Whodunit No. 1: The Case of the Missing Gingerbread House
A free whodunit puzzle to solve online: six suspects, five clues and one answer, checked by computer. No timer unless you want one, and no sign-up.
The case
It is the night before the Tinselby Gingerbread Contest. All afternoon, June Okafor's gingerbread house sat in the bakery window: a little copy of the town hall, with a sugar clock and a roof of almond tiles.
Six people came into the warm bakery that evening for cocoa. Each of them left once, at the time shown below. At 7:30 pm the window was empty. One of the six had carried the house away.
Each of the five clues describes the person who took it. Tap a name to cross it off; when one name is left, choose it under Your answer. Go to the answer
The six suspects
| Suspect | Scarf | Left the bakery |
|---|---|---|
| choir leader | red | 5:40 pm |
| lamplighter | green | 6:05 pm |
| baker | blue | 6:20 pm |
| postman | yellow | 6:35 pm |
| toymaker | white | 6:50 pm |
| sleigh driver | plum | 7:05 pm |
The five clues
- The person who took the house left the bakery after 6:00 pm.
- They left before the sleigh driver did.
- They were not wearing a green scarf.
- If they wore a white scarf, they left before 6:45 pm.
- They are not the postman.
How to read a clue exactly
After 6:00 pm means later than 6:00 pm, so someone who left at exactly 6:00 pm is ruled out.
Before the sleigh driver can never be the sleigh driver: nobody leaves before themselves.
If they wore white, then ... says nothing about anyone in another colour. It only rules out someone in white who breaks the second half.
Your answer
Stuck? Ask for a hint. Your result counts guesses and hints, never speed, unless you switch the timer on.
Case solved.
Your result card
It shows how you did, not who did it, so it is safe to share.
More cases, and a free puzzle pack
A new case set in Tinselby, the town of this book. It is not one of the book's twelve cases.
The Twelve Cases of Christmas
A snowbound town and twelve dated cases, from 19 December to Christmas Eve. 12 cases, from 40 suspects to 1,500.
Look inside the bookSee it on AmazonPrefer paper? This month’s free puzzle pack is one large print word search and one cryptogram, with the answers, ready to print at home.
Want more? Puzzle levels has whodunits and word searches that start gentle, grow harder and never run out.
Rules and privacy
- Free to play. No purchase, no sign-up and no email address needed.
- There are no prizes. This is a puzzle to enjoy and share, not a contest with a reward.
- Each case has exactly one correct answer. A computer program checks every case before it goes up: only one suspect fits every clue, and every clue is needed.
- Play at your own pace. The timer is off unless you switch it on, and it never limits anything.
- Your guesses, hints and crossed-off names are saved in this browser, so the page remembers where you were. Clearing this site’s data, or playing in a private window, forgets them.
- We use Google Analytics to see how the puzzle is used. Depending on your browser and privacy settings it receives events such as an answer checked (with the name of the made-up suspect chosen and whether it was right), a hint opened or a result copied, along with the browser, device and approximate location information it normally collects. See Privacy.
- The case is made up. The people, the bakery and the gingerbread house are fictional.