Solutions
All the solutions will be added here over time, so you can’t accidentally see the answer before you are ready.
The County Fair Fiasco
By the time the dust settled and the last goat had been persuaded to stop eating the bunting, everyone at the Briarwood County Fair had a story.
Millie went home with the Best Pie ribbon after her cherry pie won over the judges. Cynthia had a rather less enjoyable encounter with a ribbon when Paula’s missing prize turned up inside her Craft Market tote. She insisted she had no idea how it got there, though that did little to quiet the accusations.
And Rob became fairground legend after opening the wrong latch while feeding the goats. Within seconds, several had discovered freedom, one had acquired somebody’s funnel cake, and another was making determined progress toward the quilt tent.
The fair committee later described the weekend as their most memorable September event yet.
They also added a second latch to the goat pen.
Reasoning Walkthrough
Millie, Rob, and Brett
Week 1 tells us these three took:
- Pie Baking
- Petting Zoo
- Livestock Parade
Millie refuses any activity involving animals, so:
Millie = Pie Baking
That leaves Rob and Brett for the two animal events.
Brett later says he never entered the Petting Zoo, so:
Brett = Livestock Parade
Rob = Petting Zoo
Hazel, Paula, and Cynthia
These three have:
- Quilt Exhibition
- Jam Judging
- Craft Market
Paula is not the quilter.
Hazel did not visit the Craft Market.
Cynthia did not attend Jam Judging.
At this point, two arrangements still work:
- Hazel = Quilt, Paula = Jam, Cynthia = Craft
- Hazel = Jam, Paula = Craft, Cynthia = Quilt
Then Week 4 tells us Paula left without a Craft Market purchase or shopping bag.
That eliminates the second possibility.
So:
Hazel = Quilt Exhibition
Paula = Jam Judging
Cynthia = Craft Market
Dean and Nora
One attended Photography and the other rode the Ferris wheel.
Nora refused to go up in the Ferris wheel.
So:
Nora = Photography
Dean = Ferris Wheel Ride
Who won Best Pie?
The winning pie had a cherry filling.
Millie had cherry filling on her thumb after spending the day at Pie Baking.
Therefore:
Millie won Best Pie.
Who was accused of stealing the ribbon?
The missing ribbon was found inside one of the fair’s canvas shopping totes.
The accusation fell on the person carrying that tote.
In Week 4, we learn that those totes were handed out only at the Craft Market.
Cynthia was the Craft Market visitor.
Therefore:
Cynthia was accused of stealing the ribbon.
Who caused the goat stampede?
The person responsible still had one of the Petting Zoo’s paper feed cups in their pocket.
Those cups were available only inside the Petting Zoo.
Rob was the Petting Zoo visitor.
Therefore:
Rob caused the goat stampede.
Solution Recap
Millie won Best Pie, Cynthia was accused of stealing the ribbon, and Rob caused the goat stampede.
Mystery at Coral Bay Beach
The festival closed with applause, laughter, and one very soggy inflatable flamingo.
Oscar found a small gold locket buried near the dunes, and by morning the local paper was already calling it the Coral Bay Treasure. Nina was politely but firmly asked not to return to the taffy stand after her runaway kite caused a sticky little disaster with the lemonade. And Leo… well, Leo is now part of boardwalk legend after mistaking a floating pink flamingo for a shark and sending the lifeguards into full emergency mode.
Every year since, the Coral Bay lifeguards have added what they privately call Flamingo Awareness to their training drills.
Reasoning Walkthrough
Step 1: Place the activities
From the clues:
- Nina = Kite Flying
- Gareth = Sandcastle Building
- Rachel = Shell Art Workshop
- Chloe = Beach Volleyball
- Isabel = Sunset Cruise
- Tanya = Taffy Tasting
That leaves Oscar and Leo for the remaining two activities:
- Surf Contest
- Scavenger Hunt
From Clue 8, Leo had no interest in treasure maps, so he was not in the Scavenger Hunt.
From Clue 16, Oscar came back with a scavenger map.
So:
- Oscar = Scavenger Hunt
- Leo = Surf Contest
Step 2: Match the outcomes
Now use the incident clues:
- The visitor who found buried treasure joined the Scavenger Hunt
→ Oscar found buried treasure - The visitor who caused the lifeguard emergency drill had entered the Surf Contest
→ Leo caused the lifeguard emergency drill - Nina’s kite tipped over the lemonade
- The visitor who spilled the lemonade was the one banned from the taffy stand
→ Nina was banned from the taffy stand
Clue 20 confirms Tanya was not one of the other two outcomes.
Solution Recap
Oscar found buried treasure, Nina was banned from the taffy stand, and Leo caused the lifeguard drill.
Spring Fling at Willowcroft Inn
Clara adjusted her spectacles and gave the group a look that suggested she had known everything all along.
It turned out Dana returned from the Local History Tour with far more than muddy shoes and notes about the old mill—an engagement ring. By brunch, the smile she had been trying to hide made perfect sense.
Holly, after a dramatic round of suspicion and one pointed remark about modern handbags having too many pockets, finally realised her heirloom brooch was gone after Afternoon Tea.
And Ben managed to turn the Murder-Mystery Dinner from light entertainment into such cheerful uproar that the innkeeper informed him, with admirable firmness, that he was not to book there again.
Clara lifted her teacup. “Well,” she said, “at least no one can claim the weekend was dull.”
Reasoning Walkthrough
Step 1: Place the obvious activities
From the clues:
- Clara = Flower-Arranging Workshop
- Simon = Jazz Night
- Patrick = Candle-Making
- Oliver = Nature Photography Hike
- Fiona = Antique Appraisal
That leaves Dana, Ben, and Holly to take the remaining three activities:
- Murder-Mystery Dinner
- Afternoon Tea
- Local History Tour
Step 2: Place Ben
Ben skipped Afternoon Tea and Local History Tour, so he must have attended the Murder-Mystery Dinner.
So now:
- Ben = Murder-Mystery Dinner
That leaves Dana and Holly for:
- Afternoon Tea
- Local History Tour
Step 3: Split Dana and Holly
Holly skipped Jazz Night and Murder-Mystery Dinner, which still leaves her with Afternoon Tea or Local History Tour.
Dana ruled out flowers, candles, and silver, which still leaves her with Afternoon Tea, Local History Tour, or Murder-Mystery Dinner. But Ben already has Murder-Mystery Dinner.
Then the final clue settles it:
- Dana came back with muddy shoes and notes about the old mill
→ Dana = Local History Tour
So:
- Holly = Afternoon Tea
Step 4: Match the outcomes
Now use the outcome clues:
- The person who got engaged took part in the Local History Tour
→ Dana got engaged - The person who lost the brooch had attended Afternoon Tea
→ Holly lost the brooch - The person who was banned caused a scene at the Murder-Mystery Dinner
→ Ben was banned
Solution Recap
Dana got engaged, Holly lost the heirloom brooch, and Ben was banned from the inn.
The Snowbound Soirée
When morning sunlight spilled across the snow-covered lodge, the truth came out faster than the cocoa refills.
Dana, still wearing her victory grin, collected her Trivia Night prize—a mug that read Snow Much Smarter Than You after flawlessly answering every question about winter movies and classic carols.
Oliver spent breakfast apologizing for his “overenthusiastic twirl” near the gala centerpiece, which ended with the ice sculpture swan making a very undignified exit across the floor. The sound it made, witnesses said, was “a very elegant crash.”
And Fiona? She became the weekend legend after a midnight snow drift locked her out of her room—in plaid pajamas and fuzzy boots.
By checkout time, everyone agreed the Snowbound Soirée would be hard to forget—though the lodge staff politely asked them not to make it an annual tradition. They also decided to order sturdier ice sculptures and brighter key fobs.
Step-by-Step Deduction
1. Who won Trivia Night?
From the clues:
- The winner was not in the Gingerbread group → not Clara, Holly, Fiona (Week 1 Clue 3).
- The winner was not Oliver or Patrick (Week 2 Clue 4).
- Simon skipped Trivia entirely (Week 1 Clue 5).
- Clara went to bed before Trivia (Week 3 Clue 1).
- Ben never made it to Trivia (Week 3 Clue 2).
So who is even left as a possible Trivia winner?
- Dana is the only guest confirmed at Trivia and not excluded.
Therefore, by elimination:
Dana won Trivia Night.
2. Who broke the ice sculpture?
We know:
- The sculpture was broken during the Gala (Week 1 Clue 4).
- The breaker attended the Gala and was wearing formal shoes (Week 3 Clue 3).
- Fiona did not attend the Gala (Week 2 Clue 5).
- Simon skipped the Gala (Week 1 Clue 5).
- Dana never visited the ballroom at all (Week 3 Clue 5).
- Holly attended but left early and was already in slippers when it broke (Week 4 Clue 2) → not her.
- Patrick was in hiking boots and never went near the sculpture (Week 4 Clue 3) → not him.
- The only people close to the sculpture when it shattered were Oliver and the Trivia host (Week 4 Clue 4).
The host is not one of the listed guests/contestants, so among our actual suspects, the only possible breaker is:
Oliver broke the ice sculpture.
Again, every other guest is either absent, in the wrong footwear, or explicitly kept away from the sculpture.
3. Who got locked out in their pajamas?
We know:
- The pajama incident happened after midnight (Week 2 Clue 3).
- The pajama-locked guest did not attend the Gala (Week 3 Clue 4).
So it must be someone who skipped the Gala: candidates are Simon (Week 1 Clue 5), Fiona (Week 2 Clue 5), and Dana (Week 3 Clue 5), and possibly Ben if we assume he went straight to bed and stayed there.
- The pajama-locked guest went outside “to look at the snow” and dropped their key near the side door (Week 4 Clue 5).
- In the morning, Fiona’s room key was found buried in the snow just outside the side door (Week 4 Clue 1).
That pair of clues makes it a strict match:
- The pajama-locked guest is defined as the one who dropped their key outside the side door (Week 4 Clue 5).
- The only key found there belongs to Fiona (Week 3 Clue 5).
Therefore:
Fiona is the one who got locked out in her pajamas.
Solution Recap
Dana won Trivia Night, Oliver broke the ice sculpture, and Fiona got locked out in her pajamas.
