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Setting

The Farm: a murder mystery on a working farm

The cows are milked at five whatever happens the night before. So when the dairy was still dark at half past, everybody knew something was wrong long before anyone climbed up to the hayloft.

The place

Up before dawn

The Farm is a working place, and everyone on it has a reason to be anywhere. The barn and the hayloft above it store the winter feed, the stable houses two old horses, and the dairy is cold and clean. The farmhouse kitchen is warm all day, the porch looks out over the yard, and the orchard behind the house drops its apples on the path.

Neighbours come to help with the harvest, and the farm is busy with people who know each other too well. Old quarrels travel far in a small valley.

How it plays

Two places here are not quite rooms: people are "on the Porch", and the hayloft is up above the barn. Outdoor ground is wide: trees in the orchard and the well in the yard block their squares, while a hay bale is something a person can sit on. The dairy and the stable are small and good places to start.

Farm cases often hinge on the yard. It is large and touches many rows, so a clue that keeps a person out of the yard removes a lot of squares at once.

The rooms

Where everyone could have been

These are the rooms you will find on the Farm. A case uses some of them, cut into a square board by thick walls, and a clue such as "She was in the Barn" places a person inside one.

Barn

Hayloft

Orchard

Dairy

Kitchen

Stable

Yard

Porch

The cast

Everyone has a reason. One has an opportunity.

The same regulars travel from case to case, and any of them can be on the guest list here. A few you are likely to meet:

Portrait of Quentin

Quentin

The butler of forty years.

Portrait of Vera

Vera

The widow who sets the crosswords.

Portrait of Alma

Alma

The retired botanist.

Portrait of Elena

Elena

The gallery owner.

Portrait of Irene

Irene

The architect restoring the east wing.

Portrait of Mateo

Mateo

The waiter who hears everything.

Cases set here

Every case on the Farm

No archive case has been set here yet. New cases arrive daily at midnight UTC, and the daily case rotates through every setting, so this one gets its turn too. Meanwhile, play today's case or browse the archive.

Today's case

Put it to work on a real case

A new murder at midnight UTC, free in the browser, with one arrangement that fits every clue.

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