Mystery · Large print

Case File No. 6: The First-Footer

New Year’s Eve mystery game: on New Year’s morning, 1960, thirteen houses in Maplewood found bread, salt and coal on the doorstep, the old first-footing gift for a lucky year. No crime and no one in trouble: just a thank-you with nowhere to go, and a Watch Night book of 2,000 names. 13 clues, taken one at a time, strike out every name but one.

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Instant PDF download on Etsy. You print it at home; nothing is mailed.

Players: 1 to 6, with a Team Sheet for groups
Time: about an hour at a table of four; 3 hours or more alone
You need: pencils and a ruler; no scissors, no app, no host
Print: US Letter and A4; black ink is enough
Print size: Standard sheet 10 pt; Large Print edition 16 pt
Also: No crime and no villain: a quiet kindness on thirteen doorsteps, and a minister who would like to know whom to thank

At the table

You read the first clue aloud: “The first-footer sat in pew 14 or lower.” Pencils move down the Watch Night book and someone calls the count: 1,190 still standing. An hour later, one name is left.

A good New Year to this house.

How the clues work

Each clue rules people out, never in. Three from this case:

“The first-footer sat in pew 14 or lower”: strike out everyone in pews 15 and up.
“There is no letter N anywhere in the first-footer’s first name”: Ruth stays, Anna is struck out.
“The first-footer’s address does not end in the word Street”: strike out every Street, keep every Lane, Road, Avenue and Hill.

Every reading rule (strictly fewer, through, double letter, share a letter) is spelled out on the How to Play page with an example, so there is nothing to argue about at the table.

What you get5 files

Standard edition, US Letter (51 pages) and A4 (47 pages)letter, story, how to play, 13 clues, the 2,000-name Watch Night book, Detective’s Log, Team Sheet
Large Print edition (zip, Letter 43 and A4 39 pages)the same case, its own 12-clue chain over 800 guests, 16 pt
Quick Case edition (zip, Letter 26 and A4 25 pages)the 800-guest chain at 10 pt, one evening

Why it works

Exactly one name survives all 13 clues: checked by program twice, the second time on the finished PDF. Leave any one clue out and two or more names survive, so there is no guessing and no dead end. A count line is printed on every page of the Watch Night book (“Check: clue 1 leaves 33 of the 48 names on this page”), and the Detective’s Log has check-points after clues 3, 6, 9 and 12, so a missed name shows up at once, without seeing the answer. The answer itself has been hiding in plain sight since page two; the Solution Pack says where.

Made for: New Year’s Eve at home, Watch Night gatherings, church fellowship halls, book clubs and a slow New Year’s Day with the family. A gentle story about a hard year and a good neighbor: no crime at all.