Clues & Culprits › Archive › October 2026 › Oct 18, 2026 Medium
Oct 18, 2026 — Medium case
The Ashcombe Museum's blockbuster 'Lost Masterpieces of the North' drew three hundred thousand visitors and glowing reviews. On its final day, a schoolboy pointed out that one 'seventeenth-century' portrait showed a woman wearing a wristwatch.
This Medium 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. 4 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
Quinn the chemist starts the case already proven a criminal:
Nobody to the right of Joan is a criminal.— Quinn, chemist (A5)
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: critics, curators, restorers, first-aiders, art handlers, chemists. Clues about a role (“exactly one of the chemists”) count everyone in it.
| Seat | Suspect | Role in this case | Class |
|---|---|---|---|
| A1 | Amir | critic | Rogue |
| B1 | Basil | curator | Official |
| C1 | Cora | restorer | Artist |
| D1 | Dina | first-aider | Healer |
| A2 | Emil | curator | Official |
| B2 | Felix | critic | Rogue |
| C2 | Greta | curator | Official |
| D2 | Hattie | first-aider | Healer |
| A3 | Ivan | art handler | Laborer |
| B3 | Joan | chemist | Scholar |
| C3 | Kurt | critic | Rogue |
| D3 | Lena | chemist | Scholar |
| A4 | Mila | restorer | Artist |
| B4 | Nico | restorer | Artist |
| C4 | Otto | art handler | Laborer |
| D4 | Pia | critic | Rogue |
| A5 | Quinn | chemist | Scholar |
| B5 | Rufus | art handler | Laborer |
| C5 | Suki | curator | Official |
| D5 | Theo | chemist | 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 18, 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 · Hard case · Evil case
- Previous Medium: Oct 17, 2026 — Eleven Small Words
- Next Medium: Oct 19, 2026 — Who Sold the Village Green?
- Clue types in this case: Row and column clues · Neighbor clues · Odd and even clues · If–then clues
- All October 2026 cases · More cases in museums · Meet the cast