came into the sheriff's office a little after noon: trouble out by Sunken Meadow, and four riders who'd all been somewhere else, to hear them tell it. 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

Trader Nell Dabney's presence at Roundup Flats was no secret.
It wasn't Tobias Creel who turned up with the cut picket line.
Nobody saw Halsey Fenn anywhere near Sunken Meadow.
Trader Nell Dabney swore off any connection to the cut picket line, and the ledger agrees.
You can rule out the sprung wire cutter for Trader Nell Dabney.
Angus Kerr was never once placed at Sunken Meadow.
Angus Kerr never made it as far as La Ciénega.
Tobias Creel had no use for the sprung wire cutter.
Halsey Fenn was never linked to the sprung wire cutter.
The scorched bill of sale wasn't Trader Nell Dabney's.

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.