THE CLUE DESK

EVERY DETECTIVE NEEDS A NUDGE.

Choose your clue. Open only as much help as you need.
Start with Hint 1. Each hint unlocks the next.

I. The name

Clue 1: The name is five, six or seven letters long.

Clue 2: The name contains no letter O.

Clue 3: The name contains no letter U.

Clue 4: The name does not begin with a vowel.

Clue 5: No letter in the name is doubled.

Clue 6: The name does not end in S or Y.

II. The page

Clue 7: The killer's chapter is neither the first to fall nor the last.

Clue 8: The killer's page is neither the first nor the last page of its chapter.

Clue 9: The killer's entry is not among the first ten or the last ten entries on its page.

Clue 10: The first entry on the killer's page begins with a consonant.

Clue 11: The page facing the killer's page has at least one entry that begins with Z.

Clue 12: The killer's page holds at least 190 entries.

III. The neighbours

Clue 13: The killer's entry is within ten entries of an entry that begins with K.

Clue 14: The killer's entry is within five entries of a name of eight or more letters.

Clue 15: The entry immediately after the killer's has at least as many letters as the killer's name.

Clue 16: The entries immediately before and immediately after the killer's both begin with consonants.

Clue 17: The entry immediately before the killer's contains no letter O.

IV. The counts

Clue 18: On the killer's page, more entries begin with M than begin with S.

Clue 19: At least five other entries on the killer's page begin with the same letter as the killer's name.

Clue 20: Fewer than nine other entries on the killer's page begin with the same two letters as the killer's name.

V. The whole book

Clue 21: The killer's name is printed more than once in the book, and the killer's entry is not the first of them.

Your opened hints are remembered on this device.

Still stuck? Contact Laura →Ready to check your solution? →

FINISHED WITH NONE, OR WITH MORE THAN ONE?

More than one.

The usual culprits, in order: Clue 15 (equal length qualifies — did you clear it for “equal”?), Clue 12 (one page miscounted by one), Clue 21 (you searched forward, or stopped early). Redo those three for the entries still standing.

None.

You crossed out the killer. The usual ways: Clue 9 (you skipped crossed-out entries when counting the ten), Clues 15–17 (a neighbour across a column or page break), Clue 11 (a Z on the wrong page of the spread). Undo those for the last few you cleared and look again.

Still stuck? Visit the Solution page