Clues & Culprits › Hints › Oct 9, 2026 Easy
Spoiler-Free Hints for Oct 9, 2026
Stuck on the Easy case, “The Clown Who Borrowed Your Watch”? 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
Every night of its spring tour, Circus Fantasia's audiences laughed until they cried — and drove home lighter. In six weeks, 412 wallets, watches and phones vanished from the stands, always in the second half, and never from anyone seated near the ring.
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 Dina the vet (D1) 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).
Petra and I are either both criminals or both innocent.— Dina, vet (D1)
Spoiler: who can I prove first?
Petra (D4) is innocent, proven by Dina’s statement.
Nudge 2 — the opening
Four suspects get proven in this stretch, across rows 2, 3 and 4, most of them in row 2. The statements doing the work are paired verdicts. Tip: with paired verdicts, chain the pairs: a link of “same” and “different” statements often runs across the board.
Spoiler: whose statement to read
Dina’s statement.
Spoiler: which suspect does that settle?
Petra (D4) — innocent.
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 direction clues, corner and edge counts and neighbor counts. Tip: with direction clues, “above”, “below”, “left” and “right” cover the whole line in that direction, not just the next card.
Spoiler: whose statement to read
Ivan’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 2 and 3. The statements doing the work are direction clues and neighbor 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
Freya’s statement.
Spoiler: which suspect does that settle?
Hattie (D2) — innocent.
Nudge 5 — the endgame
Four suspects get proven in this stretch, in rows 3 and 4. The statements doing the work are neighbor counts, role counts and corner and edge counts. Tip: with role counts, find every suspect with that role (the nameplate badge helps) and count the proven ones.
Spoiler: whose statement to read
Kofi’s statement.
Spoiler: which suspect does that settle?
Jasper (B3) — a criminal.
Clue types in this case
direction clues ×4, neighbor counts ×3, paired verdicts ×4, corner and edge counts ×1 and role 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.