{"format":"murdoku-puzzle/1","id":"lighthouse","version":1,"difficulty":"easy","level":3,"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 Lighthouse","tagline":"A lighthouse islet off the Scottish coast · an October evening in 1932 · the lamp had just been lit","author":"mathace","concept":"Murdoku – Manuel Garand (murdoku.com); unofficial fan-made case","created":"2026-09-29","story":"A tiny islet off the west coast of Scotland, October 1932. Once a month a fishing boat ferried visitors across, and that evening the wind rose so fast that nobody could sail back: three guests stayed with the keeper and his daughter. Vere, the inspector from the mainland, had come to decide whether the lighthouse would run with a clockwork lamp from now on – and whether the keeper's family would have to leave. At dusk, just as the great lamp began to turn, he was found on the rocky shore at the foot of the tower. Everyone on the islet made a short statement – 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 flower bed, the lighthouse, the stove, the herb bed, the rocks and the water) cannot be occupied; the bed, the chair and the boats can.","The murderer was alone with the victim: nobody else was in that area."],"special":[]},"roleNames":{"family":"family","visitor":"visitor","victim":"victim"},"personGroups":[{"id":"family","name":"The keeper's family","persons":["A","B"]},{"id":"visitors","name":"Visitors","persons":["C","D","E","V"]}],"map":{"groups":[],"gaps":[],"areas":[{"id":"Garden","cells":[[1,1],[1,2],[2,1],[3,1],[3,2],[4,2]],"fill":"#dcebcd","pattern":"marble","labelAt":[2,1],"name":"Garden"},{"id":"Keeper's Cottage","cells":[[1,3],[1,4],[1,5],[2,2],[2,3],[2,4],[3,3]],"fill":"#eadfcb","pattern":"planks","labelAt":[2,4],"name":"Keeper's Cottage"},{"id":"Rocky Shore","cells":[[1,6],[2,5],[2,6],[3,4],[3,5],[4,1],[4,3],[4,4],[5,1],[5,2],[5,3],[6,1],[6,2]],"fill":"#e0dcd3","pattern":"marble","labelAt":[4,3],"name":"Rocky Shore"},{"id":"Jetty","cells":[[4,5],[5,4],[5,5]],"fill":"#d9c29a","pattern":"boards","labelAt":[5,5],"name":"Jetty"},{"id":"Sea","cells":[[3,6],[4,6],[5,6],[6,3],[6,4],[6,5],[6,6]],"fill":"#cfe3ee","labelAt":[5,6],"name":"Sea"}],"objectTypes":{"bed":{"occupiable":true,"name":"bed","icon":"","iconTall":""},"boat":{"occupiable":true,"name":"boat","icon":""},"chair":{"occupiable":true,"name":"chair","icon":""},"flowers":{"occupiable":false,"name":"flower bed","icon":""},"lighthouse":{"occupiable":false,"name":"lighthouse","icon":""},"planter":{"occupiable":false,"name":"herb bed","icon":""},"rock":{"occupiable":false,"name":"rock","icon":""},"stove":{"occupiable":false,"name":"stove","icon":""},"water":{"occupiable":false,"name":"water","icon":""}},"wallTypes":{},"objects":[{"cell":[1,1],"type":"flowers"},{"cell":[1,3],"type":"bed"},{"cell":[1,6],"type":"lighthouse"},{"cell":[2,2],"type":"stove"},{"cell":[2,3],"type":"chair"},{"cell":[3,2],"type":"planter"},{"cell":[3,4],"type":"rock"},{"cell":[3,6],"type":"boat"},{"cell":[4,6],"type":"water"},{"cell":[5,2],"type":"rock"},{"cell":[5,6],"type":"water"},{"cell":[6,3],"type":"boat"},{"cell":[6,4],"type":"water"},{"cell":[6,5],"type":"boat"},{"cell":[6,6],"type":"water"}],"wallFeatures":[],"extras":[],"cellSize":46},"persons":[{"id":"A","name":"Ailsa","gender":"F","role":"family","color":"#c62828","avatar":{"bg":"#1565c0","skin":"#f6d8c0","hair":"#b7482c","style":"long","shirt":"#6b8e23","scarf":"#e0b050"},"clue":"She was not in the Garden.","job":"the keeper's daughter","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"family","constraints":[{"type":"not_area","areas":["Garden"]}]},{"id":"B","name":"Blair","gender":"M","role":"family","color":"#2e7d32","avatar":{"bg":"#2f4858","skin":"#e4b998","hair":"#8a8278","style":"short","shirt":"#264653","beard":true,"cap":true},"clue":"He was in the Keeper's Cottage.","job":"the lighthouse keeper","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"family","constraints":[{"type":"area","areas":["Keeper's Cottage"]}]},{"id":"C","name":"Catriona","gender":"F","role":"visitor","color":"#1565c0","avatar":{"bg":"#6a1b9a","skin":"#f0cdb0","hair":"#1c1a1a","style":"bob","shirt":"#7a5a9a","earrings":true,"scarf":"#c0392b"},"clue":"She was in the first column.","job":"a painter from Glasgow","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"visitor","constraints":[{"type":"col","cols":[1]}]},{"id":"D","name":"Dougal","gender":"M","role":"visitor","color":"#6a1b9a","avatar":{"bg":"#35607a","skin":"#d9a57a","hair":"#5a3a22","style":"short","shirt":"#f2a53a","beard":true},"clue":"He was the only one sitting in a boat. He was in the last row.","job":"the fisherman who ferried the visitors","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"visitor","constraints":[{"type":"only_on","obj":"boat"},{"type":"row","rows":[6]}]},{"id":"E","name":"Effie","gender":"F","role":"visitor","color":"#e65100","avatar":{"bg":"#3f6a3a","skin":"#f3d3b5","hair":"#d9b464","style":"ponytail","shirt":"#2e7d32","glasses":true},"clue":"She was in the first row.","job":"a birdwatcher from Edinburgh","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"visitor","constraints":[{"type":"row","rows":[1]}]},{"id":"V","name":"Vere","gender":"M","role":"victim","color":"#1b1b1b","avatar":{"bg":"#5a2a2a","skin":"#f1c8a5","hair":"#3a2a1c","style":"slick","shirt":"#1b1b1b","mustache":true,"mustacheColor":"#3a2a1c","glasses":true},"clue":"The victim. He was found on the Rocky Shore, beside the lighthouse – alone with the murderer.","job":"the inspector from the mainland","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"visitor","constraints":[{"type":"area","areas":["Rocky Shore"]},{"type":"beside","obj":"lighthouse"}]}],"victim":"V","murderer":"C","solution":{"E":[1,2],"V":[2,6],"B":[3,3],"C":[4,1],"A":[5,4],"D":[6,5]},"walkthrough":[{"place":["B","D"],"cand":{"A":[[2,6],[4,4],[5,4]],"C":[[4,1],[5,1]],"E":[[1,2],[1,4]]},"text":"Column 6 has only one usable square. R1C6 is the lighthouse, R4C6–R6C6 are water, and R3C6 is a boat – but Dougal was the only one in a boat, and he was in the last row. So somebody is at R2C6, and row 2 is theirs. Effie owns the first row. Blair was in the Keeper's Cottage, whose squares all lie in rows 1–3; rows 1 and 2 are taken, so Blair is at R3C3. Dougal's boat in the last row is R6C3 or R6C5, and column 3 is Blair's: Dougal is at R6C5."},{"place":["A"],"cand":{"C":[[4,1]],"E":[[1,2]],"V":[[2,6]]},"text":"Catriona is in the first column, and rows 2, 3 and 6 are taken: she is at R4C1 or R5C1 – on the Rocky Shore either way. Now think about the victim: the murderer was with him, so exactly one other person shared his area. The rows and columns still free leave him R2C6, R4C2, R4C4 or R5C4. At R4C2 in the Garden and at R5C4 on the Jetty nobody could have joined him (the Garden's last free square, R1C2, is in the same column; the Jetty's other squares are in Dougal's column). So the victim was on the Rocky Shore – with Catriona, and with nobody else. Ailsa is left with R2C6, R4C4 and R5C4, and the first two are on the Rocky Shore: Ailsa is at R5C4, on the Jetty."},{"place":["C","E"],"cand":{"V":[[2,6]]},"text":"Row 5 is Ailsa's, so Catriona is at R4C1; column 4 is Ailsa's too, so Effie is at R1C2."},{"final":true,"text":"Case closed: the last free square, R2C6, is the victim's – on the Rocky Shore, beside the lighthouse, just as his card says. Vere was alone there with the painter from Glasgow. Catriona is the murderer!"}],"solver":{"rules":[],"occupiable":["bed","boat","chair"]},"verification":{"tool":"tools/murdoku_solver.py","unique":true,"guessFree":true,"checked":"2026-09-29"}}