Clues & Culprits › Archive › October 2026 › Oct 8, 2026 Hard
Oct 8, 2026 — Hard case
For a decade the Daily Lantern has been famous for the scandals it broke. This week a former cabinet minister revealed it was even better at the scandals it didn't break — and that he had paid £80,000 a year for the privilege.
This Hard case seats 20 suspects on a 4×5 grid. 16 of them carry a clue; the other 4 only have something to say about themselves. 6 of the steps can only be proven by reading two or more clues together. Every verdict you enter is checked against all the scenarios that still fit the statements on file, so a move only sticks when it is proven.
The opening statement
Bruno the security guard starts the case already proven innocent:
Celia and I have exactly two innocent neighbors in common.— Bruno, security guard (B1)
The lineup
Suspects stand in alphabetical order, left to right and top to bottom. Each belongs to one of Clues & Culprits’ twelve character classes — the badge on their nameplate. This case uses 6 of them, each cast as a role in the setting: columnists, security guards, editors, lawyers, printers, tipsters. Clues about a role (“exactly one of the security guards”) count everyone in it.
| Seat | Suspect | Role in this case | Class |
|---|---|---|---|
| A1 | Ada | columnist | Scholar |
| B1 | Bruno | security guard | Enforcer |
| C1 | Celia | editor | Noble |
| D1 | Dexter | editor | Noble |
| A2 | Emil | lawyer | Official |
| B2 | Freya | printer | Laborer |
| C2 | Greta | lawyer | Official |
| D2 | Hugo | tipster | Rogue |
| A3 | Ivan | printer | Laborer |
| B3 | Jasper | printer | Laborer |
| C3 | Kurt | tipster | Rogue |
| D3 | Lena | columnist | Scholar |
| A4 | Marco | editor | Noble |
| B4 | Nora | security guard | Enforcer |
| C4 | Otto | printer | Laborer |
| D4 | Pia | tipster | Rogue |
| A5 | Quinn | columnist | Scholar |
| B5 | Ruby | security guard | Enforcer |
| C5 | Suki | lawyer | Official |
| D5 | Theo | columnist | Scholar |
Stuck?
The in-game hint first points at the statement to re-read, then at the suspect you can prove, then shows the proof. For a gentler nudge, open the spoiler-free hints for Oct 8, 2026, or press Share to send a friend your exact board. New to the format? The deduction-puzzle guide covers the habits that unlock every step.
More cases
- Same day: Easy case · Medium case
- Previous Hard: Oct 7, 2026 — The Séance at Morrow Hall
- Next Hard: Oct 9, 2026 — Contraband on Chair Forty-Two
- Clue types in this case: Common-neighbor clues · Corner and edge clues · Neighbor clues · Between clues
- All October 2026 cases · More cases in newsrooms · Meet the cast