{"format":"murdoku-puzzle/1","id":"alchemist","version":1,"difficulty":"medium","level":6,"size":{"rows":7,"cols":7},"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 Alchemist's House","tagline":"Golden Lane, Prague · a winter night in 1599 · the gold that never came","author":"mathace","concept":"Murdoku – Manuel Garand (murdoku.com); unofficial fan-made case","created":"2026-09-28","story":"Prague, Golden Lane, a frosty night in 1599. For months the alchemist Vavřinec had promised the emperor's court that his alembic would soon yield gold, and tonight a chamberlain had come to see the proof. The house was full: the maid stirred the soup in the kitchen, the apprentice fed the fire, a herbalist and a scholar had come in from the cold, and the owl watched everything from its perch. Before midnight Vavřinec was found dead in his laboratory, beside the alembic. The statements tell you where everyone was – find the one who was alone with him.","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 alembic, the owl, the bookcases, the cauldron, the candelabrum, the spiral staircase, the herb bed, the well, the table and the hearth) cannot be occupied; the armchair, the bed and the stools can.","The murderer was alone with the victim: nobody else was in that area."],"special":[]},"roleNames":{"household":"household","visitor":"visitor","victim":"victim"},"personGroups":[{"id":"household","name":"The household","persons":["A","B","C","V"]},{"id":"visitors","name":"Visitors","persons":["D","E","F"]}],"map":{"groups":[],"gaps":[],"areas":[{"id":"Laboratory","cells":[[1,1],[1,2],[1,3],[1,4],[2,1],[2,2],[2,3],[3,1]],"fill":"#e2dccb","pattern":"boards","labelAt":[2,2],"name":"Laboratory"},{"id":"Library","cells":[[1,5],[1,6],[1,7],[2,5],[2,6],[2,7],[3,6]],"fill":"#e9dbc5","pattern":"planks","labelAt":[2,6],"name":"Library"},{"id":"Stair Tower","cells":[[2,4],[3,4],[3,5]],"fill":"#d8d5ce","pattern":"tiles","labelAt":[3,4],"name":"Stair Tower"},{"id":"Bedchamber","cells":[[3,2],[3,3],[4,1],[4,2],[4,3],[4,4],[5,1],[5,2]],"fill":"#ead9d9","pattern":"carpet","labelAt":[4,2],"name":"Bedchamber"},{"id":"Kitchen","cells":[[4,5],[5,3],[5,4],[5,5],[6,1],[6,2],[6,3],[6,4],[7,1],[7,2],[7,3]],"fill":"#efe2cb","pattern":"tiles","labelAt":[5,3],"name":"Kitchen"},{"id":"Herb Garden","cells":[[3,7],[4,6],[4,7],[5,6],[5,7],[6,5],[6,6],[6,7],[7,4],[7,5],[7,6],[7,7]],"fill":"#dce8d0","pattern":"marble","labelAt":[6,6],"name":"Herb Garden"}],"objectTypes":{"armchair":{"occupiable":true,"name":"armchair","icon":""},"bed":{"occupiable":true,"name":"bed","icon":"","iconTall":""},"stool":{"occupiable":true,"name":"stool","icon":""},"alembic":{"occupiable":false,"name":"alembic","icon":""},"bookcase":{"occupiable":false,"name":"bookcase","icon":""},"candelabra":{"occupiable":false,"name":"candelabrum","icon":""},"cauldron":{"occupiable":false,"name":"cauldron","icon":""},"fireplace":{"occupiable":false,"name":"hearth","icon":""},"owl":{"occupiable":false,"name":"owl","icon":""},"planter":{"occupiable":false,"name":"herb bed","icon":""},"stairs":{"occupiable":false,"name":"spiral staircase","icon":""},"table":{"occupiable":false,"name":"table","icon":""},"well":{"occupiable":false,"name":"well","icon":""}},"wallTypes":{},"objects":[{"cell":[1,1],"type":"alembic"},{"cell":[1,4],"type":"owl"},{"cell":[1,6],"type":"bookcase"},{"cell":[1,7],"type":"bookcase"},{"cell":[2,3],"type":"cauldron"},{"cell":[2,7],"type":"armchair"},{"cell":[3,3],"type":"candelabra"},{"cell":[3,5],"type":"stairs"},{"cell":[4,1],"type":"bed"},{"cell":[4,7],"type":"planter"},{"cell":[5,1],"type":"bed"},{"cell":[5,6],"type":"well"},{"cell":[6,2],"type":"stool"},{"cell":[6,3],"type":"table"},{"cell":[6,4],"type":"stool"},{"cell":[7,1],"type":"fireplace"}],"wallFeatures":[],"extras":[],"cellSize":46},"persons":[{"id":"A","name":"Anežka","gender":"F","role":"household","color":"#c62828","avatar":{"bg":"#7a5a2c","skin":"#f6d8c0","hair":"#b7482c","style":"bun","shirt":"#8b5a2b","apron":true},"clue":"She was in the Kitchen.","job":"the maid","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"household","constraints":[{"type":"area","areas":["Kitchen"]}]},{"id":"B","name":"Bohumil","gender":"M","role":"household","color":"#2e7d32","avatar":{"bg":"#35607a","skin":"#f1c8a5","hair":"#5a3a22","style":"short","shirt":"#3f6a3a","apron":true},"clue":"He was not in a corner of his area. He was alone with a member of the household.","job":"the alchemist's apprentice","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"household","constraints":[{"type":"not_corner_of_area"},{"type":"with_role","role":"household","exact":true}]},{"id":"C","name":"Cordula","gender":"F","role":"household","color":"#1565c0","avatar":{"bg":"#5b2c6f","skin":"#f0cdb0","hair":"#1c1a1a","style":"long","shirt":"#6e2c4b","necklace":true},"clue":"She was in the Bedchamber.","job":"the alchemist's sister","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"household","constraints":[{"type":"area","areas":["Bedchamber"]}]},{"id":"D","name":"Drahomír","gender":"M","role":"visitor","color":"#6a1b9a","avatar":{"bg":"#1b2a33","skin":"#e7b98f","hair":"#3a2a1c","style":"slick","shirt":"#1b1b1b","beard":true,"tophat":"#1b1b1b"},"clue":"The cauldron was somewhere in his column.","job":"an imperial chamberlain","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"visitor","constraints":[{"type":"col_has","obj":"cauldron"}]},{"id":"E","name":"Eliška","gender":"F","role":"visitor","color":"#e65100","avatar":{"bg":"#3f6a3a","skin":"#f6d8c0","hair":"#d9b464","style":"ponytail","shirt":"#6f8f2a","scarf":"#e0b050"},"clue":"She was not beside the well. She was in a corner of her area.","job":"a herbalist from the Old Town","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"visitor","constraints":[{"type":"not_beside","obj":"well"},{"type":"corner_of_area"}]},{"id":"F","name":"Filip","gender":"M","role":"visitor","color":"#00838f","avatar":{"bg":"#2f4858","skin":"#e7b98f","hair":"#8a8278","style":"short","shirt":"#2f3b4c","glasses":true,"beard":true},"clue":"The candelabrum was somewhere in his row.","job":"a scholar from the university","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"visitor","constraints":[{"type":"row_has","obj":"candelabra"}]},{"id":"V","name":"Vavřinec","gender":"M","role":"victim","color":"#1b1b1b","avatar":{"bg":"#5a2a2a","skin":"#e4b998","hair":"#e8e4dc","style":"bald","shirt":"#3d2a5a","beard":true},"clue":"The victim. He was found in the Laboratory, beside the alembic – alone with the murderer.","job":"the alchemist","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"household","constraints":[{"type":"area","areas":["Laboratory"]},{"type":"beside","obj":"alembic"}]}],"victim":"V","murderer":"D","solution":{"D":[1,3],"V":[2,1],"F":[3,6],"C":[4,4],"A":[5,5],"B":[6,2],"E":[7,7]},"walkthrough":[{"place":["F","E"],"cand":{"A":[[4,5],[5,4],[5,5],[6,1],[6,2],[6,4]],"B":[[1,2],[2,1],[4,2],[5,4],[6,2]],"C":[[4,1],[4,2],[4,4],[5,1],[5,2]],"D":[[1,3],[4,3],[5,3]],"V":[[1,2],[2,1]]},"text":"Vavřinec was found beside the alembic (R1C1) in the Laboratory: R1C2 or R2C1 – and the murderer was alone with him there, so the Laboratory holds exactly two people. Nobody can be at R2C2: it would take both of Vavřinec’s squares. Filip had the candelabrum (R3C3) in his row and Drahomír the cauldron (R2C3) in his column: row 3 is Filip’s, column 3 Drahomír’s. Bohumil was alone with a member of the household – Anežka in the Kitchen, Cordula in the Bedchamber or Vavřinec in the Laboratory – so he is in one of these three areas. The Library and the Herb Garden are thus left to Eliška and Filip, as Drahomír’s column 3 reaches neither of them. Someone must be in column 6, whose free squares lie only in these two areas, and Eliška – in a corner of her area, not beside the well – could only take R3C6, in Filip’s row: R4C6 and R6C6 are beside the well, R2C6 and R7C6 are not corners. So Filip is at R3C6, and column 7, whose free squares lie in the same two areas, is Eliška’s: the armchair (R2C7) or R7C7 – R3C7 is in Filip’s row, and R5C7 and R6C7 are not corners. The Laboratory’s free squares lie in rows 1 to 3, and row 3 is Filip’s, so Vavřinec and the murderer take rows 1 and 2 between them: Eliška is at R7C7."},{"place":["B"],"cand":{"A":[[4,5],[5,5]],"C":[[4,1],[4,4],[5,1]],"D":[[1,3],[4,3]],"V":[[2,1]]},"text":"Who is in column 5? R1C5 and R2C5 lie in rows 1 and 2, which belong to Vavřinec and the murderer; the spiral staircase fills R3C5; R6C5 and R7C5 lie in the Herb Garden, where only Eliška could be – and she is at R7C7. That leaves R4C5 and R5C5, both corners of the Kitchen: Bohumil was not in a corner and Drahomír is in column 3, so column 5 is Anežka’s. Now row 6: R6C5, R6C6 and R6C7 lie in the Herb Garden, the table fills R6C3, and Anežka is in column 5, so the row belongs to Bohumil – and as R6C1 and R6C4 are corners of the Kitchen, Bohumil is at R6C2, sitting on a stool. The member of the household he was alone with is therefore Anežka: nobody else was in the Kitchen."},{"place":["C","A"],"cand":{"D":[[1,3]],"V":[[2,1]]},"text":"Who is in column 4? The owl fills R1C4; R2C4 and R3C4, in the Stair Tower, lie in rows 2 and 3, which are taken; R6C4 is in Bohumil’s row and R7C4 in Eliška’s; and R5C4 is in the Kitchen, where nobody else was. That leaves R4C4 in the Bedchamber, Cordula’s area: Cordula is at R4C4. Row 4 is hers, so Anežka is at R5C5."},{"place":["D","V"],"text":"Only Drahomír and Vavřinec are left, with rows 1 and 2 and columns 1 and 3. The Laboratory still needs the murderer: Anežka and Bohumil are in the Kitchen, Cordula in the Bedchamber, Eliška in the Herb Garden and Filip in the Library, so the only person who can be alone with Vavřinec in the Laboratory is Drahomír – Drahomír is the murderer. In his column 3 the Laboratory’s only free square is R1C3: Drahomír is at R1C3. Row 1 is his and column 2 Bohumil’s, so Vavřinec is at R2C1, beside the alembic."},{"final":true,"text":"Case closed: Vavřinec was alone in the Laboratory with the imperial chamberlain. Drahomír is the murderer!"}],"solver":{"rules":[],"occupiable":["armchair","bed","stool"]},"verification":{"tool":"tools/murdoku_solver.py","unique":true,"guessFree":true,"checked":"2026-09-28"}}