{"format":"murdoku-puzzle/1","id":"pit-stop","iconSet":"catalogue","version":1,"difficulty":"easy","level":4,"size":{"rows":6,"cols":6},"languages":["en","hu","de","fr","es","it","nl","pl","pt","ro","ca","cs","fi","vi","tr","el","ru","uk","ar","ko","ja","zh-Hans","zh-Hant"],"defaultLanguage":"en","title":"Pit Stop","tagline":"Monza, Saturday evening · the garage after qualifying · pole position and an empty cockpit","author":"mathace","concept":"Murdoku – Manuel Garand (murdoku.com); unofficial fan-made case","created":"2026-10-18","story":"Monza, Saturday evening of the Italian Grand Prix. At eight o’clock the pit lane fell quiet, and Valentina, who had just taken pole position, was nowhere to be found. Six people were in the team’s corner of the paddock that evening, Valentina included. She was found dead. Nobody celebrated the pole position.","rules":{"standard":["Every row and every column holds exactly one person. As soon as you place someone, cross out their whole row and column.","“Beside” = directly left, right, above or below, and in the same area. Squares with objects (the scoreboard, the cone, the racing car, the tyre stacks, the cart, the computer and the desk) cannot be occupied; the stools and the chair can.","Directions refer to rows and columns, not to the same line: “exactly one row north of him was a woman” = the person in the row directly above was a woman, in any column; “the northernmost person in her area” = nobody else in her area was in a row further up.","The murderer was alone with the victim: nobody else was in that area. The victim made no statement – her square, too, follows from the others’."],"special":[],"notes":[],"example":{}},"roleNames":{"crew":"member of the pit crew","management":"member of the management","driver":"driver","victim":"victim"},"personGroups":[{"id":"crew","name":"The pit crew","persons":["A","B"]},{"id":"management","name":"The management","persons":["C","D"]},{"id":"drivers","name":"The drivers","persons":["E","V"]}],"map":{"groups":[],"gaps":[],"areas":[{"id":"Pit Wall","cells":[[1,4],[1,5],[1,6]],"fill":"#dfe9ee","pattern":"tiles","labelAt":[1,4],"name":"Pit Wall"},{"id":"Pit Lane","cells":[[1,1],[1,2],[1,3],[2,1],[2,2],[2,3],[2,4]],"fill":"#e6dcc8","pattern":"boards","labelAt":[1,1.5],"name":"Pit Lane"},{"id":"Garage","cells":[[2,5],[3,1],[3,2],[3,3],[3,4],[3,5],[4,2],[4,3],[4,4],[4,5]],"fill":"#efd9c9","pattern":"marble","labelAt":[2,5],"name":"Garage"},{"id":"Tyre Store","cells":[[4,1],[5,1],[5,2],[5,3],[6,1],[6,2]],"fill":"#f2e6c8","pattern":"planks","labelAt":[4,1],"name":"Tyre Store"},{"id":"Engineers' Room","cells":[[2,6],[3,6],[4,6],[5,4],[5,5],[5,6],[6,3],[6,4],[6,5],[6,6]],"fill":"#d5e6d8","pattern":"tiles","labelAt":[2,6],"name":"Engineers' Room"}],"objectTypes":{"scoreboard":{"occupiable":false,"name":"scoreboard","icon":""},"stool":{"occupiable":true,"name":"stool","icon":""},"cone":{"occupiable":false,"name":"cone","icon":""},"racecar":{"occupiable":false,"name":"racing car","icon":""},"tyres":{"occupiable":false,"name":"tyre stack","icon":""},"cart":{"occupiable":false,"name":"cart","icon":""},"pc":{"occupiable":false,"name":"computer","icon":""},"desk":{"occupiable":false,"name":"desk","icon":""},"chair":{"occupiable":true,"name":"chair","icon":""}},"wallTypes":{},"objects":[{"cell":[1,1],"type":"cone"},{"cell":[1,4],"type":"stool"},{"cell":[1,6],"type":"scoreboard"},{"cell":[2,3],"type":"racecar"},{"cell":[2,5],"type":"tyres"},{"cell":[3,3],"type":"cart"},{"cell":[4,2],"type":"stool"},{"cell":[4,6],"type":"pc"},{"cell":[5,1],"type":"tyres"},{"cell":[5,6],"type":"chair"},{"cell":[6,2],"type":"tyres"},{"cell":[6,6],"type":"desk"}],"wallFeatures":[],"extras":[],"cellSize":46,"labelStyle":2},"persons":[{"id":"A","name":"Alessandro","gender":"M","role":"crew","color":"#c62828","avatar":{"bg":"#2f4858","skin":"#c98d62","hair":"#1c1a1a","style":"short","beard":true,"shirt":"#c62828"},"clue":"He was beside a tyre stack. The desk was somewhere in his row.","job":"race engineer","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"crew","constraints":[{"type":"beside","obj":"tyres"},{"type":"row_has","obj":"desk"}]},{"id":"B","name":"Beatrice","gender":"F","role":"crew","color":"#1565c0","avatar":{"bg":"#5b2c6f","skin":"#f0cdb0","hair":"#2a1c14","style":"ponytail","headband":"#ffffff","shirt":"#1565c0"},"clue":"She was the only one beside the racing car.","job":"chief mechanic","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"crew","constraints":[{"type":"only_beside","obj":"racecar"}]},{"id":"C","name":"Carlo","gender":"M","role":"management","color":"#2e7d32","avatar":{"bg":"#1b2a33","skin":"#f1c8a5","hair":"#5a5a5a","style":"slick","mustache":true,"mustacheColor":"#5a5a5a","shirt":"#2e7d32"},"clue":"He was beside a stool.","job":"team principal","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"management","constraints":[{"type":"beside","obj":"stool"}]},{"id":"D","name":"Donatella","gender":"F","role":"management","color":"#6a1b9a","avatar":{"bg":"#6e2c4b","skin":"#e7b98f","hair":"#1c1a1a","style":"bun","earrings":true,"shirt":"#6a1b9a"},"clue":"She was in a corner of her area. Exactly two rows north of her was somebody beside the cart.","job":"press officer","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"management","constraints":[{"type":"corner_of_area"},{"type":"rel_any","dir":"N","exact":2,"beside":"cart"}]},{"id":"E","name":"Enzo","gender":"M","role":"driver","color":"#e65100","avatar":{"bg":"#3d5a6e","skin":"#e9bf9b","hair":"#2a1c14","style":"short","cap":true,"beard":true,"shirt":"#e65100"},"clue":"The cart was not in his area.","job":"the second driver","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"driver","constraints":[{"type":"not_area_has","obj":"cart"}]},{"id":"V","name":"Valentina","gender":"F","role":"victim","color":"#1b1b1b","avatar":{"bg":"#35607a","skin":"#f3d3b5","hair":"#d9b464","style":"long","necklace":true,"shirt":"#1b1b1b"},"clue":"The victim. She was alone with the murderer.","job":"the lead driver","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"driver","constraints":[]}],"victim":"V","murderer":"C","solution":{"B":[1,3],"E":[2,6],"C":[3,2],"V":[4,5],"D":[5,4],"A":[6,1]},"walkthrough":[{"place":["A"],"cand":{"B":[[1,3],[2,2],[2,4]],"C":[[1,5],[3,2],[4,3]],"D":[[5,3],[5,4]],"E":[[1,2],[1,4],[1,5],[2,6]],"V":[[1,2],[1,4],[1,5],[2,6],[3,2],[3,4],[4,2],[4,3],[4,4],[4,5]]},"text":"Alessandro was beside a tyre stack and the desk (R6C6) was in his row, so he is in row 6; of its squares only R6C1 is beside a tyre stack in its own area (R5C1 and R6C2, in the Tyre Store) – R6C3 touches R6C2 too, but from another area, the Engineers' Room: Alessandro is at R6C1. Row 6 and column 1 are his. Donatella was in a corner of her area, with somebody two rows north of her; outside Alessandro's row and column that leaves her R4C2, R4C5, R5C3 and R5C4. If she were in row 4, somebody beside the cart would have to be in row 2 – but the squares beside the cart (R3C3) are R3C2, R3C4 and R4C3 (R2C3 above it is the racing car), none of them in row 2 – so R4C2 and R4C5 are out. R5C3 and R5C4 are both in row 5: row 5 is hers, and R5C2, R5C5 and R5C6 are empty. So the person beside the cart was in row 3, at R3C2 or R3C4, and as a row holds only one person, the rest of row 3 is empty: R3C5 and R3C6."},{"place":["B"],"cand":{"C":[[3,2]],"D":[[5,4]],"E":[[2,6]],"V":[[2,6],[3,2],[3,4],[4,2],[4,4],[4,5]]},"text":"Column 6 has a single square where anybody can be, R2C6: R1C6 is the scoreboard, R4C6 the computer and R6C6 the desk, and R3C6 and R5C6 were just emptied. Only Enzo or Valentina can be at R2C6, but somebody must be there, so the rest of row 2 is empty: R2C2 and R2C4. Beatrice was the only one beside the racing car (R2C3), so she had R1C3, R2C2 and R2C4 – with the last two gone, Beatrice is at R1C3."},{"place":["C","D"],"cand":{"E":[[2,6]],"V":[[2,6],[4,5]]},"text":"Beatrice's row and column cross out two of Carlo's three squares: he was beside a stool (R1C4 or R4C2), which left him R1C5, R3C2 and R4C3, and R1C5 is in row 1, R4C3 in column 3: Carlo is at R3C2. Donatella's squares were R5C3 and R5C4; R5C3 is in Beatrice's column, so R5C4 remains: Donatella is at R5C4."},{"place":["E","V"],"cand":{},"text":"Enzo was not in the Garage, because the cart was not in his area. Row 1 is Beatrice's, row 3 Carlo's, row 5 Donatella's and row 6 Alessandro's, R2C1 is in Alessandro's column, and R2C2 and R2C4 are empty, so only R2C6 is left: Enzo is at R2C6. Valentina made no statement, so her square follows from the others': only row 4 and column 5 are still free, which leaves R4C5: Valentina is at R4C5. It is in the Garage, where the only other person is Carlo, at R3C2."},{"final":true,"text":"Case closed: Valentina was alone in the Garage with Carlo, the team principal – the man she had told that she would leave for a rival team after the race. Carlo is the murderer!"}],"solver":{"rules":[],"occupiable":["stool","chair"]},"verification":{"tool":"tools/murdoku_solver.py","unique":true,"guessFree":true,"checked":"2026-10-18"},"score":4.1115}