How to Solve a Deduction Grid, Step by Step
Published: 18 July — Anno Domini 2026
Every case in Enigmerra can be solved without guessing. The deduction grid is the tool that makes this possible: a map of everything you know, everything you have ruled out, and everything still hanging in the balance. This guide teaches you to read it, fill it in, and trust it — with a small case solved before your eyes.
What the grid actually is
A case file gives you a handful of suspects and, for each of them, exactly one place, one object, one motive or one moment of the day. The grid crosses these categories: each row meets each column in a little cell, and that cell asks a single question — do these two belong together?
Each cell has three possible states: empty (you do not know yet), a cross (you have ruled the pairing out) and a tick (you have proven it). Nothing else. The whole craft of the investigator is moving cells from "unknown" to "certain" — in the right order, for the right reasons.
The three golden rules
- 1. A tick closes its row and column. Each suspect has exactly one place, one object, one motive. The moment you prove a pairing, every other cell in that row and that column of the block becomes a cross. One tick can fill half a block for free.
- 2. The last cell standing gets the tick. If a row has crosses everywhere except one cell, that cell must be true — there is nowhere else for the pairing to go. Elimination is proof, not guesswork.
- 3. Matches travel. If the baker was at the mill, and whoever was at the mill carried the lantern, then the baker carried the lantern. Whatever you learn about a suspect's place also applies to their object, their motive, their moment — and back again.
A small case, solved
Three suspects — the baker, the watchman and the merchant — and three places: the mill, the wharf and the watchtower. Two findings from the Chancellery:
- Clue 1: The watchman was at the watchtower.
- Clue 2: The baker never set foot in the mill.
Watch the rules do the work:
- Clue 1 puts a tick on watchman ↔ watchtower. Rule 1 closes the line: crosses for the watchman at the mill and the wharf, and crosses for the baker and the merchant at the watchtower.
- Clue 2 adds a cross on baker ↔ mill. Look at the baker's row now: the mill is crossed, the watchtower is crossed. Only the wharf remains — Rule 2 gives the baker a tick at the wharf.
- That tick closes the wharf's column. The merchant's row now has crosses at the wharf and the watchtower, so the merchant was at the mill.
Two clues, three certainties, zero guesses. Real cases are larger and add objects, motives, moments and — from tier III up — testimonies that may lie. But the engine is always this one: tick, close, eliminate, repeat.
Mistakes that cost verdicts
- Marking a hunch. The grid records proof, not suspicion. If a clue did not force the mark, do not make it.
- Forgetting to close the line. Every tick should immediately produce its crosses. A tick without its crosses is work left undone.
- Reading each clue once. Conditional clues ("if the lantern was at the wharf, then…") may say nothing at first and everything later. When the grid changes, read the clues again.
- Rushing the verdict. You have three attempts and each mistake costs 15% of the score. When the grid is nearly full, one more pass through the clues is cheaper than a wrong verdict.
Good habits
Your grid saves itself as you play, so take your time. Hover a cell to see exactly which pair it crosses. If the picture gets muddled, the "Clear the grid" button gives you a clean start — the clues will still be there. And when you are truly stuck, the rules page explains the three progressive clues: free with a small penalty, or paid from your stipend of scrolls with no penalty at all.
Ready to see the culprit lie to your face? That is the subject of the next guide: The Supreme Law: the Art of Catching the Lie.