Who Did It? Elimination Puzzle

A case file, a register of suspects and a marker. Strike out everyone the evidence rules out, and the last name standing is the one who did it.

A case file lands on your desk: one register of suspect names, and a handful of exhibits from the chief inspector.

Read an exhibit. Strike out every name it cannot be. Tap a single name, or put your finger down and sweep the marker through a whole run of them. The register thins, the counter falls, and when one name is left standing you write it on the accusation and set the seal.

No timers. No lives. No hints elbowing their way in. Just the evidence, your marker and the patience to work it through.

THE DESK • Hand drawn paper, ink and a marker that leaves a real stroke • Evidence that never mentions pages, columns or first letters, so the puzzle stays honest • A practice file that teaches the craft in about three minutes • English, Dutch, German and French, following your device • Day and high contrast desks, four text sizes, spoken labels throughout • Your case ledger: time on the case, names struck, names restored, false accusations

THE PEN A free pen holds 500 strikes. Take a strike back and its ink returns; the practice file never costs any. When the pen does run dry it fills again by itself a quarter of an hour later, and you are welcome to close the file while it does. Or watch a short advertisement, or take the fountain pen for good.

PREMIUM DETECTIVE One purchase, yours to keep. The fountain pen never runs dry and the advertisement never comes. Seventeen marker colours instead of five, with a colour tied to every exhibit so you can see at a glance why a name fell. The night desk, with rain, a fireplace or a ticking clock. And when the case closes, the full dossier of every sitting and an ornate CASE CLOSED certificate to keep.

Every case has exactly one solution, proven before it ever reaches you.