Clues & Culprits › Hints › Oct 17, 2026 Medium
Spoiler-Free Hints for Oct 17, 2026
Stuck on the Medium case, “Eleven Small Words”? 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
After nine days of talks, two governments signed a treaty sharing the fishing rights of a northern sea. When the lawyers compared the two language versions, one of them gave the entire catch to a single company — a company nobody at the table admitted to having heard of.
This Medium case seats 20 suspects on a 4×5 grid. 16 of them carry a clue; the other 4 only have something to say about themselves. 1 of the steps can only be proven by reading two or more clues together.
Nudge 1 — where to start
The case opens with Ruby the marine guard (B5) 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).
None of Tariq's neighbors is a criminal.— Ruby, marine guard (B5)
Spoiler: who can I prove first?
Omar (C4) is innocent, proven by Ruby’s statement.
Nudge 2 — the opening
Five suspects get proven in this stretch, in columns C and D. The statements doing the work are neighbor counts, role counts and direction clues. Every step in this stretch needs just one statement. 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
Ruby’s statement.
Spoiler: which suspect does that settle?
Omar (C4) — innocent.
Nudge 3 — after about 5 proven suspects
Five suspects get proven in this stretch, in columns A and B. The statements doing the work are direction clues, “between” clues and neighbor counts. 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
Cal’s statement.
Spoiler: which suspect does that settle?
Amir (A1) — a criminal.
Nudge 4 — after about 10 proven suspects
Four suspects get proven in this stretch, across rows 1, 3 and 4, most of them in row 3. The statements doing the work are neighbor counts, if–then clues and row and column counts. Every step in this stretch needs just one statement. Tip: with if–then clues, an if–then says nothing when its “if” part is false — don’t read it backwards.
Spoiler: whose statement to read
Joan’s statement.
Spoiler: which suspect does that settle?
Kurt (C3) — innocent.
Nudge 5 — the endgame
Five suspects get proven in this stretch, across rows 2, 3, 4 and 5, most of them in row 5. The statements doing the work are shared-neighbor counts, direction clues and neighbor counts. One step here needs 2 statements read together. Tip: with shared-neighbor counts, only the two to four cards touching both suspects count.
Spoiler: whose statements to read
Percy’s and Nora’s statements, read together.
Spoiler: which suspect does that settle?
Hugo (D2) — a criminal.
The hardest step
The toughest moment needs 2 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 Percy’s and Nora’s statements together. They settle Hugo.
Clue types in this case
“between” clues ×2, neighbor counts ×5, direction clues ×3, shared-neighbor counts ×2, if–then clues ×1, row and column counts ×1, corner and edge counts ×1 and role counts ×1.
Questions
How many clues does this case have?
16 of the 20 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.