Clues & Culprits › Hints › Oct 18, 2026 Evil
Spoiler-Free Hints for Oct 18, 2026
Stuck on the Evil case, “Two Million Votes from a Popcorn Trailer”? 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
Circus Fantasia's acrobatic trio won the television contest 'Big Top Star' and its £1 million prize with 2.3 million phone votes — more than the show had ever received for any act, and nearly all of them cast from within a mile of the circus field.
This Evil case seats 25 suspects on a 5×5 grid. 20 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 Hana the popcorn cook (C2) 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).
The person between me and Felix is a criminal.— Hana, popcorn cook (C2)
Spoiler: who can I prove first?
Gus (B2) is a criminal, proven by Hana’s statement.
Nudge 2 — the opening
6 suspects get proven in this stretch, across rows 2, 4 and 5, most of them in row 5. The statements doing the work are direction clues, “between” clues and if–then clues. Every step in this stretch needs just one statement. 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
Hana’s statement.
Spoiler: which suspect does that settle?
Gus (B2) — a criminal.
Nudge 3 — after about 6 proven suspects
6 suspects get proven in this stretch, across rows 3, 4 and 5, most of them in row 4. The statements doing the work are neighbor counts, direction clues and shared-neighbor counts. One step here needs 3 statements read together. Tip: with neighbor counts, a corner has three neighbors, an edge five, the middle eight — compare the count with what is left.
Spoiler: whose statements to read
Rufus’s, Pia’s and Yusuf’s statements, read together.
Spoiler: which suspect does that settle?
Marco (C3) — innocent.
Nudge 4 — after about 12 proven suspects
6 suspects get proven in this stretch, in rows 1 and 2. The statements doing the work are neighbor counts, comparisons and odd/even clues. 5 steps here need 3 statements read together. Tip: with comparisons, a comparison can’t end in a tie, so once one side is known the other is forced.
Spoiler: whose statements to read
Rufus’s, Pia’s and Iris’s statements, read together.
Spoiler: which suspect does that settle?
Bea (B1) — a criminal.
Nudge 5 — the endgame
6 suspects get proven in this stretch, in rows 2 and 3. The statements doing the work are neighbor counts, odd/even clues and direction clues. Every step in this stretch needs just one statement. Tip: with odd/even clues, count the proven ones first; the parity of the rest follows.
Spoiler: whose statement to read
Amir’s statement.
Spoiler: which suspect does that settle?
Jasper (E2) — a criminal.
The hardest step
The toughest moment needs 3 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 Rufus’s, Pia’s and Yusuf’s statements together. They settle Marco.
Clue types in this case
odd/even clues ×3, role counts ×2, direction clues ×5, if–then clues ×1, “between” clues ×1, comparisons ×1, neighbor counts ×4, paired verdicts ×1 and shared-neighbor counts ×2.
Questions
How many clues does this case have?
20 of the 25 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.