Clues & Culprits › Archive › October 2026 › Oct 13, 2026 Medium
Oct 13, 2026 — Medium case
Ninety seconds into the Founders' Boat Race, St Ives College's eight sank gracefully in the middle of the river, and Hartwell won by a distance. The St Ives boat had been holed with exactly eight small drill holes — one beneath each rower's seat.
This Medium case seats 20 suspects on a 4×5 grid. 17 of them carry a clue; the other 3 only have something to say about themselves. 3 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
Ivan the groundskeeper starts the case already proven innocent:
The only professor in Row 2 is innocent.— Ivan, groundskeeper (A3)
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: pranksters, deans, benefactors, professors, groundskeepers, undergraduates. Clues about a role (“exactly one of the groundskeepers”) count everyone in it.
| Seat | Suspect | Role in this case | Class |
|---|---|---|---|
| A1 | Amir | prankster | Rogue |
| B1 | Basil | dean | Official |
| C1 | Celia | benefactor | Noble |
| D1 | Dexter | benefactor | Noble |
| A2 | Esme | professor | Scholar |
| B2 | Freya | groundskeeper | Laborer |
| C2 | Greta | dean | Official |
| D2 | Hugo | prankster | Rogue |
| A3 | Ivan | groundskeeper | Laborer |
| B3 | Jasper | groundskeeper | Laborer |
| C3 | Kurt | prankster | Rogue |
| D3 | Leo | undergraduate | Courier |
| A4 | Marco | benefactor | Noble |
| B4 | Ned | undergraduate | Courier |
| C4 | Olive | benefactor | Noble |
| D4 | Petra | undergraduate | Courier |
| A5 | Quinn | professor | Scholar |
| B5 | Raj | professor | Scholar |
| C5 | Suki | dean | Official |
| D5 | Tess | undergraduate | 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 13, 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 · Hard case
- Previous Medium: Oct 12, 2026 — The Lions Who Retired
- Next Medium: Oct 14, 2026 — Ninety Seconds Behind the Curtain
- Clue types in this case: Above, below, left and right · Neighbor clues · Same-verdict and exactly-one clues · Common-neighbor clues
- All October 2026 cases · More cases in universities · Meet the cast