Clues & Culprits › Hints › Oct 10, 2026 Hard
Spoiler-Free Hints for Oct 10, 2026
Stuck on the Hard case, “The Waterfall on Mars”? Open one nudge at a time. Nothing below reveals a verdict unless you click a box marked spoiler.
Back to the case Rules refresher
About this case
Last month the privately funded Ares rover sent home photographs of a frozen waterfall on Mars, and its backers raised another $400 million on the strength of them. This morning a hiker in Iceland recognised the waterfall. It's in Iceland.
This Hard case seats 20 suspects on a 4×5 grid. 18 of them carry a clue; the other 2 only have something to say about themselves. 6 of the steps can only be proven by reading two or more clues together.
Nudge 1 — where to start
The case opens with Nora the security chief (B4) already proven. Their statement is enough on its own to prove one more suspect straight away — read it word by word, especially the counting words (exactly, neighbors, between).
None of the cafeteria cooks is a criminal.— Nora, security chief (B4)
Spoiler: who can I prove first?
Gus (C2) is innocent, proven by Nora’s statement.
Nudge 2 — the opening
Five suspects get proven in this stretch, across rows 2, 3 and 5, most of them in row 2. The statements doing the work are role counts, neighbor counts and odd/even clues. 2 steps here need 3 statements read together. Tip: with role counts, find every suspect with that role (the nameplate badge helps) and count the proven ones.
Spoiler: whose statements to read
Gus’s, Hana’s and Queenie’s statements, read together.
Spoiler: which suspect does that settle?
Juno (B3) — innocent.
Nudge 3 — after about 5 proven suspects
Five suspects get proven in this stretch, across rows 1, 2, 3 and 4, most of them in row 1. The statements doing the work are if–then clues, direction clues and shared-neighbor counts. 2 steps here need 2 statements read together. Tip: with if–then clues, an if–then says nothing when its “if” part is false — don’t read it backwards.
Spoiler: whose statements to read
Queenie’s and Ruby’s statements, read together.
Spoiler: which suspect does that settle?
Dexter (D1) — a criminal.
Nudge 4 — after about 10 proven suspects
Four suspects get proven in this stretch, in columns A and C. The statements doing the work are neighbor counts and if–then clues. 2 steps here need 2 statements read together. Tip: with neighbor counts, treat the number as a budget — once enough of the ring is proven, the rest is forced.
Spoiler: whose statements to read
Frank’s and Basil’s statements, read together.
Spoiler: which suspect does that settle?
Iris (A3) — innocent.
Nudge 5 — the endgame
Five suspects get proven in this stretch, across rows 3, 4 and 5, most of them in row 4. The statements doing the work are neighbor counts, direction clues and odd/even clues. Every step in this stretch needs just one statement. Tip: with direction clues, the speaker is never included, and nor is anyone in a different row or column.
Spoiler: whose statement to read
Gus’s statement.
Spoiler: which suspect does that settle?
Lionel (D3) — innocent.
The hardest step
The toughest moment needs 3 statements at once. If you’re stuck in the middle of the case, this is probably it.
Spoiler: the statements for the hardest step
Read Gus’s, Hana’s and Queenie’s statements together. They settle Juno.
Clue types in this case
neighbor counts ×6, comparisons ×1, if–then clues ×3, direction clues ×2, odd/even clues ×2, row and column counts ×1, role counts ×2 and shared-neighbor counts ×1.
Questions
How many clues does this case have?
18 of the 20 suspects carry a clue. The rest only talk about themselves — you can hide those asides in Settings.
Where is the full solution?
The step-by-step walkthrough proves every verdict in order.