The Clipboard in the Waves

Medium — logic-grid deduction puzzle

The judges' clipboard blew into the sea, so the crowd's memories must show who built what, where, and with which tool.

Every summer the beach holds a sandcastle competition, with plots marked out in a row along the sand. This year Nina, Otto, Priya and Rufus each took one plot. Each of them built a different shape, and each had a favourite tool. Then, just as the judges sat down to score, a gust of wind snatched the judges' clipboard and carried it out to sea. The list of who built what, and where, went with it. Luckily the crowd had been watching closely all afternoon. Use what they remember to put the list back together.

Clues

1. Nina and Otto had the first and second plots between them.
2. The tower went up on the first plot.
3. Whoever built the tower did it with the spade.
4. The builder with the bucket worked on the plot right after the one with the spade.
5. If Nina built the tower, then Nina used the bucket.
6. The dragon was built with the bucket.
7. Rufus had a plot earlier in the row than Priya.
8. The boat was not on the fourth plot.
9. Whoever built the boat did not use the trowel.

Play this puzzle

Read the clues, rule out what cannot be, and prove what must be. Every GRIDIGMA puzzle is verified by a solver that shows the reasoning behind each step, so a solution is never a guess.

All GRIDIGMA puzzles

Logic grid puzzles: how to solve them, with a worked example