Clues & Culprits › Daily logic puzzles
Free Daily Logic Puzzles
A fresh deduction puzzle every midnight, in your time zone: 16 to 25 suspects, clues in plain English, and a rule that every answer must be proven. Free, no sign-up, no ads.
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What a Clues & Culprits puzzle looks like
You see a grid of suspects — a hotel staff, a film crew, a village fete committee. Some of them are criminals. Everyone tells the truth. One suspect starts proven, and their statement is your first clue: something like “Exactly two of my five neighbors are criminals” or “If Gus is a criminal, then so is Hana.”
Your job is to work out who is criminal and who is innocent: find a suspect whose verdict the clues force, and prove them. When you do, they reveal their own statement, and the case grows one clue at a time. The puzzle ends when every suspect is proven — and because the game only accepts proven verdicts, you will have reasoned your way through every one of them.
A tiny worked example
Three suspects stand in a row: Ada, Ben and Cal. Ada is proven innocent and says “Exactly one of my neighbors is a criminal.” Ada’s only neighbor is Ben — so Ben is a criminal. Prove him, and Ben speaks: “Cal and I are either both criminals or both innocent.” Ben is a criminal, so Cal is a criminal too.
Real cases have 16 to 25 suspects and statements that only work in combination, but every step is the same move: read what is on file, find the one verdict it forces, prove it.
How to spot the next provable suspect
- Look for counts at the extremes. “None of my neighbors are criminals” or “all of row 2 are criminals” settles several suspects at once.
- Count the neighbors. A corner suspect has three neighbors, an edge suspect five, a middle suspect eight. “Three of my neighbors are criminals” from a corner settles all of them.
- Read “if–then” both ways round. “If Gus is a criminal, so is Hana” also means: if Hana is innocent, Gus is innocent. It does not mean the reverse.
- Combine two statements. When two suspects talk about overlapping groups, the difference between their counts often pins down the cards they don’t share.
- Test a hunch safely. Pencil a suspect as C?, follow the consequences, and press Check. If your hunch breaks a statement, the opposite is proven.
Every kind of statement has its own page in the clue-type manual.
A logic puzzle of the day, in four sizes
A daily puzzle is a small, finishable ritual: one case with your coffee, the same case everyone else is solving, a result you can share without spoilers. Clues & Culprits keeps that format and adds three choices a day so you can match the puzzle to the time you have:
- Easy (4×4) — every step follows from one clue. Perfect for a break, or for learning the clue types.
- Medium (4×5) — the full 20-suspect experience, with a few steps that need two clues read together.
- Hard (4×5) — several multi-clue steps, including at least one that needs three or more.
- Evil (5×5, Sundays) — 25 suspects and long chains of combined clues.
What makes it a good logic puzzle
Good logic puzzles share three properties, and Clues & Culprits checks all three by computer before a case is published:
- One answer. The full set of clues allows exactly one assignment of criminals and innocents.
- No dead ends. At every point, at least one suspect can be proven from the clues already revealed — whatever order you took to get there.
- Measured difficulty. Difficulty is based on how many clues a step needs at once, not on how many suspects there are. That is why an Easy case never asks you to juggle three statements, and a Hard case always does.
Help when you want it
Hints come in three layers — the clue to re-read, the suspect it settles, the full proof — so you can take only as much help as you need. Every case also has a spoiler-free hint page, and the Share button sends your exact board to someone else.
And because notes matter in logic puzzles, Clues & Culprits gives you six corner tags per card, pencil marks, and a Check notes button that tells you whether your hunches contradict the clues.
Recent puzzles
- Oct 25, 2026The Loaf That TickedEasyMediumHardEvil
- Oct 24, 2026Breakfast with the GorillasEasyMediumHard
- Oct 23, 2026912 Flights Without Leaving HomeEasyMediumHard
- Oct 22, 2026Sixty Places in the TrialEasyMediumHard
- Oct 21, 2026Three Centimetres at the PostEasyMediumHard
- Oct 20, 2026The Chandelier Falls at EightEasyMediumHard
Questions
Are these logic puzzles really free?
Yes — the daily cases, the last 7 days of cases, hints and notes are free in your browser, and every past case is free to read. No account needed, no ads.
How long does a puzzle take?
Easy cases take most people three to six minutes, Medium five to ten, Hard ten to twenty. There is a timer, but you can hide it.
When do new puzzles come out?
At midnight in your own time zone, every day: Easy, Medium and Hard, plus an Evil 5×5 case on Sundays.
Do I need to know any maths?
No. You need to count small numbers and read carefully. Every clue is plain English with exact meanings.
Can I play old puzzles?
Yes. Every past case has its own page in the archive and stays free.
What is a logic puzzle of the day?
A single puzzle published for everyone on the same day, so you can solve it, share a spoiler-free result and compare notes. Clues & Culprits publishes three — Easy, Medium and Hard — plus an Evil 5×5 case on Sundays.
Is there an app?
You don’t need one. Clues & Culprits runs in any modern browser on a phone, tablet or computer; on a phone, use “Add to Home Screen” and it opens full-screen like an app, with your progress saved on the device.