Mystery · Large print

Case File No. 7: The Closing-Time Diner

Diner mystery game: on the night Maplewood’s night-shift diner turned twenty-five, someone paid off every tab in the book and left without a word. Nobody is in trouble. The anniversary book has 2,000 names; 13 clues, taken one at a time, strike out every name but one.

See price on Etsy

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 debt paid forward, and a diner owner who wants to say thank you

At the table

You read the first clue aloud: “The tab-payer sat at table 14 or lower.” Pencils move down the anniversary book and someone calls the count: 1,188 still standing. An hour later, one name is left.

PAID IN FULL.

How the clues work

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

“The tab-payer sat at table 14 or lower”: strike out everyone at tables 15 to 24.
“The tab-payer’s first name contains the letter E”: Helen stays, Mary is struck out.
“The tab-payer’s address ends in the word Street”: keep every Street, strike out 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 anniversary book, Detective’s Log, Team Sheet
Large Print edition (zip, Letter 42 and A4 40 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 anniversary book (“Check: clue 1 leaves 31 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: Puzzle evenings, book clubs, church fellowship halls, family tables and anyone who misses a good diner. No crime at all: a tab book, an envelope and a town that wants to say thank you.