True and False Clues in Logic Grid Puzzles
Part 1 of 5 of How to Solve Logic Grid Puzzles.
The simplest clues state a fact outright. A true clue says two items go together. A false clue says they don't.
A true clue
Clues don't have to be used in order, and a plain fact is the easiest place to start.
Clue 3. The turtle was white.
This clue is about an animal and a color, so it belongs in the bottom-left grid. Find the square where the turtle column meets the white row, and mark it with a circle.
Now apply the two rules. The turtle was only one color, so it wasn't gold, orange or red. And only one animal was white, so the bear, the dog and the monkey weren't. That's six X's from a single clue.
In the app, Auto-X adds these X's for you as soon as you mark a match.
Notice that the X's stop at the heavy line. The turtle's column carries on up into the prices grid, but clue 3 says nothing about what the turtle cost, so those squares stay empty for now.
False clues
A false clue tells you that two items don't go together, such as "The dog was not gold". Mark that one square with an X and move on.
Balloon Animals has no clue like that, but false facts are often hidden inside other kinds of clue. The next parts show where to find them.
When only one square is left
X's matter because of the first rule. Every row and column of a small grid needs exactly one circle, so once three of its four squares hold an X, the fourth must be the circle. Most of a puzzle is solved this way, and the next part has the first example.