How to Solve Logic Grid Puzzles

A Step-by-Step Guide from Beginner to Expert

If you’ve never solved a logic grid puzzle before, don’t worry—every master solver started with a blank grid and a handful of clues that seemed impossible to connect. These puzzles look intimidating at first, but each one can be solved using nothing more than logic, deduction, and a bit of patience.

By the end of this short guide, you’ll understand how to read clues, fill out your grid, and chain facts together like a detective solving a case. Let’s begin.

What is a Logic Grid Puzzle?

A logic grid puzzle gives you a set of categories (for example: Name, Color, and Finish Time) and a list of clues. Each category has the same number of options, and every option matches up with exactly one item from each other category.

Your goal is to find all the correct pairings by using the clues and ruling out impossible ones. To help, you use a grid—a matrix of boxes where you mark “✓” for true connections and “X” for false ones.

Step 1: Understanding What Each Clue Tells You

Let’s start simple.

Example 1:

Jane finished earlier than Philip.

This tells us two things:

Jane did not finish last.
Philip did not finish first.

You can’t yet say exactly when either finished, but you’ve already limited their possibilities.

Example 2:

Jane finished before the Blue Ribbon holder.

Now we learn three facts:

Jane did not finish last.
The Blue Ribbon holder did not finish first.
Jane did not have the Blue Ribbon herself (since she finished before whoever has it).

By marking these on your grid, you’ve already started narrowing the field.

Example 3:

Philip finished immediately after the contestant with the Red Ribbon.

This is a relative clue—one that links two people in direct order.
It means:

Philip’s finish position is one step later than the Red Ribbon holder.
Philip can’t be first.
The Red Ribbon holder can’t be last.
Philip did not have the Red Ribbon.

If there are only three contestants (Jane, Philip, and Sara), and we later learn Jane did not finish first, you can immediately deduce the Red Ribbon must belong to Sara.

Step 2: Cross-Referencing Clues

Most clues make sense only when combined. Let’s see how to chain them.

Example Chain A:

Jane finished before Philip.
Philip finished before the Blue Ribbon holder.

From these two, you can now conclude:

Jane finished before the Blue Ribbon holder.

This kind of chaining—using one clue to extend another—is the heart of logic puzzle solving.

Example Chain B:

Harper voted before Finn.
Finn voted before Mina.
The last vote targeted Harper.

From this, we know:

Harper cannot be the last voter.
Mina cannot be first (since Finn came before her).
The person who voted for Harper must be neither Harper nor anyone who voted earlier than Finn.

Each chain refines your picture of the full sequence.

Step 3: Using Negatives to Your Advantage

Clues often tell you what did not happen—and that’s just as powerful.

The contestant who used Blue ink did not vote for Suri.

This eliminates one pairing outright. If later you learn Suri received exactly one vote, you can use process of elimination to determine who cast it.

Whenever a clue tells you what didn’t happen, mark it with an X in the grid. These X’s will often box you into a single remaining possibility.

Step 4: Spotting “Only One” and “Exactly One” Clues

Clues that use phrases like “only one,” “exactly one,” “no two,” or “the only” are gold for narrowing possibilities.

Exactly one pair of adjacent seats belonged to contestants who both voted for the same person.

This tells you that every other adjacent pair must have voted differently—so as you fill in votes, you can instantly eliminate certain combinations to keep that rule true.

Or:

Exactly one contestant voted for Harper.

Once you’ve found that person, you immediately know that no one else can have done so. These clues ripple outward, locking in dozens of other boxes.

Step 5: Combining Directions and Conditions

Here’s where puzzles start to feel like true detective work.

Example Chain C (Intermediate)

The North seat voted immediately before the one who voted for Omar.
Omar voted after Cassidy.
The South seat did not vote last.

From these, you can map out partial order:

North → (voter for Omar) → Omar → Cassidy (in order sequence).
Since the South seat isn’t last, it must appear earlier in the chain.
You can now test possible seat orders to see which arrangement fits all three clues.

This is typical of the Fire Circle of Logic puzzles in Survivle—each clue might feel abstract, but together they create one perfect arrangement.

Step 6: Contradictions Are Clues, Too

When you hit a contradiction (for example, two clues can’t both be true under your current assumptions), that’s a signal you’ve made a wrong inference.
Good solvers test small hypotheses and backtrack when something conflicts.

This is why keeping your grid neat and methodical is crucial. Mark each “✓” and “X” carefully so your logic never tangles.

Step 7: Think Relationally, Not Literally

In advanced puzzles, clues often connect three or more categories indirectly.

Example:

The For Trust voter sat opposite the Blue Ink voter.

That doesn’t tell you who either one is, but it links two entirely different categories (Motto and Ink Color). If you later learn that Harper’s motto was For Trust, you instantly know Harper sat opposite the Blue Ink voter.

When two linked categories each get solved separately, their connection will give you a third piece of information automatically.

Step 8: Look for “Chains of Four” — Advanced Reasoning

Here’s an example from a late-game Survivle puzzle:

The Blue Ink voter targeted Suri.
The West seat voted for Suri.
The West seat did not use Blue Ink.
Exactly two votes were cast for Suri.

From this chain, we can deduce:

There are two distinct people who voted for Suri: the Blue Ink voter and the West seat.
Since the West seat didn’t use Blue Ink, they must be different contestants.
Once you know who any one of them is, the identity of the other locks into place automatically.

That’s how expert solvers think—by creating small, interlocking “chains of truth.”

Step 9: Use Order and Quantity Clues Together

Time and sequence clues are some of the most powerful.

The contestant who started at 9:00 finished before the one who enjoyed the Rose aroma.
Mina’s treatment began after Jane’s.

From these, you can infer:

Jane began before Mina.
The 9:00 treatment must have been Jane’s or someone even earlier (if the Rose aroma was later).
If you later find that Mina used Rose aroma, that confirms Jane was the 9:00 starter.

Every puzzle in Survivle uses this “chain logic”—where each clue reinforces or limits the next until a single configuration remains possible.

Step 10: Practice, Practice, Practice

The key to mastering logic grid puzzles is recognizing patterns.
Over time, you’ll learn to spot that:

“Earlier than” and “immediately after” clues build timelines.
“Opposite,” “next to,” and “adjacent” clues build spatial layouts.
“Exactly one,” “no two,” and “either/or” clues control uniqueness.
And every “did not” clue shrinks your possible pairings.

Start with smaller puzzles that have three categories of four options each. As you get comfortable, step up to the complex multi-category puzzles in Survivle, where ten or more intertwined clues must align perfectly.

Final Advice – A Word From Witsworth

Logic puzzles are not about guessing—they’re about not needing to guess. Each clue is a fragment of a greater pattern, waiting to be connected. Follow the truth patiently, and the grid will reward you every time.

Now that you understand the principles of logic, you’re ready for the real challenge. In these pages, your grids won’t be filled with ribbons or finish times—they’ll hold the fates of twenty determined competitors on my private island. Every clue you read will reveal not just logic, but motive. Every deduction will bring you closer to uncovering who survives each round.

I invite you to test your reasoning where intuition meets intellect—at the Fire Circle of Logic. If you can untangle every web of clues, you may just outthink the sharpest minds ever to play the game.

Welcome to Survivle: Season 1 — Fifty Puzzles. Twenty Contestants. One Champion.

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