The Cottonwood Ford Inquiry: a free Western logic-grid puzzle

Word came into the sheriff's office a little after noon: trouble out by Cottonwood Ford, and four riders who'd all been somewhere else, to hear them tell it. Settle it the only way it can be settled.

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

Delfina Antone was placed at Mesquite Rise, plain as day.
Josiah Crandall had no use for the horsehair snare.
No one puts Ross Whelan at Ojo Frío.
Delfina Antone had nothing to do with the horsehair snare.
The deputy struck the cut well bucket off Josiah Crandall's account.
Widow Ynez Trujillo swore off any connection to the cut well bucket, and the ledger agrees.
Ross Whelan swore never to have set foot in Picacho Point, and the ledger agrees.
Josiah Crandall kept well clear of Picacho Point.
Josiah Crandall was never linked to the muddy flour sacking.
Nobody could connect Widow Ynez Trujillo to the horsehair snare.

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.