Clues & Culprits › Hints › Oct 26, 2026 Hard
Spoiler-Free Hints for Oct 26, 2026
Stuck on the Hard case, “Three Hours of Fog in Bright Sunshine”? 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
On Saturday morning air-traffic control closed Halston Airport for three hours because of fog that the Met Office insists was never there. When the terminal reopened, the duty-free's locked cabinet of rare whiskies, £600,000 of single malt, was empty.
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. 4 of the steps can only be proven by reading two or more clues together.
Nudge 1 — where to start
The case opens with Quinn the air-traffic controller (A5) 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).
Sadie and I have exactly two innocent neighbors in common.— Quinn, air-traffic controller (A5)
Spoiler: who can I prove first?
Nora (B4) is innocent, proven by Quinn’s statement.
Nudge 2 — the opening
Five suspects get proven in this stretch, across rows 1, 3, 4 and 5, most of them in row 4. The statements doing the work are shared-neighbor counts, direction clues and paired verdicts. Every step in this stretch needs just one statement. Tip: with shared-neighbor counts, only the two to four cards touching both suspects count.
Spoiler: whose statement to read
Quinn’s statement.
Spoiler: which suspect does that settle?
Nora (B4) — innocent.
Nudge 3 — after about 5 proven suspects
Five suspects get proven in this stretch, across rows 2, 3 and 4, most of them in row 2. The statements doing the work are neighbor counts, if–then clues and direction clues. 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
Esme’s, Frank’s and Joan’s statements, read together.
Spoiler: which suspect does that settle?
Olive (C4) — innocent.
Nudge 4 — after about 10 proven suspects
Four suspects get proven in this stretch, in columns C and D. The statements doing the work are comparisons, neighbor counts and “most” clues. 2 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
Esme’s, Frank’s and Joan’s statements, read together.
Spoiler: which suspect does that settle?
Sadie (C5) — innocent.
Nudge 5 — the endgame
Five suspects get proven in this stretch, across rows 1, 2 and 5, most of them in row 1. The statements doing the work are odd/even clues, if–then clues and neighbor counts. One step here needs 2 statements read together. Tip: with odd/even clues, count the proven ones first; the parity of the rest follows.
Spoiler: whose statements to read
Sadie’s and Percy’s statements, read together.
Spoiler: which suspect does that settle?
Celia (C1) — innocent.
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 Esme’s, Frank’s and Joan’s statements together. They settle Olive.
Clue types in this case
odd/even clues ×2, neighbor counts ×2, “most” clues ×1, direction clues ×2, if–then clues ×2, comparisons ×2, “between” clues ×1, shared-neighbor counts ×1, paired verdicts ×1 and corner and edge counts ×1.
Questions
How many clues does this case have?
15 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 is published two days after the case, so today’s solvers aren’t spoiled.