Grounds for Suspicion

Four townsfolk, one soggy stack of holiday plans, and a spilled cup of coffee but who was really sitting where when it happened?

Use the clues to figure out who sat in each of the four chairs around the long sides of the table. Once you know who was sitting in the seat with the coffee spill, you’ll know who made the mess.

Enter only a number in each field below.





Four people were sitting along the two long sides of the table.

This tells you that no one was sitting at the short ends of the table. That means seats 1 and 4 are empty, and only seats 2, 3, 5, and 6 are used. Knowing which seats are valid helps narrow down where each person could be.

Isabel was sitting by a wrapped gift.

There are two wrapped gifts on the table—one near seat 2, and one near seat 5. So Isabel must be sitting in one of those two spots. That won’t tell you her seat right away, but it limits her options.

Malik was sitting in front of a cookie.

There are cookies in front of seat 3 and seat 6. That means Malik must be in one of those two chairs. Keep this in mind when you combine it with other clues!

Isabel was sitting across from a man with a hat.

Walter is the only one wearing a hat. So Isabel must be directly across from Walter. If you can figure out where Isabel is sitting (based on the gift clue), then you’ll know where Walter is too. But not just yet.

A man was sitting next to a snow globe.

The snow globe is placed beside seat 1, which is empty. That means only seat 2 and seat 6 are directly next to the snow globe. 

Sam was not sitting next to the snow globe.

This means she was not sitting in seat 2, or 6. This means seat 2 has to be Isabel. And across from Isabel is Walter, so he's in seat 6. This means Malik must be in set 3. Leaving Sam in seat 5.

Now we know Walter was in seat 6, and spilled his coffee.