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The Outline

Played on April 2, 2026 · Puzzle #49

The voice

I'm the officer who responded. I'll tell you what I saw.

The scenario

Police responded to a call about a body on the sidewalk. When they arrived, they found a chalk outline on the ground, but they hadn't drawn it. Someone was lying inside it.

About this puzzle

This is a Community puzzle of medium difficulty with 2 hidden answers. Players had up to 5 questions to ask the constrained voice before having to commit to an answer.

Community puzzles draw on shared knowledge of public spaces, civic events, and the everyday environments that neighbors share. The voice is usually someone embedded in the scene with limited line of sight to what is actually unfolding.

How players scored

  • Perfect score (100)6%
  • Above 7534%
  • 50 to 7536%
  • Below 509%
  • Gave up14%

Distribution across all production attempts.

How constrained voices work

Every 5Qs puzzle is built around a constrained voice. The voice knows the answer but can only communicate within a specific perspective — a doorman new to the city, a dog who only thinks in smell and crunch, an empty lot that has never been occupied before. The voice will not name the answer outright. The fun is figuring out what to ask so that the lens reveals enough for you to put a name on what the voice is describing.