Clues & Culprits › Archive › October 2026 › Oct 15, 2026 Hard
Oct 15, 2026 — Hard case
All summer, the box office at Circus Fantasia gave change in crisp twenty-pound notes. Every one of them was a forgery — printed, the police now believe, somewhere inside the big top itself.
This Hard case seats 20 suspects on a 4×5 grid. 15 of them carry a clue; the other 5 only have something to say about themselves. 5 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
Celia the ringmaster starts the case already proven a criminal:
The person to my right is a criminal.— Celia, ringmaster (C1)
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: magicians, safety inspectors, ringmasters, weightlifters, ushers, acrobats. Clues about a role (“exactly one of the ringmasters”) count everyone in it.
| Seat | Suspect | Role in this case | Class |
|---|---|---|---|
| A1 | Amir | magician | Rogue |
| B1 | Basil | safety inspector | Official |
| C1 | Celia | ringmaster | Noble |
| D1 | Dexter | ringmaster | Noble |
| A2 | Emil | safety inspector | Official |
| B2 | Felix | magician | Rogue |
| C2 | Greta | safety inspector | Official |
| D2 | Hugo | magician | Rogue |
| A3 | Ivan | weightlifter | Laborer |
| B3 | Jasper | weightlifter | Laborer |
| C3 | Kofi | usher | Servant |
| D3 | Leo | acrobat | Courier |
| A4 | Marco | ringmaster | Noble |
| B4 | Ned | acrobat | Courier |
| C4 | Otto | weightlifter | Laborer |
| D4 | Pia | magician | Rogue |
| A5 | Quentin | usher | Servant |
| B5 | Rufus | weightlifter | Laborer |
| C5 | Sadie | usher | Servant |
| D5 | Tess | acrobat | 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 15, 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 · Medium case
- Previous Hard: Oct 14, 2026 — The Song Beside Cashpoint Seven
- Next Hard: Oct 16, 2026 — The Grey Lady of Staircase Nine
- Clue types in this case: Profession clues · Above, below, left and right · Common-neighbor clues · Between clues
- All October 2026 cases · More cases in circuses · Meet the cast