Beside, Corner, Alone: How to Read Logic Puzzle Clues Precisely

A logic puzzle is only as fair as its clues are precise — and the good ones are precise to the letter. Most “impossible” cases aren’t impossible at all; the solver just read a keyword loosely. Here is what each one actually means.

Beside

“Beside” means orthogonally adjacent — up, down, left or right — and in the same room. It is never diagonal, and a wall blocks it: a square across a room boundary is not “beside”, even if it looks one step away. If a clue says a suspect is beside the piano, they’re in a square that shares an open edge with the piano’s square.

In a corner

A corner is any square where a horizontal wall meets a vertical wall, including inside rooms — not just the four grid corners. It gets its own full guide because it catches everyone.

Alone in a room

“Alone” means exactly one suspect is in that room — no more, no fewer. It’s a powerful clue because it constrains everyone else out of the room at once, and it’s central to the reveal: the killer is whoever is alone with the victim.

In a column / in a row

Columns are lettered, rows numbered. “In column C” fixes one coordinate and, combined with the one-per-column rule, often pins a suspect faster than a room clue does.

With the vocabulary nailed down, the three-step solving method does the rest.