About Whodunit Clues

Whodunit Clues is a free daily word puzzle for people who like murder mysteries but would rather not do the murdering. Each day brings one short cryptic clue, the same for everyone, and new at your local midnight. Hidden somewhere in that clue is the killer: a weapon, a poison, a cause of death, or occasionally something ridiculous, like a piano that fell from the third floor.

A cryptic clue has two halves. One half is an ordinary definition of the answer, like “jousting weapon” or “bean poison”. The other half is wordplay that builds the same answer out of the clue’s letters. In this game the wordplay is one of three types. In a hidden word, the answer runs straight through the clue’s letters, often across a gap between words. In a reversed hidden word, it runs backwards. In an anagram, a word or two in the clue gets shuffled. Little signal words tell you which: “in”, “partly”, “some” or “hides” for hidden words; “back” or “returned” for reversals; “ruined”, “wildly” or “badly” for anagrams.

The number in brackets is the answer’s length. Guess as many times as you like: wrong suspects are listed so you don’t accuse them twice. If you’re stuck, take up to three hints. Each one lowers your rank, from Chief Inspector down to Constable. Your Casebook keeps your streak, best streak and every rank you’ve earned. It’s all saved in this browser only.

Made a clever clue of your own? Write a case. The game checks that your answer really is hidden in it, then gives you a link to challenge a friend, or lets you publish it for everyone to try.

📖 How to solve Whodunit Clues: a beginner’s guide to cryptic clues →