This Puzzle Is Murder

Do you sometimes mourn (in a small way) the loss of a favorite website? I still miss the Daily Set puzzle, which was part of my morning routine for years.

But lately, I’ve added a new teaser to wake up my brain for the day.

While Set was a visual-logic puzzle, this one is straightforward (though not simple) deduction. I think you’ll enjoy it.

Clues by Sam

I first discovered Clues by Sam back in March, as I was putting together Playful Math Carnival 184. I can’t remember why I didn’t include it in the carnival, but I did save it to my phone and add it to my wake-up routine.

The puzzle consists of a 4 × 5 array of characters labeled by their career. Each character is either a criminal — not really a murderer, but a thief with unusual aspirations (think of Vector in Despicable Me) — or innocent. Your job is to identify which is which, based on what they say.

Even if a character is a cop or a judge, you can’t assume they’re innocent. Make your decisions based on pure logic. But this isn’t a “truth-teller or liar” puzzle. You can trust that each statement is valid, though not always helpful.

Try It for Yourself

Clues by Sam offers a tutorial game to kick-start your little gray cells. Or you can try the partial puzzle below…

Each day begins with a single clue that lets you identify at least one character. If you’re on a small screen (like my phone), you may have to hit the “Inspect” button to read the last bit of a longer clue.

Whenever you label someone “innocent” or “criminal,” they offer a new clue.

The game won’t let you cheat. If there’s not enough information to prove a character’s status, trying to label them counts as an error.

I Make a Lot of Mistakes

The game starts each week with an “easy” level and gets harder day by day.

I’ve rarely made it through a puzzle without committing at least one mistake. Usually it’s just a mental glitch: I switch “row” for “column” when interpreting a clue, or I hit “innocent” when I really meant the other.

But I’ve made actual logic errors, too. The clues keep coming, and it can be a lot of information to remember.

As you go through the puzzle, some of the “clues” turn out to be snarky comments, like Frida’s in the image above. This was a Saturday puzzle, and while it started out relatively simple, it quickly turned into a challenge.

Vince was my nemesis this time. I misread one of the clues, and when the app counted me wrong, it took several minutes to figure out why.

Give Clues by Sam a try, and have fun playing with logic!