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Ciphers

Four couriers, four dead drops: a spy logic puzzle

A hard spy logic puzzle. Four couriers each make one dead drop at a set time and place, and ten clues pin down exactly one answer.

CipherCipherSaturday 3 October 20262 min read

Cipher · Saturday 3 October 2026

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Four couriers worked the same city on the same morning, and nobody saw any of them meet. You've got the case officer's notes, and that's all you need.

Spy logic puzzle: hard

Couriers ONYX, COBALT, JASPER and SLATE each make exactly one dead drop. The drops happen at 0600, 0900, 1200 and 1500, one courier per time slot. Each courier uses a different site (the tram stop, the library, the pier or the botanic garden) and leaves a different item (an umbrella, a thermos, a paperback or a newspaper).

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  1. The pier drop happens exactly three hours after the umbrella drop.
  2. COBALT drops earlier than whoever works the library, and COBALT isn't carrying the thermos.
  3. SLATE's drop is at 1200.
  4. The paperback goes to the botanic garden.
  5. JASPER has either the first drop or the last.
  6. The newspaper drop is later than the tram stop drop.
  7. ONYX doesn't work the pier and isn't carrying the newspaper.
  8. The thermos isn't dropped at 0600.
  9. JASPER doesn't work the library.
  10. The thermos doesn't go to the library.

Who drops what, where, and when? There's exactly one answer, and every clue matters.

The answers are below.

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Published

CipherCipherSaturday 3 October 2026 at 7:17 am Adelaide2 min read

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