Temporal Clue Example Puzzles

easy.md

Easy Difficulty Puzzle

On a dark winter night, wealthy and enigmatic Mr. John Q. Boddy hosted a small, but lavish, dinner party for some of his closest associates. However, the night ended in tragedy when Mr. Boddy was found dead in one of the rooms of Tudor Mansion in the early hours of the morning. The following persons of interest have been identified as suspects:

• Professor Plum
• Colonel Mustard

And the following weapons were found on the premises:

• Poison
• Horseshoe

The murder could only have occured in one of the following rooms:

1. Fountain
2. Ballroom

The rooms are laid out as follows:

  N  
W 1 E
W 2 E
  S

The exact time of the murder is a bit uncertain, but it has been narrowed down to one of the following times:

• 11:45 PM
• 12:00 AM

At every time the suspects and Mr. Boddy either stayed in their current room or moved to an orthogonally adjacent room (north, south, east, or west). Weapons could be moved by suspects between rooms as well.

Each suspect uniquely had one of the following possible motives for killing Mr. Boddy:

• Jealousy
• Hatred

For the murder to occur, the murderer and Mr. Boddy must have been alone in a room with at least one weapon at some point in the night. Any clue about Mr. Boddy's whereabouts should be read as "Mr. Boddy (dead or alive) ..."

The available clues are as follows:

• Professor Plum was in the same room as Colonel Mustard at 12:00 AM
• The Horseshoe was in the room just south of Mr. Boddy at 11:45 PM
• Colonel Mustard was in the Ballroom at 11:45 PM or Professor Plum was at the Fountain at 12:00 AM
• Colonel Mustard and the Horseshoe were in the Ballroom together at least once
• The Horseshoe was in the room just south of the Poison at 12:00 AM
• Colonel Mustard is motivated by Hatred

Please answer the following question(s):

A. Who murdered Mr. Boddy?
B. What weapon did the murderer use?
C. Where was the murder committed?
D. When did the murder occur?
E. Why did the murderer do it?

And the following bonus question(s):

F. Where was the suspect motivated by Jealousy at 12:00 AM?
G. Where was Professor Plum at 11:45 PM?

Fill out your final answers in the following format:

A. SUSPECT
B. WEAPON
C. ROOM
D. TIME
E. MOTIVE
F. ROOM
G. ROOM

Best of luck, detective.

easysolution.md

Easy Difficulty Solution

A. Professor Plum
B. Poison
C. Fountain
D. 11:45 PM
E. Jealousy
F. Ballroom
G. Fountain

medium.md

Medium Difficulty Puzzle

On a dark winter night, wealthy and enigmatic Mr. John Q. Boddy hosted a small, but lavish, dinner party for some of his closest associates. However, the night ended in tragedy when Mr. Boddy was found dead in one of the rooms of Tudor Mansion in the early hours of the morning. The following persons of interest have been identified as suspects:

• Mrs. White
• Colonel Mustard
• Miss Scarlet
• Madame Rose
• Mrs. Peacock

And the following weapons were found on the premises:

• Poison
• Horseshoe
• Revolver
• Knife

The murder could only have occured in one of the following rooms:

1. Studio
2. Carriage House
3. Conservatory
4. Drawing Room
5. Cloak Room

The rooms are laid out as follows:

  N N  
W 1|2 E
W 3|4 E
W 5|- E
  S S  

The exact time of the murder is a bit uncertain, but it has been narrowed down to one of the following times:

• 11:00 PM
• 11:30 PM
• 12:00 AM

At every time the suspects and Mr. Boddy either stayed in their current room or moved to an orthogonally adjacent room (north, south, east, or west). Weapons could be moved by suspects between rooms as well.

Each suspect had one of the following possible motives for killing Mr. Boddy:

• Betrayal (2 suspects)
• Power (3 suspects)

For the murder to occur, the murderer and Mr. Boddy must have been alone in a room with at least one weapon at some point in the night. Any clue about Mr. Boddy's whereabouts should be read as "Mr. Boddy (dead or alive) ..."

The available clues are as follows:

• Mrs. Peacock is motivated by Betrayal
• The Revolver was in the room just west of Colonel Mustard at 12:00 AM
• Mrs. White moved from the Carriage House to the Drawing Room at 11:30 PM
• The Knife was in the same room as Madame Rose at 12:00 AM
• Madame Rose moved from the Carriage House to the Drawing Room at 12:00 AM
• A suspect motivated by Power was in the same room as the Horseshoe at 11:30 PM
• The murder weapon was in the Studio at 11:00 PM or Mrs. Peacock was in the Carriage House at 11:00 PM
• The Revolver was in the room just south of Mr. Boddy at 11:30 PM
• Madame Rose was in the Carriage House at 11:00 PM
• Mrs. White was in the Drawing Room at 12:00 AM
• The Poison was in the room just north of the Revolver at 11:00 PM
• The Knife was in the Conservatory at 11:00 PM or Colonel Mustard was in the Drawing Room at 11:30 PM
• A suspect motivated by Betrayal moved from the Conservatory to the Drawing Room at 12:00 AM
• The Horseshoe and Mrs. Peacock were in the Drawing Room together at least once
• The Revolver was in the room just south of Mrs. Peacock at 12:00 AM
• The murderer moved from the Drawing Room to the Conservatory at 11:30 PM
• Mr. Boddy was in the Studio at 11:00 PM
• A suspect motivated by Betrayal moved from the Cloak Room to the Conservatory at 11:30 PM
• The Horseshoe was in the Studio at 12:00 AM or Colonel Mustard was in the Drawing Room at 11:00 PM
• The Knife was in the same room as Madame Rose at 11:30 PM

Please answer the following question(s):

A. Who murdered Mr. Boddy?
B. What weapon did the murderer use?
C. Where was the murder committed?
D. When did the murder occur?
E. Why did the murderer do it?

And the following bonus question(s):

F. Where was Madame Rose at 12:00 AM?
G. Where was the Poison at 11:30 PM?

Fill out your final answers in the following format:

A. SUSPECT
B. WEAPON
C. ROOM
D. TIME
E. MOTIVE
F. ROOM
G. ROOM

Best of luck, detective.

mediumsolution.md

Medium Difficulty Solution

A. Mrs. Peacock
B. Poison
C. Studio
D. 12:00 AM
E. Betrayal
F. Drawing Room
G. Studio