Clues & Culprits › Archive › October 2026 › Oct 5, 2026 Medium
Oct 5, 2026 — Medium case
For three weeks the Lantern's Saturday crossword has been unusually hard and unusually popular — with sixteen-year-olds. This morning the national exam board noticed that its maths answers had appeared in print, clue by clue, the day before every paper.
This Medium case seats 20 suspects on a 4×5 grid. 17 of them carry a clue; the other 3 only have something to say about themselves. 1 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
Nico the photographer starts the case already proven innocent:
Exactly one of Ada and me is innocent.— Nico, photographer (B4)
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, lawyers, photographers, company nurses, printers, reporters. Clues about a role (“exactly one of the photographers”) count everyone in it.
| Seat | Suspect | Role in this case | Class |
|---|---|---|---|
| A1 | Ada | columnist | Scholar |
| B1 | Basil | lawyer | Official |
| C1 | Cora | photographer | Artist |
| D1 | Dina | company nurse | Healer |
| A2 | Emil | lawyer | Official |
| B2 | Freya | printer | Laborer |
| C2 | Greta | lawyer | Official |
| D2 | Hattie | company nurse | Healer |
| A3 | Ivan | printer | Laborer |
| B3 | Joan | columnist | Scholar |
| C3 | Kira | photographer | Artist |
| D3 | Leo | reporter | Courier |
| A4 | Mila | photographer | Artist |
| B4 | Nico | photographer | Artist |
| C4 | Omar | lawyer | Official |
| D4 | Petra | reporter | Courier |
| A5 | Quinn | columnist | Scholar |
| B5 | Rufus | printer | Laborer |
| C5 | Silas | reporter | Courier |
| D5 | Tess | reporter | Courier |
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 5, 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
- Previous Medium: Oct 4, 2026 — Lord Ashby's Treasure Hunt
- Next Medium: Oct 6, 2026 — Lost Above the Treeline
- Clue types in this case: Between clues · More-than clues · If–then clues · Common-neighbor clues
- All October 2026 cases · More cases in newsrooms · Meet the cast