“Into the Lion's Den” is a Murdoku case from the Zoo category: a board of 7×7, 6 suspects and one victim. Read the clues, work out where everybody was standing, and name the suspect who was left alone with the body.
The Board
The floor plan as the case hands it to you: 7×7, rated Medium, with 6 rooms. Every person — 7 in all — takes a row and a column of their own.
C1
C2
C3
C4
C5
C6
C7
R1
Pe
F
R2
Pe
T
F
R3
Pe
G
P
R4
P
T
P
R5
M
R6
H
L
C
B
M
R7
L
Ta
H
Floor plan of “Into the Lion's Den”. Letters mark the objects; the key is below.
Picnic Meadow (outdoors) — 17 tiles: Tree, Grill, Park bench
Objects on the board
P Park bench (can be stood on)
Pe Penguin (blocks the tile)
F Flamingo (blocks the tile)
H Haystack (blocks the tile)
L Lion (blocks the tile)
M Mud puddle (can be stood on)
T Tree (blocks the tile)
B Bear (blocks the tile)
C Cash register (blocks the tile)
G Grill (blocks the tile)
Ta Table (blocks the tile)
The Suspects and Their Clues
Each suspect comes with what the witnesses remember. Read them all before placing anyone — a clue about one person is very often what pins down another.
Alex — a man with white hair, a beard and glasses
He was south of at least one suspect who had a bald head
Bernd — a man with blond hair and a beard
He was in the same column as a bear, in the same room
Carol — a woman with white hair
She was in the same row as a grill, in a different room
Dylan — a man with a bald head
He was on a mud puddle
Edison — a man with a bald head and a beard
He was north-west of every park bench
Floyd — a man with red hair and a beard
He was in row 7
The victim, Vita, is a woman. Nothing else about them is known, and no clue depends on it.
Clues About the Whole Scene
Exactly 1 person was on a park bench.
How Hard It Really Is
Deduction steps from the first clue to the verdict
Before anything else, count where each suspect could be if you only read their own clues:
Alex: 34 possible tiles
Bernd: 2 possible tiles
Carol: 3 possible tiles
Dylan: 2 possible tiles
Edison: 2 possible tiles
Floyd: 4 possible tiles
The first deductions after that, in the order the solver finds them:
Alex is south of someone with a matching trait – impossible cells removed.
Carol: only row 3 possible – blocked for others.
Floyd: only row 7 possible – blocked for others.
That is as far as this page goes. From here on it is yours — the in-game hint giver explains each next step if you get stuck, without giving the answer away.
This case has exactly one solution, and it can be reached by forward deduction alone — no guessing.