{"format":"murdoku-puzzle/1","id":"allotment","version":1,"difficulty":"very-easy","level":2,"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":"The Allotments","tagline":"The allotments behind the gasworks · a Sunday in June 1953 · the week of the Coronation","author":"mathace","concept":"Murdoku – Manuel Garand (murdoku.com); unofficial fan-made case","created":"2026-09-29","story":"The allotments behind the gasworks, a Sunday in June 1953 – the week of the Coronation. Bunting hung from the tool shed, the runner beans were climbing their poles, and every plot-holder was getting ready for the vegetable show. Violetta, the chairwoman of the allotment society, had walked round with her clipboard that morning and told one of them that their plot would be taken away for untidiness. By noon she was dead in the orchard, beside an apple tree. Five people were on the allotments, and each gave one short statement – find the one who was alone with her.","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 wheelbarrow, the herb beds, the apple trees, the flower bed, the scarecrow and the well) cannot be occupied; the bench and the deckchairs can.","The murderer was alone with the victim: nobody else was in that area."],"special":[]},"roleNames":{"gardener":"plot-holder","victim":"victim"},"personGroups":[{"id":"gardeners","name":"The plot-holders","persons":["A","B","C","D","E","V"]}],"map":{"groups":[],"gaps":[],"areas":[{"id":"Tool Shed","cells":[[1,1],[1,2],[2,1]],"fill":"#dccbb0","pattern":"boards","labelAt":[1,2],"name":"Tool Shed"},{"id":"Herb Garden","cells":[[1,3],[1,4],[2,2],[2,3],[2,4]],"fill":"#dcebcd","pattern":"marble","labelAt":[1,3],"name":"Herb Garden"},{"id":"Orchard","cells":[[1,5],[1,6],[2,5],[2,6],[3,6],[4,6]],"fill":"#e2eecf","pattern":"marble","labelAt":[2,6],"name":"Orchard"},{"id":"Rose Garden","cells":[[3,1],[3,2],[4,1],[4,2],[5,1],[6,1],[6,2]],"fill":"#f3dde3","pattern":"marble","labelAt":[5,1],"name":"Rose Garden"},{"id":"Vegetable Patch","cells":[[3,3],[3,4],[3,5],[4,3],[4,4],[4,5],[5,2],[5,3],[5,4]],"fill":"#e9e0c8","pattern":"marble","labelAt":[4,3],"name":"Vegetable Patch"},{"id":"Lawn","cells":[[5,5],[5,6],[6,3],[6,4],[6,5],[6,6]],"fill":"#d4e8c2","pattern":"marble","labelAt":[6,5],"name":"Lawn"}],"objectTypes":{"bench":{"occupiable":true,"name":"bench","icon":""},"deckchair":{"occupiable":true,"name":"deckchair","icon":""},"flowers":{"occupiable":false,"name":"flower bed","icon":""},"planter":{"occupiable":false,"name":"herb bed","icon":""},"scarecrow":{"occupiable":false,"name":"scarecrow","icon":""},"tree":{"occupiable":false,"name":"apple tree","icon":""},"well":{"occupiable":false,"name":"well","icon":""},"wheelbarrow":{"occupiable":false,"name":"wheelbarrow","icon":""}},"wallTypes":{},"objects":[{"cell":[1,1],"type":"wheelbarrow"},{"cell":[1,4],"type":"planter"},{"cell":[1,6],"type":"tree"},{"cell":[2,3],"type":"planter"},{"cell":[3,2],"type":"bench"},{"cell":[3,6],"type":"tree"},{"cell":[4,1],"type":"flowers"},{"cell":[4,4],"type":"scarecrow"},{"cell":[5,6],"type":"deckchair"},{"cell":[6,3],"type":"deckchair"},{"cell":[6,6],"type":"well"}],"wallFeatures":[],"extras":[],"cellSize":46},"persons":[{"id":"A","name":"Alfie","gender":"M","role":"gardener","color":"#c62828","avatar":{"bg":"#1565c0","skin":"#e4b998","hair":"#8a8278","style":"bald","shirt":"#264653","mustache":true,"mustacheColor":"#8a8278","cap":true},"clue":"He was beside the bench.","job":"a retired postman","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"gardener","constraints":[{"type":"beside","obj":"bench"}]},{"id":"B","name":"Bronwen","gender":"F","role":"gardener","color":"#2e7d32","avatar":{"bg":"#00838f","skin":"#f6d8c0","hair":"#7a4a2a","style":"bun","shirt":"#f4efe6","glasses":true},"clue":"She was in the Herb Garden.","job":"a nurse from the cottage hospital","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"gardener","constraints":[{"type":"area","areas":["Herb Garden"]}]},{"id":"C","name":"Crosby","gender":"M","role":"gardener","color":"#1565c0","avatar":{"bg":"#3f6a3a","skin":"#d9a57a","hair":"#1c1a1a","style":"short","shirt":"#6b8e23","beard":true},"clue":"He was beside the scarecrow.","job":"a bus driver who grew prize marrows","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"gardener","constraints":[{"type":"beside","obj":"scarecrow"}]},{"id":"D","name":"Dymphna","gender":"F","role":"gardener","color":"#6a1b9a","avatar":{"bg":"#6a1b9a","skin":"#f3d3b5","hair":"#d9d4cc","style":"long","shirt":"#7a5a9a","scarf":"#e0b050"},"clue":"She was in the last column.","job":"a widow who grew sweet peas","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"gardener","constraints":[{"type":"col","cols":[6]}]},{"id":"E","name":"Elmer","gender":"M","role":"gardener","color":"#e65100","avatar":{"bg":"#e65100","skin":"#f1c8a5","hair":"#b7482c","style":"slick","shirt":"#5d4037","glasses":true,"mustache":true,"mustacheColor":"#b7482c"},"clue":"He was the only one sitting in a deckchair.","job":"the society's treasurer","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"gardener","constraints":[{"type":"only_on","obj":"deckchair"}]},{"id":"V","name":"Violetta","gender":"F","role":"victim","color":"#1b1b1b","avatar":{"bg":"#5a2a2a","skin":"#f6d8c0","hair":"#3a2a1c","style":"bob","shirt":"#6a1b9a","necklace":true,"glasses":true},"clue":"The victim. She was found in the Orchard, beside an apple tree – alone with the murderer.","job":"the chairwoman of the allotment society","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"gardener","constraints":[{"type":"area","areas":["Orchard"]},{"type":"beside","obj":"tree"}]}],"victim":"V","murderer":"D","solution":{"V":[1,5],"B":[2,2],"A":[3,1],"D":[4,6],"C":[5,4],"E":[6,3]},"walkthrough":[{"place":["E"],"cand":{"D":[[2,6],[4,6]],"B":[[2,2],[2,4]],"A":[[3,1],[4,2]],"C":[[3,4],[4,5],[5,4]]},"text":"Dymphna was in the last column, so column 6 is hers – nobody else can be there. Elmer was the only one sitting in a deckchair, and there are two: R5C6 in column 6, which belongs to Dymphna, and R6C3. So Elmer is at R6C3: cross out row 6 and column 3."},{"place":["D"],"cand":{"B":[[2,2],[2,4]],"A":[[3,1]],"C":[[3,4],[5,4]]},"text":"Bronwen was in the Herb Garden. Its free squares are R1C3, R2C2 and R2C4 (R1C4 and R2C3 are herb beds), and column 3 is Elmer's: she is at R2C2 or R2C4 – in row 2 either way, so row 2 is hers. Dymphna's last column offers R2C6, R4C6 and the deckchair at R5C6 (R1C6 and R3C6 are apple trees, R6C6 is the well). The deckchair is out – Elmer was the only one in a deckchair – and row 2 is Bronwen's: Dymphna is at R4C6."},{"place":["A","C"],"cand":{"B":[[2,2]]},"text":"Alfie was beside the bench (R3C2, in the Rose Garden): at R3C1 or R4C2 – R2C2 belongs to the Herb Garden and R3C3 to the Vegetable Patch. Row 4 is Dymphna's: Alfie is at R3C1. Crosby was beside the scarecrow (R4C4): at R3C4, R4C3, R4C5 or R5C4, all in the Vegetable Patch. Rows 3 and 4 are taken: Crosby is at R5C4."},{"place":["B"],"cand":{},"text":"Column 4 is Crosby's now, so Bronwen cannot use R2C4: Bronwen is at R2C2."},{"final":true,"text":"Case closed: the last free square, R1C5, is the victim's – in the Orchard, beside an apple tree, just as her card says, although we never needed it. Violetta was alone there with the widow who grew sweet peas. Dymphna is the murderer!"}],"solver":{"rules":[],"occupiable":["bench","deckchair"]},"verification":{"tool":"tools/murdoku_solver.py","unique":true,"guessFree":true,"checked":"2026-09-29"}}