{"format":"murdoku-puzzle/1","id":"clock","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 Clockmaker's Shop","tagline":"A clockmaker’s shop · as the clocks strike six · the owner did not hear them","author":"mathace","concept":"Murdoku – Manuel Garand (murdoku.com); unofficial fan-made case","created":"2026-10-06","story":"In Vreni's clockmaker's shop a hundred clocks tick at once, and at six they all strike together – the moment the shop closes. That afternoon the shop was still busy with the last four customers of the day, and the three members of staff had their hands full. Vreni herself had retired to the parlour to wind the old clocks, as she did every evening. When the chimes of six died away, Brigitta went to tell her that the shop was locked – and found her dead beside one of the clocks. Nobody had left: the key to the front door was still in Vreni's pocket. The staff and the customers each told the inspector where they had been at six.","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 clocks, the counter, the display cabinet, the mirror, the lamp, the desk, the shelf, the tree, the chest, the planter, the safe and the well) cannot be occupied; the armchair, the sofa, the stools and the bench 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":{"staff":"member of staff","customer":"customer","victim":"victim"},"personGroups":[{"id":"staff","name":"Staff","persons":["A","B","C"]},{"id":"customers","name":"Customers","persons":["D","E","F","G"]},{"id":"owner","name":"The owner","persons":["V"]}],"map":{"groups":[],"gaps":[],"areas":[{"id":"Shop","cells":[[1,1],[1,2],[1,3],[1,4],[1,5],[2,1],[2,2],[2,3],[2,4],[3,1],[3,2],[4,1],[4,2],[5,1],[5,2],[6,2]],"fill":"#efe2cb","pattern":"planks","labelAt":[3,2],"name":"Shop"},{"id":"Parlour","cells":[[1,6],[1,7],[1,8],[2,5],[2,6],[2,7],[2,8],[3,6],[3,7],[3,8],[4,7]],"fill":"#e6dcef","pattern":"carpet","labelAt":[2,7],"name":"Parlour"},{"id":"Workshop","cells":[[3,3],[3,4],[3,5],[4,3],[4,4],[4,5],[4,6],[5,3],[5,4],[5,5],[5,6],[6,3],[6,4],[6,5],[7,3]],"fill":"#dcdad4","pattern":"boards","labelAt":[4,5],"name":"Workshop"},{"id":"Storeroom","cells":[[6,1],[7,1],[7,2],[8,1],[8,2]],"fill":"#e2d6c4","pattern":"planks","labelAt":[7,1],"name":"Storeroom"},{"id":"Courtyard","cells":[[4,8],[5,7],[5,8],[6,6],[6,7],[6,8],[7,4],[7,5],[7,6],[7,7],[7,8],[8,3],[8,4],[8,5],[8,6],[8,7],[8,8]],"fill":"#e3e9d6","pattern":"marble","labelAt":[7,6],"name":"Courtyard"}],"objectTypes":{"armchair":{"occupiable":true,"name":"armchair","icon":""},"bench":{"occupiable":true,"name":"bench","icon":""},"sofa":{"occupiable":true,"name":"sofa","icon":""},"stool":{"occupiable":true,"name":"stool","icon":""},"cabinet":{"occupiable":false,"name":"display cabinet","icon":""},"chest":{"occupiable":false,"name":"chest","icon":""},"clock":{"occupiable":false,"name":"clock","icon":""},"counter":{"occupiable":false,"name":"counter","icon":""},"desk":{"occupiable":false,"name":"desk","icon":""},"lamp":{"occupiable":false,"name":"lamp","icon":""},"mirror":{"occupiable":false,"name":"mirror","icon":""},"planter":{"occupiable":false,"name":"planter","icon":""},"safe":{"occupiable":false,"name":"safe","icon":""},"shelf":{"occupiable":false,"name":"shelf","icon":""},"tree":{"occupiable":false,"name":"tree","icon":""},"well":{"occupiable":false,"name":"well","icon":""}},"wallTypes":{},"objects":[{"cell":[1,1],"type":"clock"},{"cell":[1,4],"type":"counter"},{"cell":[1,7],"type":"armchair"},{"cell":[2,2],"type":"cabinet"},{"cell":[2,6],"type":"mirror"},{"cell":[2,8],"type":"sofa"},{"cell":[3,3],"type":"lamp"},{"cell":[3,8],"type":"clock"},{"cell":[4,3],"type":"stool"},{"cell":[4,4],"type":"desk"},{"cell":[5,4],"type":"clock"},{"cell":[5,5],"type":"stool"},{"cell":[6,2],"type":"shelf"},{"cell":[6,8],"type":"tree"},{"cell":[7,2],"type":"chest"},{"cell":[7,4],"type":"bench"},{"cell":[7,8],"type":"planter"},{"cell":[8,1],"type":"safe"},{"cell":[8,5],"type":"well"}],"wallFeatures":[],"extras":[],"cellSize":46},"persons":[{"id":"A","name":"Alois","gender":"M","role":"staff","color":"#c62828","avatar":{"bg":"#1b2a33","skin":"#f1c8a5","hair":"#d9d4cc","style":"bald","shirt":"#2f3b4c","glasses":true,"mustache":true,"mustacheColor":"#d9d4cc","apron":true},"clue":"A clock was somewhere in his row.","job":"master clockmaker","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"staff","constraints":[{"type":"row_has","obj":"clock"}]},{"id":"B","name":"Brigitta","gender":"F","role":"staff","color":"#2e7d32","avatar":{"bg":"#6e2c4b","skin":"#f6d8c0","hair":"#7a4a2a","style":"bun","shirt":"#f4efe6","necklace":true},"clue":"She was the only one sitting on a stool.","job":"shop assistant","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"staff","constraints":[{"type":"only_on","obj":"stool"}]},{"id":"C","name":"Chrischona","gender":"F","role":"staff","color":"#1565c0","avatar":{"bg":"#35607a","skin":"#f3d3b5","hair":"#b7482c","style":"ponytail","shirt":"#4a5a7a","glasses":true,"apron":true},"clue":"","job":"apprentice clockmaker","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"staff","constraints":[]},{"id":"D","name":"Donat","gender":"M","role":"customer","color":"#6a1b9a","avatar":{"bg":"#2f4858","skin":"#e7b98f","hair":"#1c1a1a","style":"slick","shirt":"#1b1b1b","bow":true,"beard":true},"clue":"He was in the Storeroom. Exactly one row north of him was a man.","job":"a notary","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"customer","constraints":[{"type":"area","areas":["Storeroom"]},{"type":"rel_any","dir":"N","exact":1,"gender":"M"}]},{"id":"E","name":"Elsbeth","gender":"F","role":"customer","color":"#e65100","avatar":{"bg":"#ad1457","skin":"#f0cdb0","hair":"#d9d4cc","style":"bob","shirt":"#5b2c6f","glasses":true,"earrings":true,"scarf":"#e0b050"},"clue":"Exactly one person was sitting on the bench – not her, but somebody in her area.","job":"a collector of music boxes","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"customer","constraints":[{"type":"with_only_on","obj":"bench"}]},{"id":"F","name":"Fridolin","gender":"M","role":"customer","color":"#00838f","avatar":{"bg":"#5d4037","skin":"#e4b998","hair":"#3a2a1c","style":"short","shirt":"#8b7a5a","mustache":true,"mustacheColor":"#3a2a1c","glasses":true},"clue":"He was in the Workshop.","job":"a watchmaker from Geneva","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"customer","constraints":[{"type":"area","areas":["Workshop"]}]},{"id":"G","name":"Gottfried","gender":"M","role":"customer","color":"#ad1457","avatar":{"bg":"#3d2a5a","skin":"#f1c8a5","hair":"#8a8278","style":"short","shirt":"#1b1b1b","beard":true},"clue":"Somebody else in his area was beside the planter. He was in the Courtyard.","job":"a pastor","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"customer","constraints":[{"type":"with_beside","obj":"planter"},{"type":"area","areas":["Courtyard"]}]},{"id":"V","name":"Vreni","gender":"F","role":"victim","color":"#1b1b1b","avatar":{"bg":"#5a2a2a","skin":"#f6d8c0","hair":"#d9d4cc","style":"bun","shirt":"#8b1a1a","glasses":true,"necklace":true},"clue":"The victim. She was found in the Parlour, beside a clock – alone with the murderer.","job":"owner of the shop","avatarSvg":"","solverRole":"owner","constraints":[{"type":"area","areas":["Parlour"]},{"type":"beside","obj":"clock"}]}],"victim":"V","murderer":"C","solution":{"A":[1,2],"C":[2,5],"V":[3,7],"B":[4,3],"F":[5,6],"D":[6,1],"G":[7,4],"E":[8,8]},"walkthrough":[{"place":["G","E"],"cand":{"A":[[1,2],[1,3],[1,5],[1,6],[3,1],[3,2],[3,5],[3,6],[5,1],[5,2],[5,3],[5,6]],"B":[[4,3],[5,5]],"C":[[1,3],[1,5],[1,6],[2,3],[2,5],[3,1],[3,2],[3,5],[3,6],[4,1],[4,2],[4,5],[4,6],[5,1],[5,2],[5,6]],"D":[[6,1]],"F":[[3,5],[4,5],[4,6],[5,3],[5,6]],"V":[[3,7]]},"text":"Vreni was found in the Parlour beside a clock. The only clock in the Parlour is at R3C8, and the free Parlour squares beside it are the sofa R2C8 and R3C7 (R4C8 below it belongs to the Courtyard): Vreni is in column 7 or 8. Gottfried says that somebody else in the Courtyard was beside the planter (R7C8); the tree fills R6C8, so that person is at R7C7 or R8C8 – also in column 7 or 8. Vreni and this person are two different people (one in the Parlour, one in the Courtyard), so columns 7 and 8 belong to the two of them and nobody else is there. Gottfried is not that person (“somebody else”), so he is not in column 7 or 8 either, and his Courtyard squares outside those columns all lie in rows 6–8. Donat’s Storeroom lies in rows 6–8 too, and the person beside the planter is in row 7 or 8: rows 6, 7 and 8 belong to Donat, Gottfried and the person beside the planter. Now Elsbeth: exactly one person was sitting on the bench, and it was somebody in her area. Who can be sitting on the bench at R7C4? It is in row 7, so it is one of the three owners of rows 6–8. Donat? No – he is in the Storeroom, the bench is in the Courtyard. The person beside the planter? No – that one is in column 7 or 8, the bench is in column 4. Only Gottfried is left: Gottfried is at R7C4, on the bench. Elsbeth shares his area, the Courtyard. Every Courtyard square lies in rows 6–8 or in columns 7–8, all taken by the people above – so Elsbeth must be the person beside the planter herself. R7C7 is in Gottfried’s row: Elsbeth is at R8C8."},{"place":["V","D"],"cand":{"A":[[1,2],[1,3],[1,5],[1,6],[5,2],[5,3],[5,6]],"B":[[4,3],[5,5]],"C":[[1,3],[1,5],[1,6],[2,3],[2,5],[4,2],[4,5],[4,6],[5,2],[5,6]],"F":[[4,5],[4,6],[5,3],[5,6]]},"text":"Column 8 is Elsbeth’s, so Vreni is not on the sofa: Vreni is at R3C7. Donat’s Storeroom squares are R6C1, R7C1 and R8C2 (the chest and the safe fill the rest), and rows 7 and 8 are taken: Donat is at R6C1. The murderer was alone with Vreni, so the Parlour holds exactly one more person. Who can it be? Not Donat, Elsbeth or Gottfried (placed elsewhere), not Fridolin (in the Workshop), and not Brigitta: she was sitting on a stool, and both stools (R4C3 and R5C5) are in the Workshop. Only Alois or Chrischona."},{"place":["B","F"],"cand":{"A":[[1,2],[1,5]],"C":[[2,5]]},"text":"Rows 1, 2, 4 and 5 and columns 2, 3, 5 and 6 are left for Alois, Brigitta, Chrischona and Fridolin. Who can be in row 2? Alois had a clock in his row, and the clocks are in rows 1, 3 and 5; Brigitta and Fridolin are in the Workshop, which begins in row 3. Only Chrischona – row 2 is hers, and row 1 can then only be Alois’s. Donat says that exactly one row north of him – in row 5 – was a man; Alois is in row 1, so it is Fridolin. Brigitta then cannot sit on the stool at R5C5: Brigitta is at R4C3. Fridolin’s Workshop squares in row 5 are R5C3 (Brigitta’s column), the stool at R5C5 (only Brigitta sat on a stool) and R5C6: Fridolin is at R5C6."},{"place":["C","A"],"text":"Only columns 2 and 5 are left for Alois and Chrischona. In row 2 the display cabinet fills R2C2, so Chrischona is at R2C5 – in the Parlour. Alois’s last squares, R1C2 and R1C5, both lie in the Shop, so the only person who can be alone with Vreni in the Parlour is Chrischona. Column 5 is hers: Alois is at R1C2, with the clock at R1C1 in his row. Everyone is placed."},{"final":true,"text":"Case closed: Vreni was alone in the Parlour with the apprentice clockmaker. Chrischona is the murderer!"}],"solver":{"rules":[],"occupiable":["armchair","bench","sofa","stool"]},"verification":{"tool":"tools/murdoku_solver.py","unique":true,"guessFree":true,"checked":"2026-10-06"},"score":9.1334}