{"format":"murdoku-puzzle/1","id":"cookoff","version":1,"difficulty":"medium","level":5,"size":{"rows":8,"cols":8},"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":"The Fish Soup Cook-off","tagline":"The Danube bank at Baja · the second Saturday of July · the trophy stayed in the tent","author":"mathace","concept":"Murdoku – Manuel Garand (murdoku.com); unofficial fan-made case","created":"2026-10-05","story":"Baja, the second Saturday of July. Along the Danube two thousand cauldrons were smoking at the fish soup festival, but only four teams had reached the final on the riverbank, and the four finalists were stirring their paprika-red soups over open fires. The president of the jury, Virág, a celebrated chef from Budapest, was to taste them one by one and hand the trophy to the winner. While the brass band was playing on the stage, she went into the jury tent to sign the certificate – and never came out again. Four cooks and three visitors were on the festival ground, and each of them had something to say.","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 water, the cauldrons, the loudspeaker, the trophy, the microphone, the table, the reeds and the beer barrel) cannot be occupied; the rowing boats, the benches and the log 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 is a woman, in any column.","The murderer was alone with the victim: nobody else was in that area."],"special":[]},"roleNames":{"cook":"competitor","guest":"visitor","victim":"victim"},"personGroups":[{"id":"cooks","name":"The finalists","persons":["A","B","C","D"]},{"id":"guests","name":"Visitors","persons":["E","F","G"]},{"id":"jury","name":"The jury","persons":["V"]}],"map":{"groups":[],"gaps":[],"areas":[{"id":"Riverbank","cells":[[1,1],[2,1],[3,1],[4,1],[5,1],[5,2],[6,1],[6,2],[6,3],[7,1],[7,2],[7,3],[8,1],[8,2],[8,3],[8,4]],"fill":"#dce8d0","pattern":"marble","labelAt":[6,2],"name":"Riverbank"},{"id":"Cooking Row","cells":[[1,2],[1,3],[1,4],[1,5],[1,6],[2,2],[2,6],[3,2],[3,5],[3,6],[4,2],[4,3],[4,5],[5,3],[5,4],[5,5],[6,4]],"fill":"#efe6cf","pattern":"marble","labelAt":[4,5],"name":"Cooking Row"},{"id":"Jury Tent","cells":[[2,3],[2,4],[2,5],[3,3],[3,4],[4,4]],"fill":"#f3e0d6","pattern":"boards","labelAt":[3,4],"name":"Jury Tent"},{"id":"Beer Tent","cells":[[4,6],[4,7],[5,6],[5,7],[5,8],[6,5],[6,6],[6,7],[6,8],[7,4],[7,5],[7,6],[7,7],[7,8],[8,5],[8,6],[8,7],[8,8]],"fill":"#efe2cb","pattern":"planks","labelAt":[6,7],"name":"Beer Tent"},{"id":"Stage","cells":[[1,7],[1,8],[2,7],[2,8],[3,7],[3,8],[4,8]],"fill":"#e6dcef","pattern":"boards","labelAt":[2,8],"name":"Stage"}],"objectTypes":{"bench":{"occupiable":true,"name":"bench","icon":""},"boat":{"occupiable":true,"name":"rowing boat","icon":""},"log":{"occupiable":true,"name":"log","icon":""},"barrel":{"occupiable":false,"name":"beer barrel","icon":""},"cauldron":{"occupiable":false,"name":"cauldron","icon":""},"microphone":{"occupiable":false,"name":"microphone","icon":""},"reeds":{"occupiable":false,"name":"reeds","icon":""},"speaker":{"occupiable":false,"name":"loudspeaker","icon":""},"table":{"occupiable":false,"name":"table","icon":""},"trophy":{"occupiable":false,"name":"trophy","icon":""},"water":{"occupiable":false,"name":"water","icon":""}},"wallTypes":{},"objects":[{"cell":[1,1],"type":"water"},{"cell":[1,3],"type":"cauldron"},{"cell":[1,8],"type":"speaker"},{"cell":[2,1],"type":"water"},{"cell":[2,4],"type":"trophy"},{"cell":[2,6],"type":"cauldron"},{"cell":[2,7],"type":"microphone"},{"cell":[3,1],"type":"boat"},{"cell":[3,5],"type":"bench"},{"cell":[4,3],"type":"cauldron"},{"cell":[5,5],"type":"cauldron"},{"cell":[6,1],"type":"boat"},{"cell":[6,3],"type":"log"},{"cell":[6,6],"type":"bench"},{"cell":[7,1],"type":"water"},{"cell":[7,5],"type":"table"},{"cell":[8,1],"type":"water"},{"cell":[8,2],"type":"reeds"},{"cell":[8,6],"type":"bench"},{"cell":[8,8],"type":"barrel"}],"wallFeatures":[],"extras":[],"cellSize":46},"persons":[{"id":"A","name":"Andor","gender":"M","role":"cook","color":"#c62828","avatar":{"bg":"#35607a","skin":"#e4b998","hair":"#3a2a1c","style":"short","shirt":"#2e5a7a","mustache":true,"mustacheColor":"#3a2a1c","cap":true},"clue":"He was not beside a cauldron.","job":"a fisherman from Baja","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"cook","constraints":[{"type":"not_beside","obj":"cauldron"}]},{"id":"B","name":"Boglárka","gender":"F","role":"cook","color":"#2e7d32","avatar":{"bg":"#ad1457","skin":"#f6d8c0","hair":"#7a4a2a","style":"bun","shirt":"#f4efe6","apron":true,"earrings":true},"clue":"The log was somewhere in her column.","job":"the chef of a restaurant in Szeged","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"cook","constraints":[{"type":"col_has","obj":"log"}]},{"id":"C","name":"Csanád","gender":"M","role":"cook","color":"#1565c0","avatar":{"bg":"#5d4037","skin":"#f1c8a5","hair":"#8a8278","style":"slick","shirt":"#c62828","beard":true},"clue":"He was in the last row. Exactly one row north of him was a competitor.","job":"last year's champion","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"cook","constraints":[{"type":"row","rows":[8]},{"type":"rel_any","dir":"N","exact":1,"role":"cook"}]},{"id":"D","name":"Dorina","gender":"F","role":"cook","color":"#6a1b9a","avatar":{"bg":"#00695c","skin":"#f3d3b5","hair":"#b7482c","style":"ponytail","shirt":"#2e7d32","headband":"#e0b050"},"clue":"The trophy was somewhere in her column.","job":"a young food-truck owner","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"cook","constraints":[{"type":"col_has","obj":"trophy"}]},{"id":"E","name":"Előd","gender":"M","role":"guest","color":"#e65100","avatar":{"bg":"#1b2a33","skin":"#e7b98f","hair":"#d9d4cc","style":"bald","shirt":"#2f3b4c","glasses":true,"mustache":true,"mustacheColor":"#d9d4cc","bow":true},"clue":"There was no other man in his area. He was the only man beside a rowing boat.","job":"the mayor of Baja","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"guest","constraints":[{"type":"no_gender_in_area","gender":"M"},{"type":"only_beside","obj":"boat","gender":"M"}]},{"id":"F","name":"Fanni","gender":"F","role":"guest","color":"#00838f","avatar":{"bg":"#6e2c4b","skin":"#f0cdb0","hair":"#d9b464","style":"bob","shirt":"#e26d8a","necklace":true,"earrings":true},"clue":"She was beside the loudspeaker.","job":"a television reporter","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"guest","constraints":[{"type":"beside","obj":"speaker"}]},{"id":"G","name":"Gellért","gender":"M","role":"guest","color":"#ad1457","avatar":{"bg":"#e65100","skin":"#f1c8a5","hair":"#2b1d14","style":"short","shirt":"#f2a53a","beard":true,"glasses":true},"clue":"Exactly one person was sitting on a bench – not him, but somebody in his area.","job":"a holidaymaker from Budapest","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"guest","constraints":[{"type":"with_only_on","obj":"bench"}]},{"id":"V","name":"Virág","gender":"F","role":"victim","color":"#1b1b1b","avatar":{"bg":"#5a2a2a","skin":"#f6d8c0","hair":"#1c1a1a","style":"long","shirt":"#f4efe6","apron":true,"necklace":true},"clue":"The victim. She was found in the Jury Tent, beside the trophy – alone with the murderer.","job":"the president of the jury","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"jury","constraints":[{"type":"area","areas":["Jury Tent"]},{"type":"beside","obj":"trophy"}]}],"victim":"V","murderer":"D","solution":{"F":[1,7],"V":[2,5],"A":[3,2],"D":[4,4],"E":[5,1],"G":[6,8],"B":[7,3],"C":[8,6]},"walkthrough":[{"place":["V","F","C"],"cand":{"A":[[3,1],[3,2],[3,8],[4,8],[5,2],[5,8],[6,1],[6,8],[7,2],[7,8]],"B":[[3,3],[5,3],[6,3],[7,3]],"D":[[3,4],[4,4],[5,4],[6,4],[7,4]],"E":[[4,1],[5,1],[6,2]],"G":[[3,1],[3,2],[3,8],[4,2],[4,8],[5,2],[5,8],[6,1],[6,8],[7,2],[7,8]]},"text":"Virág was found in the Jury Tent beside the trophy (R2C4): at R2C3, R2C5 or R3C4 – and the murderer was alone with her there, so the Jury Tent holds exactly two people. Boglárka had the log (R6C3) somewhere in her column, so column 3 is hers; Dorina had the trophy in hers, so column 4 is hers. R2C3 lies in Boglárka’s column and R3C4 in Dorina’s: Virág is at R2C5. Fanni was beside the loudspeaker (R1C8): at R1C7 or R2C8, and R2C8 is in Virág’s row – Fanni is at R1C7. Csanád was in the last row. Of its free squares (the water, the reeds and the beer barrel block the rest) R8C3 is in Boglárka’s column, R8C4 in Dorina’s, R8C5 in Virág’s and R8C7 in Fanni’s: Csanád is at R8C6, sitting on the bench there. Rows 1, 2 and 8 and columns 5, 6 and 7 are now taken."},{"place":["A"],"cand":{"B":[[5,3],[6,3],[7,3]],"D":[[4,4],[5,4],[6,4],[7,4]],"E":[[4,1],[5,1]],"G":[[5,8],[6,8],[7,8]]},"text":"Gellért said that exactly one person was sitting on a bench, and that it was not him but somebody in his area. Csanád sits on the bench at R8C6, so he is that one person, and Gellért is in Csanád’s area, the Beer Tent. Its free squares outside the taken rows and columns are R7C4 – in Dorina’s column – and R5C8, R6C8 and R7C8: Gellért is in column 8. Andor, Boglárka, Dorina, Előd and Gellért share columns 1, 2, 3, 4 and 8; column 3 is Boglárka’s, 4 Dorina’s and 8 Gellért’s, so Andor and Előd take columns 1 and 2. Előd was beside a rowing boat: at R4C1 (beside the boat at R3C1), R5C1 or R6C2 (beside the boat at R6C1) – all in the Riverbank, where there was no other man. So Andor is not in the Riverbank; in columns 1 and 2 (rows 3 to 7) that leaves only R3C2 and R4C2 in the Cooking Row, and R4C2 is beside the cauldron at R4C3, while Andor was not beside a cauldron. Andor is at R3C2."},{"place":["D","B"],"cand":{"E":[[5,1]],"G":[[5,8],[6,8]]},"text":"The murderer must be in the Jury Tent with Virág. Apart from Virág’s square its squares are R2C3, R3C3, R3C4 and R4C4 (the trophy fills R2C4); row 2 is Virág’s and row 3 Andor’s, so only R4C4 is left. Column 4 belongs to Dorina, so the only person who can be alone with Virág in the Jury Tent is Dorina: Dorina is at R4C4 – she is the murderer. Csanád said that exactly one row north of him was a competitor, so the person in row 7 is one of the four cooks. Andor is in row 3, Dorina in row 4 and Csanád himself in row 8 – only Boglárka is left, in her column 3: Boglárka is at R7C3, in the Riverbank."},{"place":["E","G"],"text":"Előd’s squares were R4C1 and R5C1 (R6C2 is in Andor’s column); row 4 is Dorina’s, so Előd is at R5C1, beside the rowing boat at R6C1. Gellért’s squares were R5C8, R6C8 and R7C8; row 5 is Előd’s and row 7 Boglárka’s: Gellért is at R6C8. Everyone is placed: the only other person in the Riverbank is Boglárka, a woman, and nobody but Virág and Dorina is in the Jury Tent."},{"final":true,"text":"Case closed: Virág was alone in the Jury Tent with the young food-truck owner. Dorina is the murderer!"}],"solver":{"rules":[],"occupiable":["bench","boat","log"]},"verification":{"tool":"tools/murdoku_solver.py","unique":true,"guessFree":true,"checked":"2026-10-05"}}