All Clues
Expert

Every Group Has at Least N

Every group of the stated kind — every row, every column, or every cell's neighborhood — contains at least N Suspects (or Innocents). The constraint is applied independently to each group simultaneously; if any single group falls below N, the clue is violated. This sweeping lower bound becomes powerful when combined with a global total count: if you know every row has at least N Suspects and there are R rows, the total must be at least R × N. From there, an exact total count or per-group upper bounds can often force the entire distribution. Most difficult when N is high relative to group size, since it leaves little room for Innocents.

Reading the examples

Anchor — the card carrying this clue type
Deducible — click to reveal (use the clue to figure it out!)
SSuspectIInnocent

Every row has at least N suspects

The clue says every row has at least 2 suspects. Given the revealed cells, any row that doesn't yet have enough must fill its remaining cells, forcing Alice (Suspect), Carol (Suspect).

A1
?
AvataaarsPablo Stanleyhttps://avataaars.com/https://avataaars.com/Remix of „Avataaars” (https://avataaars.com/) by „Pablo Stanley”, licensed under „Free for personal and commercial use” (https://avataaars.com/)
Alice
AvataaarsPablo Stanleyhttps://avataaars.com/https://avataaars.com/Remix of „Avataaars” (https://avataaars.com/) by „Pablo Stanley”, licensed under „Free for personal and commercial use” (https://avataaars.com/)
Alice
B1
AvataaarsPablo Stanleyhttps://avataaars.com/https://avataaars.com/Remix of „Avataaars” (https://avataaars.com/) by „Pablo Stanley”, licensed under „Free for personal and commercial use” (https://avataaars.com/)
Bob
AvataaarsPablo Stanleyhttps://avataaars.com/https://avataaars.com/Remix of „Avataaars” (https://avataaars.com/) by „Pablo Stanley”, licensed under „Free for personal and commercial use” (https://avataaars.com/)
Bob
Every row has at least 2 suspects.
C1
?
AvataaarsPablo Stanleyhttps://avataaars.com/https://avataaars.com/Remix of „Avataaars” (https://avataaars.com/) by „Pablo Stanley”, licensed under „Free for personal and commercial use” (https://avataaars.com/)
Carol
AvataaarsPablo Stanleyhttps://avataaars.com/https://avataaars.com/Remix of „Avataaars” (https://avataaars.com/) by „Pablo Stanley”, licensed under „Free for personal and commercial use” (https://avataaars.com/)
Carol
A2
AvataaarsPablo Stanleyhttps://avataaars.com/https://avataaars.com/Remix of „Avataaars” (https://avataaars.com/) by „Pablo Stanley”, licensed under „Free for personal and commercial use” (https://avataaars.com/)
Diana
AvataaarsPablo Stanleyhttps://avataaars.com/https://avataaars.com/Remix of „Avataaars” (https://avataaars.com/) by „Pablo Stanley”, licensed under „Free for personal and commercial use” (https://avataaars.com/)
Diana
B2
AvataaarsPablo Stanleyhttps://avataaars.com/https://avataaars.com/Remix of „Avataaars” (https://avataaars.com/) by „Pablo Stanley”, licensed under „Free for personal and commercial use” (https://avataaars.com/)
Eve
AvataaarsPablo Stanleyhttps://avataaars.com/https://avataaars.com/Remix of „Avataaars” (https://avataaars.com/) by „Pablo Stanley”, licensed under „Free for personal and commercial use” (https://avataaars.com/)
Eve
C2
AvataaarsPablo Stanleyhttps://avataaars.com/https://avataaars.com/Remix of „Avataaars” (https://avataaars.com/) by „Pablo Stanley”, licensed under „Free for personal and commercial use” (https://avataaars.com/)
Frank
AvataaarsPablo Stanleyhttps://avataaars.com/https://avataaars.com/Remix of „Avataaars” (https://avataaars.com/) by „Pablo Stanley”, licensed under „Free for personal and commercial use” (https://avataaars.com/)
Frank
A3
AvataaarsPablo Stanleyhttps://avataaars.com/https://avataaars.com/Remix of „Avataaars” (https://avataaars.com/) by „Pablo Stanley”, licensed under „Free for personal and commercial use” (https://avataaars.com/)
Grace
AvataaarsPablo Stanleyhttps://avataaars.com/https://avataaars.com/Remix of „Avataaars” (https://avataaars.com/) by „Pablo Stanley”, licensed under „Free for personal and commercial use” (https://avataaars.com/)
Grace
B3
AvataaarsPablo Stanleyhttps://avataaars.com/https://avataaars.com/Remix of „Avataaars” (https://avataaars.com/) by „Pablo Stanley”, licensed under „Free for personal and commercial use” (https://avataaars.com/)
Henry
AvataaarsPablo Stanleyhttps://avataaars.com/https://avataaars.com/Remix of „Avataaars” (https://avataaars.com/) by „Pablo Stanley”, licensed under „Free for personal and commercial use” (https://avataaars.com/)
Henry
C3
AvataaarsPablo Stanleyhttps://avataaars.com/https://avataaars.com/Remix of „Avataaars” (https://avataaars.com/) by „Pablo Stanley”, licensed under „Free for personal and commercial use” (https://avataaars.com/)
Iris
AvataaarsPablo Stanleyhttps://avataaars.com/https://avataaars.com/Remix of „Avataaars” (https://avataaars.com/) by „Pablo Stanley”, licensed under „Free for personal and commercial use” (https://avataaars.com/)
Iris
All cells deduced correctly!

Every column has at least N suspects

The clue says every column has at least 2 suspects. Given the revealed cells, any column that doesn't yet have enough must fill its remaining cells, forcing Alice (Suspect), Grace (Suspect).

A1
?
AvataaarsPablo Stanleyhttps://avataaars.com/https://avataaars.com/Remix of „Avataaars” (https://avataaars.com/) by „Pablo Stanley”, licensed under „Free for personal and commercial use” (https://avataaars.com/)
Alice
AvataaarsPablo Stanleyhttps://avataaars.com/https://avataaars.com/Remix of „Avataaars” (https://avataaars.com/) by „Pablo Stanley”, licensed under „Free for personal and commercial use” (https://avataaars.com/)
Alice
B1
AvataaarsPablo Stanleyhttps://avataaars.com/https://avataaars.com/Remix of „Avataaars” (https://avataaars.com/) by „Pablo Stanley”, licensed under „Free for personal and commercial use” (https://avataaars.com/)
Bob
AvataaarsPablo Stanleyhttps://avataaars.com/https://avataaars.com/Remix of „Avataaars” (https://avataaars.com/) by „Pablo Stanley”, licensed under „Free for personal and commercial use” (https://avataaars.com/)
Bob
C1
AvataaarsPablo Stanleyhttps://avataaars.com/https://avataaars.com/Remix of „Avataaars” (https://avataaars.com/) by „Pablo Stanley”, licensed under „Free for personal and commercial use” (https://avataaars.com/)
Carol
AvataaarsPablo Stanleyhttps://avataaars.com/https://avataaars.com/Remix of „Avataaars” (https://avataaars.com/) by „Pablo Stanley”, licensed under „Free for personal and commercial use” (https://avataaars.com/)
Carol
A2
AvataaarsPablo Stanleyhttps://avataaars.com/https://avataaars.com/Remix of „Avataaars” (https://avataaars.com/) by „Pablo Stanley”, licensed under „Free for personal and commercial use” (https://avataaars.com/)
Diana
AvataaarsPablo Stanleyhttps://avataaars.com/https://avataaars.com/Remix of „Avataaars” (https://avataaars.com/) by „Pablo Stanley”, licensed under „Free for personal and commercial use” (https://avataaars.com/)
Diana
Every column has at least 2 suspects.
B2
AvataaarsPablo Stanleyhttps://avataaars.com/https://avataaars.com/Remix of „Avataaars” (https://avataaars.com/) by „Pablo Stanley”, licensed under „Free for personal and commercial use” (https://avataaars.com/)
Eve
AvataaarsPablo Stanleyhttps://avataaars.com/https://avataaars.com/Remix of „Avataaars” (https://avataaars.com/) by „Pablo Stanley”, licensed under „Free for personal and commercial use” (https://avataaars.com/)
Eve
C2
AvataaarsPablo Stanleyhttps://avataaars.com/https://avataaars.com/Remix of „Avataaars” (https://avataaars.com/) by „Pablo Stanley”, licensed under „Free for personal and commercial use” (https://avataaars.com/)
Frank
AvataaarsPablo Stanleyhttps://avataaars.com/https://avataaars.com/Remix of „Avataaars” (https://avataaars.com/) by „Pablo Stanley”, licensed under „Free for personal and commercial use” (https://avataaars.com/)
Frank
A3
?
AvataaarsPablo Stanleyhttps://avataaars.com/https://avataaars.com/Remix of „Avataaars” (https://avataaars.com/) by „Pablo Stanley”, licensed under „Free for personal and commercial use” (https://avataaars.com/)
Grace
AvataaarsPablo Stanleyhttps://avataaars.com/https://avataaars.com/Remix of „Avataaars” (https://avataaars.com/) by „Pablo Stanley”, licensed under „Free for personal and commercial use” (https://avataaars.com/)
Grace
B3
AvataaarsPablo Stanleyhttps://avataaars.com/https://avataaars.com/Remix of „Avataaars” (https://avataaars.com/) by „Pablo Stanley”, licensed under „Free for personal and commercial use” (https://avataaars.com/)
Henry
AvataaarsPablo Stanleyhttps://avataaars.com/https://avataaars.com/Remix of „Avataaars” (https://avataaars.com/) by „Pablo Stanley”, licensed under „Free for personal and commercial use” (https://avataaars.com/)
Henry
C3
AvataaarsPablo Stanleyhttps://avataaars.com/https://avataaars.com/Remix of „Avataaars” (https://avataaars.com/) by „Pablo Stanley”, licensed under „Free for personal and commercial use” (https://avataaars.com/)
Iris
AvataaarsPablo Stanleyhttps://avataaars.com/https://avataaars.com/Remix of „Avataaars” (https://avataaars.com/) by „Pablo Stanley”, licensed under „Free for personal and commercial use” (https://avataaars.com/)
Iris
All cells deduced correctly!