Reading technique · Intermediate
Attribute and Context Extraction
Turning a clue that refers to an attribute rather than a name — gender, nationality, a preamble fact — into a concrete candidate list before doing anything else.
Why it works
A clue like 'the person from Canada' isn't vague, it's precise about something other than a name. Naming the candidates it refers to converts it into an ordinary elimination.
Trigger
A clue describing someone by trait rather than by name, or a fact stated in the introduction rather than a numbered clue.
Common mistake
Treating attribute clues as flavour text, or skipping the puzzle's introduction as scene-setting instead of reading it for facts.
Example
'The pilot forgot his umbrella' names a gender. List who that could be, cross out who it can't, and the clue becomes an ordinary elimination.