Clues & Culprits › Hints › Oct 6, 2026 Easy
Spoiler-Free Hints for Oct 6, 2026
Stuck on the Easy case, “The Machine That Answered Too Well”? 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
Quiver Labs raised £40 million on a demo of Oracle, an AI that answered any question in flawless prose within a second. Today a visiting investor asked it what it had eaten for lunch. Oracle replied: 'A cheese sandwich, thanks for asking.'
This Easy case seats 16 suspects on a 4×4 grid. 13 of them carry a clue; the other 3 only have something to say about themselves. Every step can be proven from a single clue plus what you already know.
Nudge 1 — where to start
The case opens with Marco the founder (A4) 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).
Exactly one of Olive and me is innocent.— Marco, founder (A4)
Spoiler: who can I prove first?
Olive (C4) is a criminal, proven by Marco’s statement.
Nudge 2 — the opening
Four suspects get proven in this stretch, in rows 2 and 4. The statements doing the work are paired verdicts, direction clues and “between” clues. Tip: with paired verdicts, two suspects tied together share their fate — prove one and the other follows.
Spoiler: whose statement to read
Marco’s statement.
Spoiler: which suspect does that settle?
Olive (C4) — a criminal.
Nudge 3 — after about 4 proven suspects
Four suspects get proven in this stretch, in rows 1 and 2. The statements doing the work are paired verdicts, direction clues and neighbor counts. Tip: with direction clues, the speaker is never included, and nor is anyone in a different row or column.
Spoiler: whose statement to read
Greta’s statement.
Spoiler: which suspect does that settle?
Arlo (A1) — innocent.
Nudge 4 — after about 8 proven suspects
Three suspects get proven in this stretch, in rows 1 and 2. The statements doing the work are “between” clues and neighbor counts. Tip: with “between” clues, only the cards strictly between the two named suspects count.
Spoiler: whose statement to read
Cal’s statement.
Spoiler: which suspect does that settle?
Basil (B1) — innocent.
Nudge 5 — the endgame
Four suspects get proven in this stretch, in row 3. The statements doing the work are paired verdicts, neighbor counts and corner and edge counts. Tip: with neighbor counts, a corner has three neighbors, an edge five, the middle eight — compare the count with what is left.
Spoiler: whose statement to read
Emil’s statement.
Spoiler: which suspect does that settle?
Idris (A3) — a criminal.
Clue types in this case
paired verdicts ×5, neighbor counts ×3, “between” clues ×2, direction clues ×2 and corner and edge counts ×1.
Questions
How many clues does this case have?
13 of the 16 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.