The Open-Air Cinema

A rooftop cinema in Rome · premiere night, summer 1960 · the film stopped in the second reel · Difficulty: Officer 4 · 8×8

Rome, a warm night in the summer of 1960. On a palazzo rooftop above the city, the open-air cinema showed the premiere of a new film: the star, the director and the screenwriter sat among the guests, lemon trees scented the air and the barman poured prosecco. In the middle of the second reel the picture froze and the screen went white. The usherette ran up to the projection booth and found Valeria, the projectionist, dead beside her projector. The statements tell you where everyone was – find the one who was alone with her.

Rules

1. Every row and every column holds exactly one person. As soon as you place someone, cross out their whole row and column.
2. “Beside” = directly left, right, above or below, and in the same area. Squares with objects (the lemon trees, the screen, the lamp, the popcorn cart, the poster, the projector, the ticket booth, the staircase and the bar counter) cannot be occupied; the deckchairs, the bench, the beanbags and the stool can.
3. 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.
4. The murderer was alone with the victim: nobody else was in that area.

Statements

• Antonella (the leading actress): A deckchair was somewhere in her area.
• Benedetto (the director): He was the northernmost person in his area.
• Carlotta (the screenwriter): She was alone with a member of staff. The popcorn cart was somewhere in her row.
• Donato (the producer): There was a man in his area. The bench was somewhere in his row.
• Elio (a film critic): He was sitting on a beanbag.
• Fiorella (the usherette): Exactly one row north of her was a guest.
• Gino (the barman): He was beside the lamp.
• Valeria (the projectionist): The victim. She was found in the Projection Booth, beside the projector – alone with the murderer.

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