Clues & Culprits › Archive › October 2026 › Oct 9, 2026 Hard
Oct 9, 2026 — Hard case
The Rosa Pass chairlift carries skiers from Switzerland into Italy and back. For two seasons, Swiss watches worth €14 million have been turning up in Milan without passing through a single customs post.
This Hard 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. 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
Bruno the ski patroller starts the case already proven innocent:
None of the fondue chefs in Column A is a criminal.— Bruno, ski patroller (B1)
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: mountain guides, ski patrollers, ice sculptors, mountain medics, fondue chefs, lift operators. Clues about a role (“exactly one of the ski patrollers”) count everyone in it.
| Seat | Suspect | Role in this case | Class |
|---|---|---|---|
| A1 | Arlo | mountain guide | Courier |
| B1 | Bruno | ski patroller | Enforcer |
| C1 | Cora | ice sculptor | Artist |
| D1 | Dina | mountain medic | Healer |
| A2 | Ezra | ice sculptor | Artist |
| B2 | Frank | ski patroller | Enforcer |
| C2 | Gus | fondue chef | Cook |
| D2 | Hattie | mountain medic | Healer |
| A3 | Ivan | lift operator | Laborer |
| B3 | Jasper | lift operator | Laborer |
| C3 | Kira | ice sculptor | Artist |
| D3 | Leo | mountain guide | Courier |
| A4 | Mabel | fondue chef | Cook |
| B4 | Nora | ski patroller | Enforcer |
| C4 | Otto | lift operator | Laborer |
| D4 | Petra | mountain guide | Courier |
| A5 | Queenie | fondue chef | Cook |
| B5 | Rufus | lift operator | Laborer |
| C5 | Silas | mountain guide | Courier |
| D5 | Tess | mountain guide | 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 9, 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 8, 2026 — The Stories They Didn't Print
- Next Hard: Oct 10, 2026 — The Waterfall on Mars
- Clue types in this case: Common-neighbor clues · Profession clues · Same-verdict and exactly-one clues · More-than clues
- All October 2026 cases · More cases in ski lodges · Meet the cast