{"format":"murdoku-puzzle/1","id":"lake","version":1,"difficulty":"easy","level":3,"size":{"rows":5,"cols":5},"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 Boating Lake","tagline":"A Victorian city park · a July Sunday in 1895 · three boats on the water","author":"mathace","concept":"Murdoku – Manuel Garand (murdoku.com); unofficial fan-made case","created":"2026-09-29","story":"London, a hot Sunday afternoon in July 1895. In the city park the brass band was tuning up, three rowing boats drifted across the boating lake, the rose garden was in full bloom and the café terrace served lemonade in the shade. Vyvyan, a banker known for never leaving a tip, had taken the table on the terrace with his newspaper. When the band struck up at four o'clock, he was found slumped beside that table. Only four people had been near him, and each gave a one-sentence statement – find out 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 table, the flower beds, the water, the buoy and the fountain) cannot be occupied; the chairs, the rowing boats and the bench can.","The murderer was alone with the victim: nobody else was in that area."],"special":[]},"roleNames":{"visitor":"visitor","staff":"staff","victim":"victim"},"personGroups":[{"id":"visitors","name":"Visitors","persons":["A","B","V"]},{"id":"staff","name":"The park staff","persons":["C","D"]}],"map":{"groups":[],"gaps":[],"areas":[{"id":"Café Terrace","cells":[[1,1],[1,2],[1,3],[2,1],[2,2],[3,1]],"fill":"#f1e3cf","pattern":"tiles","labelAt":[2,2],"name":"Café Terrace"},{"id":"Lake","cells":[[2,3],[2,4],[3,2],[3,3],[3,4],[4,2],[4,3]],"fill":"#cfe3ee","labelAt":[3,3],"name":"Lake"},{"id":"Boathouse","cells":[[4,1],[5,1],[5,2]],"fill":"#e2d3b8","pattern":"planks","labelAt":[5,2],"name":"Boathouse"},{"id":"Rose Garden","cells":[[1,4],[1,5],[2,5],[3,5],[4,4],[4,5],[5,3],[5,4],[5,5]],"fill":"#f3dde3","pattern":"marble","labelAt":[4,4],"name":"Rose Garden"}],"objectTypes":{"bench":{"occupiable":true,"name":"bench","icon":""},"boat":{"occupiable":true,"name":"rowing boat","icon":""},"chair":{"occupiable":true,"name":"chair","icon":""},"buoy":{"occupiable":false,"name":"buoy","icon":""},"flowers":{"occupiable":false,"name":"flower bed","icon":""},"fountain":{"occupiable":false,"name":"fountain","icon":""},"table":{"occupiable":false,"name":"table","icon":""},"water":{"occupiable":false,"name":"water","icon":""}},"wallTypes":{},"objects":[{"cell":[1,1],"type":"chair"},{"cell":[1,2],"type":"table"},{"cell":[1,3],"type":"chair"},{"cell":[1,5],"type":"flowers"},{"cell":[2,1],"type":"flowers"},{"cell":[2,3],"type":"water"},{"cell":[2,4],"type":"boat"},{"cell":[3,2],"type":"boat"},{"cell":[3,3],"type":"water"},{"cell":[3,4],"type":"water"},{"cell":[3,5],"type":"bench"},{"cell":[4,1],"type":"chair"},{"cell":[4,2],"type":"water"},{"cell":[4,3],"type":"boat"},{"cell":[5,1],"type":"buoy"},{"cell":[5,4],"type":"fountain"}],"wallFeatures":[],"extras":[],"cellSize":46},"persons":[{"id":"A","name":"Adelaide","gender":"F","role":"visitor","color":"#c62828","avatar":{"bg":"#35607a","skin":"#f6d8c0","hair":"#7a4a2a","style":"bun","shirt":"#2f3b4c","necklace":true},"clue":"She was in the last column.","job":"a governess on her afternoon off","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"visitor","constraints":[{"type":"col","cols":[5]}]},{"id":"B","name":"Barnabas","gender":"M","role":"visitor","color":"#2e7d32","avatar":{"bg":"#1b2a33","skin":"#e4b998","hair":"#e8e4dc","style":"short","shirt":"#264653","beard":true,"cap":true},"clue":"He was sitting in a rowing boat.","job":"a retired sea captain","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"visitor","constraints":[{"type":"on","obj":"boat"}]},{"id":"C","name":"Clarissa","gender":"F","role":"staff","color":"#1565c0","avatar":{"bg":"#ad1457","skin":"#f3d3b5","hair":"#d9b464","style":"ponytail","shirt":"#e26d8a","headband":"#f2a53a"},"clue":"She was in the first row.","job":"the flower girl at the park gate","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"staff","constraints":[{"type":"row","rows":[1]}]},{"id":"D","name":"Dudley","gender":"M","role":"staff","color":"#6a1b9a","avatar":{"bg":"#3f6a3a","skin":"#e7b98f","hair":"#3a2a1c","style":"short","shirt":"#5d4037","mustache":true,"mustacheColor":"#3a2a1c","cap":true},"clue":"He was beside a flower bed. He was not beside the table.","job":"the boat keeper","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"staff","constraints":[{"type":"beside","obj":"flowers"},{"type":"not_beside","obj":"table"}]},{"id":"V","name":"Vyvyan","gender":"M","role":"victim","color":"#1b1b1b","avatar":{"bg":"#5a2a2a","skin":"#f1c8a5","hair":"#8a8278","style":"slick","shirt":"#1b1b1b","mustache":true,"mustacheColor":"#8a8278","tophat":"#1b1b1b"},"clue":"The victim. He was found on the Café Terrace, beside the table – alone with the murderer.","job":"a banker who never tipped","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"visitor","constraints":[{"type":"area","areas":["Café Terrace"]},{"type":"beside","obj":"table"}]}],"victim":"V","murderer":"D","solution":{"C":[1,4],"V":[2,2],"D":[3,1],"B":[4,3],"A":[5,5]},"walkthrough":[{"place":["D"],"cand":{"A":[[2,5],[4,5],[5,5]],"B":[[2,4],[4,3]],"C":[[1,3],[1,4]]},"text":"Dudley was beside a flower bed but not beside the table. The flower beds are at R1C5 in the Rose Garden and at R2C1 on the Café Terrace; the squares beside them in the same area are R1C4, R2C5, R1C1, R2C2 and R3C1 – and R1C1 and R2C2 are beside the table as well. That leaves R1C4, R2C5 and R3C1. R1C4 is in the first row, the only row Clarissa can have; R2C5 is in the last column, the only column Adelaide can have. So Dudley is at R3C1, and nobody else can use row 3 or column 1."},{"place":["B"],"cand":{"A":[[5,5]],"C":[[1,4]],"V":[[2,2]]},"text":"Now look at the columns. Barnabas is in one of his boats, R2C4 or R4C3, and Clarissa is at R1C3 or R1C4 – between them they fill columns 3 and 4. Adelaide has column 5 and Dudley column 1, so column 2 is left over: it must be the victim's. Its free squares are R2C2 and R5C2 (R1C2 is the table, R4C2 is water, row 3 is Dudley's). At R5C2 the victim would have been alone in the Boathouse – its other two squares are in Dudley's column – but the murderer was with him. So the victim is in row 2, and Barnabas cannot use it: Barnabas is in the boat at R4C3."},{"place":["C","A"],"cand":{"V":[[2,2]]},"text":"Column 3 is Barnabas's now, so Clarissa is at R1C4. Rows 2 and 4 are taken, so Adelaide is at R5C5."},{"final":true,"text":"Case closed: the last free square, R2C2, is the victim's – on the Café Terrace, beside the table, just as his card says, although we never needed it. Vyvyan was alone there with the boat keeper. Dudley is the murderer!"}],"solver":{"rules":[],"occupiable":["bench","boat","chair"]},"verification":{"tool":"tools/murdoku_solver.py","unique":true,"guessFree":true,"checked":"2026-09-29"}}