All levels
Read every clue as a map
Cross out every cell a clue forbids before placing anyone.
Before you think about anyone else, take one suspect and one clue, and cross out every cell the clue forbids. "He was on a bed" leaves only the beds. "She was not in the Cellar" removes a whole room.
Then remember what is already blocked: cells with solid scenery hold nobody. A clue like "beside a table" in a room with one table leaves at most four cells, and often fewer, because the neighbours must be in the same room.
Do this for everyone first. Most Easy cases are half solved before the first person is placed.
What each kind of clue leaves open
A room clue such as "She was in the Library" keeps the cells of one room and removes the rest of the board. A negative room clue removes one room and keeps everything else. An object clue such as "He was on a bed" keeps only the cells that hold that kind of object. A board rarely has more than two or three of any object, so object clues are often the strongest ones you have. A row or column clue keeps a single line.
"Beside" clues take one more step. Find every object of that kind, then mark the cells directly above, below, left and right of each. Drop the cells that sit across a wall in another room and the cells that hold solid scenery. What is left is the suspect's map. "Not beside" clues work the other way round and usually remove fewer cells, so do them last.
Two clues on one suspect
When a suspect has two clues, their map is the overlap. "In the Kitchen" plus "not beside a table" can shrink a nine-cell room to two cells. Write the cells that survive as pencil notes, so the shape is visible at a glance.
The victim has a map too
The victim's card says she was alone with the killer. That closes any room nobody else can reach, and any room that two other people are certain to share. On Easy boards this alone often fixes the victim's room.
Once everyone has a map, look for the smallest. A suspect with a single cell left is placed, and the placement closes a row and a column for everyone else. From there the next technique, pinned suspects, takes over.
On paper
On a printed case, write each suspect's initial lightly in every cell their map allows, then rub initials out as cells close. In the browser and the app, notes and crosses do the same job. The aim is one small map per person, so you can compare them side by side.
Practice case: Easy 5×5
This case needs the technique above. Try it before you read the next tip.
Play this case and the whole casebook in the app, free on iPhone, iPad and Android.
