Clues & Culprits › Hints › Oct 13, 2026 Hard
Spoiler-Free Hints for Oct 13, 2026
Stuck on the Hard case, “The Penalty in the Ninety-Third Minute”? 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
In the ninety-third minute of the derby, the referee awarded Ashgate a penalty for a foul that every replay shows never happened. In the same minute, bets on a late Ashgate penalty in one small overseas market jumped a hundredfold.
This Hard case seats 20 suspects on a 4×5 grid. 15 of them carry a clue; the other 5 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 Petra the ball kid (D4) 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).
Mabel and Frank have no criminal neighbors in common.— Petra, ball kid (D4)
Spoiler: who can I prove first?
Iris (A3) is innocent, proven by Petra’s statement.
Nudge 2 — the opening
Five suspects get proven in this stretch, across rows 2, 3 and 4, most of them in row 3. The statements doing the work are shared-neighbor counts, “between” clues and direction clues. Every step in this stretch needs just one statement. Tip: with shared-neighbor counts, shared neighbors never include the two speakers themselves.
Spoiler: whose statement to read
Petra’s statement.
Spoiler: which suspect does that settle?
Iris (A3) — innocent.
Nudge 3 — after about 5 proven suspects
Five suspects get proven in this stretch, across rows 1, 2 and 5, most of them in row 1. The statements doing the work are neighbor counts, “between” clues and direction clues. 3 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 Suki’s statements, read together.
Spoiler: which suspect does that settle?
Cora (C1) — a criminal.
Nudge 4 — after about 10 proven suspects
Four suspects get proven in this stretch, across rows 3, 4 and 5, most of them in row 5. The statements doing the work are neighbor counts, corner and edge counts and row and column counts. 3 steps here need 4 statements read together. Tip: with corner and edge counts, the edge ring includes the corners, so settle the corners first.
Spoiler: whose statements to read
Frank’s, Gus’s, Cora’s and Dina’s statements, read together.
Spoiler: which suspect does that settle?
Queenie (A5) — a criminal.
Nudge 5 — the endgame
Five suspects get proven in this stretch, across rows 1, 2, 4 and 5, most of them in row 1. The statements doing the work are neighbor counts, role counts and shared-neighbor counts. Every step in this stretch needs just one statement. Tip: with role counts, find every suspect with that role (the nameplate badge helps) and count the proven ones.
Spoiler: whose statement to read
Leo’s statement.
Spoiler: which suspect does that settle?
Bruno (B1) — a criminal.
The hardest step
The toughest moment needs 4 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 Frank’s, Gus’s, Cora’s and Dina’s statements together. They settle Queenie.
Clue types in this case
row and column counts ×2, corner and edge counts ×2, neighbor counts ×3, shared-neighbor counts ×4, “between” clues ×2, direction clues ×1 and role counts ×1.
Questions
How many clues does this case have?
15 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.