Two small logic grids live on this page, both solvable with a pencil. Three friends, three favorite colors, three hobbies per grid, six clues each. Before publishing, a small solver script checked every grid against all 36 possible arrangements, and the six clues allow exactly one answer apiece. Print with Ctrl+P (Cmd+P on Mac): the grids and clues stay on the sheet, the answers drop off it. No sign-up.
How to use this page: hit Ctrl+P (Cmd+P on Mac) for a clean worksheet — the answer tables stay hidden in print mode. Solving on screen instead? Each grid has an answer section in a collapsed panel under its clues; open it when you are done or stuck. Mark an X in a grid box when a clue rules that combination out, and when only one box in a row survives, that combination is true.
Ana, Ben and Cal spent a rainy Saturday indoors. Each has a different favorite color and a different hobby. Six clues settle the whole table. Which color and hobby belong to which friend?
Red
Green
Blue
Chess
Painting
Baking
Ana
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Ben
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Cal
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Ana's favorite color is not red.
Ben's favorite color is not red.
Ben's favorite color is not green.
Cal's favorite color is not blue.
Cal's hobby is painting.
The friend whose favorite color is blue has chess as a hobby.
Answer table for Puzzle 1 (tap to reveal, hidden in print)
Friend
Favorite color
Hobby
Ana
green
baking
Ben
blue
chess
Cal
red
painting
One path through it: clues 1 to 3 leave Ben no color but blue. Clue 6 hands chess to whoever favors blue, so Ben plays chess. Clue 5 gives painting to Cal. Ana keeps the only color left after red is ruled out for her, green, which leaves red for Cal. Baking goes to Ana, the last hobby standing.
Puzzle 2 — Second Weekend (colors: black, white, gray)
Maya, Omar and Pia meet at the same table the next weekend. Same rules, new colors and new hobbies: black, white, gray for the colors; chess, juggling, stargazing for the hobbies. Who favors what?
Black
White
Gray
Chess
Juggling
Stargazing
Maya
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Omar
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Pia
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Maya's favorite color is not white.
Maya's favorite color is not gray.
Omar's favorite color is not gray.
Pia's favorite color is not black.
Pia's hobby is chess.
The friend whose favorite color is black has stargazing as a hobby.
Answer table for Puzzle 2 (tap to reveal, hidden in print)
Friend
Favorite color
Hobby
Maya
black
stargazing
Omar
white
juggling
Pia
gray
chess
One path through it: clues 1 and 2 corner Maya into black. Clue 6 then ties stargazing to black, so Maya watches the sky. Clue 3 pushes Omar off gray onto white, which leaves gray for Pia. Clue 5 already gave chess to Pia, so juggling lands on Omar.
3 tips for solving logic grids
What works for us, from solving a lot of these:
Read all six clues before you mark anything. The last clue often tells you what to do with the first five, and marking too early means erasing. In both grids above, the color clues land first and the linking clue at the end is what turns them into a full answer.
Mark every box a clue rules out, even the small ones. A single X looks useless until a second X lands in the same row, because three options minus two leaves exactly one. The negative clues at the top of each list exist for this.
When a row has one open box, fill it in pen, then re-read every clue. Placing Cal on painting instantly splits the chess-and-baking pair in Puzzle 1, and the blue-chess clue finishes the job. Every placed fact can retire another clue.
A word on difficulty, since "easy" means different things to different people: both grids here are a gentle intro, sized for a first attempt or for kids who like deduction. They will not prepare anyone for a championship. The ten logic grids in the full book below ramp from one-star to three-star inside the same part, and its two five-suspect final cases are the ones that fight back.
Want the full book?
The two grids are the free tier. The full book, Case Files: Quick Cases — 30 Detective Logic Puzzles, is 35 pages of pencil work on the same shelf: ten logic grids with elimination tables, eight coded notes (Caesar shifts, atbash, keyword ciphers and number codes), five witness matches, five timeline reconstructions and two five-suspect final cases. Every case has exactly one answer, and the book was built solution-first: the answer was fixed, then each clue set was checked by a solver so the printed statements allow only that solution. Full answer keys sit at the back on pages 33 and 34, and none of the thirty cases repeats the 60-case book. Want more free pages first? The free logic puzzles page carries three complete cases with reasoning, and the printable word scramble plus free printable mazes cover other pencil work.