Pellbury Puzzles

Free sample: The Closed Sign

This is the practice case from The Snow Rule. Try it here on screen, or print the page and use a pencil.

How to play

The snow rule. From one time to the next, a suspect either stayed where they were or walked along one lane to a place next to it. Nobody could go further in half an hour.

The incident. Exactly one suspect was at the place where the mischief happened, at that time. That suspect is the culprit.

The clues. Every clue is true. Use them, and the snow rule, to fill in the whole timetable. You never need to guess.

The answer. Name the culprit and write their answer code: the letters of the places they were at, in time order.

Only the suspects count. Owners, victims, Tilly and other villagers are never counted.

Map of Pellbury. Lanes: Hall to Church, Church to Green, Church to Mill, Mill to Smithy, Smithy to Green, Green to Fox, Green to Post Office, Fox to Kettle, Post Office to Kettle

H Hall · C Church · G Green · F Fox (the Fox & Lantern inn) · P Post Office · K Kettle (the Copper Kettle tea room) · S Smithy · M Mill

Practice · Day 1, dawn · 7:00 to 8:30

At 8:30 someone turned the Copper Kettle's sign from OPEN to CLOSED, and Ivy lost her breakfast trade.

Exactly one suspect was at the Kettle at 8:30: the culprit.

  1. Agnes was at the Smithy at 8:30.
  2. From 7:30 to 8:30, Clem stayed at the Fox.
  3. Juniper was at the Post Office at 8:00.
  4. At 8:00, Agnes was at the Smithy.
  5. Agnes was at the Fox at 7:00.
  6. From 7:00 to 7:30, Juniper stayed at the Kettle.
  7. Exactly two suspects were at the Kettle at 7:00.
Write one place letter in each box.
Suspect7:007:308:008:30
ClemHall caretaker
Juniperflorist
Agnesbeekeeper
Check my answer
Show the walkthrough (spoilers)

Step 1: the direct clues. Clues 1 to 6 place people outright. Agnes: F at 7:00, S at 8:00 and 8:30. Clem: F at 7:30, 8:00 and 8:30. Juniper: K at 7:00 and 7:30, and P at 8:00.

Step 2: the snow rule. Agnes was at the Fox at 7:00 and at the Smithy at 8:00. On the map, the only place next to both is the Green, so Agnes was at the Green (G) at 7:30.

Step 3: the counting clue. Clue 7 says exactly two suspects were at the Kettle at 7:00. Juniper was one. Agnes was at the Fox, so the other must be Clem: Clem was at the Kettle (K) at 7:00.

Step 4: the incident. Exactly one suspect was at the Kettle at 8:30. Clem was at the Fox and Agnes at the Smithy, so it must have been Juniper, who walked down the lane from the Post Office.

The culprit is Juniper. Her answer code is KKPK: Kettle, Kettle, Post Office, Kettle.

Enjoyed it? The Snow Rule has 60 more cases, from Gentle to Devious, plus a final 61st case. Find out more.