List of Deductions That Unlocked Smart Aleck For Me

[Chapomon]

Ok, I finally got the Smart Aleck Steam achievement. Here is what I did. The deductions are broken down by the levels I made them in for my guide on Playstationtrophies.org

Dunn’s Gym Following Blacksad Picking Up His Lockpicks and Stopping By Yale’s Apartment

Important Note: With the deductions around Mary’s relationship with Dunn and the ring need to be put together in the longest steps. Putting together the following will give you one less deduction: (Do not do: Mary calls Dunn "Joey" + Mary has nice and neat handwriting + Dunn's wife's wedding ring was in an envelope with Sonia's name handwritten on it = Mary and Dunn were seeing each other (New Clue))

1. The Buffalo that works for O'Leary wears a shamrock on his lapel + Jake got mad when he found me searching his locker = Jake won’t say he works for O’Leary (Note Entry, dialogue)
2. There's a smudged racial slur painted on Yale's locker + There's a stained towel in Arthur Tucker's locker = Arthur Tucker painted the racial slur on Yale’s locker (Dialogue)
3. Mary has nice and neat handwriting + Dunn's wife's wedding ring was in an envelope with Sonia's name handwritten on it = Mary put the ring in the envelope (New Clue)
4. Mary put the ring in the envelope + Mary calls Dunn "Joey" = Mary and Dunn were seeing each other (New Clue)
5. Mary and Dunn were seeing each other + Dunn's wife's birthdate doesn't open the safe = Mary’s birth date might open the safe (New Clue)
6. Mary's birth date might open the safe + There are cards with staff information on Dunn's table = Mary's birth date, that might open the safe, on a card on Dunn's desk (New Clue)

Dunn’s Gym Following the Meeting with Smirnov

Important Notes: Look at the chest expander in Yale’s locker first and make the deduction that the chest expander in the trash belongs to Yale. While you can wait later to deduce the chest expander belongs to Yale after deducing that Dunn was strangled with a chest expander and still have the same number of deductions, I unlocked this achievement on Steam by doing “Yale's locker is full of surprises + Someone threw a chest expander in the trash = The chest expander in the trash belongs to Yale” first rather than “Yale’s Locker is full of surprises + Dunn was strangled with a chest expander = Dunn was strangled with Yale's chest expander (New Clue)” later.

7. Yale's locker is full of surprises + Someone threw a chest expander in the trash = The chest expander in the trash belongs to Yale (New Clue)
8. Someone threw a paint can in the trash + When Dunn died, his knuckles were swollen = Dunn must have punched a paint can (New Clue)
9. According to Jake, Dunn had a strong argument with Yale while he was painting on the scaffold + Dunn must have punched a paint can + There’s a paint stain on the gym floor = Dunn must have punched the can while arguing with Yale. (Observation)
10. There's something fishy about Dunn's suicide + Dunn's weight: 163 lbs - Height: 5'5" = Dunn wasn't tall enough to hang himself from that noose (New Clue)
11. Dunn had 4 different neck marks + The chest expander in the trash belongs to Yale + Dunn wasn't tall enough to hang himself from that noose = Dunn was strangled with Yale’s chest expander (New Clue)
12. Dunn wanted to call off the fight + Dunn was strangled with Yale's chest expander = Did Yale kill Dunn just because he wanted to call off the fight? (Observation)

Yale’s Apartment

13. Mary has a cold + There's a scarf at Yale's place + Mary went to Luna Park with Yale = Mary's been at Yale's place recently (New Clue)

Hospital: Cardiology Department

14. Yale's shoes smell like a dead man + Who do the footprints at the gym belong to? = Yale's soles don't match the footprints at the gym (New Clue)
15. The doe nurse will be gone later for trauma surgery + Doctor Talbot has surgery today at 12:30 = The doe nurse will assisting Doctor Talbot during his 12:30 surgery (New Clue)

Dunn’s Gym Following Hospital Visit

16. Doctor Palmer suggests that Yale rest after his heart attack + Yale's medical report is signed by one Doctor Ferguson + Yale had "extrasystole and dehydration caused by panic attack" = Who’s the guy passing as Yale’s doctor? (New Clue)

O’Leary’s Hideout

17. Moore Seduced Stone by O’Leary’s Demand + O’Leary has enough information to ruin Moore’s career = O’Leary is Threatening Stone with Ruining Moore’s Career (New Clue)
18. O'Leary claims to love his family unconditionally + Weekly took very explicit photographs of the Rhino and his lover = O'Leary's wife is having an affair with Colbert (new Clue)

Farnham’s Hotel Room

Important Note: Players have reported that the deductions for O’Leary using Moore to rig the boxing match and Avenarius’ death must be made during the flashbacks in this level as once you get to Dunn’s Gym where you can make more deductions again, you will be unable to make them due to new clues pushing the necessary clues out of Blacksad’s mind palace. You also need to be careful while making the deduction for “O’Leary used Moore to manipulate Stone forcing him to take a dive against Yale.” You MUST put the clue "O’Leary is threatening Stone with Ruining Moore’s" first or second when making this clue in order to get the proper clue "O’Leary used Moore to manipulate Stone forcing him to take a dive against Yale" because if you don't, you will get " O’Leary has rigged the fight between Yale and Stone " instead which cannot be used in deducing that O'Leary killed Avenarius. (Do Not Do: O’Leary always plays it safe + O’Leary bet $5000 on Yale + Judging by the bets, Stone is a clear favorite against Yale = O’Leary has rigged the fight between Yale and Stone (New Clue))

If you’re trying to do this while trying to get the sports cards in one go, do the deductions during multiple flashbacks. The timer does not move when you’re in the mind palace but you are not able to retreat back to the mind palace while there are prompts at the top of the HUD. Use that pause to move Blacksad about the room until the prompts go away and you’re able to go back to the mind palace.

19. O'Leary keeps romantic pictures of Helen Moore in a drawer + Helen Moore carries a cigarette case bearing a romantic inscription = Helen Moore and Desmond O'Leary are still in love (New Clue)
20. Helen Moore says she hates O'Leary + Helen Moore and Desmond O'Leary are still in love = If she’s still in love, why does she claim she hates him? What is she hiding? (Observation)
21. O’Leary’s feet on the table, a sign of dominance + Who do the footprints at the gym belong to? = O’Leary sole don’t match the footprints at the gym (New Clue)
22. O’Leary is threatening Stone with Ruining Moore’s career + O’Leary always plays it safe + O’Leary bet $5000 on Yale + Judging by the bets, Stone is a clear favorite against Yale = O’Leary used Moore to manipulate Stone forcing him to take a dive against Yale (New Clue)
23. Avenarius vanished after winning a fight, back when Yale was a kid + Yale is one of O’Leary’s “untouchables” according to his files + O’Leary has a guilty conscience for ratting someone out when he was 14, someone who ended up dead + O’Leary used Moore to manipulate Stone forcing him to take a dive against Yale = O’Leary caused the death of Yale’s father and now rigs his fights to quiet his guilty conscience (New Clue)

Dunn’s Apartment

24. A paper tissue that smells like sardines in the gym office + An empty can of sardines at Dunn's place, open recently = The smelly gym burglar didn't find what he was looking for at Dunn's place (new clue)

Rooftop of Dunn’s Gym

25. At Dunn's place, there's a picture of a tree painted by his wife + Dunn hid the music box under the swing tire tree = Maybe Dunn used the same hiding place once more. (Observation)

Randal’s Hospital Room

26. A piece of jean fabric on the stairs that lead to the gym rooftop + The Anteater has a tear in his pants = Matching Fabrics (Observation, Note Entry)
27. The smelly gym burglar didn't find what he was looking for at Dunn's place + The Anteater's snout reeks of sardines = The anteater broke into the gym and Dunn’s place (New Clue)
28. Who do the footprints at the gym belong to? + The gym burglar signed a document with his foot + The Anteater wears relatively small shoes = Matching footprints (Observation, Note Entry)
29. Two thugs tried to scare me into leaving the case, but one of them was trigger happy + The anteater broke into the gym and Dunn's place = Long snout (Observation, Note Entry)
30. The biography of Harry Bradwick, father of baseball, at Dunn's apartment + Craig Spannow was an orphan who thought baseball was his only family + Before Dunn found him, Spannow was living with his father = Spannow lives in Green-wood (Observation, Note Entry)

Green-wood Cemetery

Important Note: You must get the Mitchell tried to pass himself off as Yale's doctor deduction before finding Spannow as talking to him will give you a replacement clue plus the deduction without Blacksad having made it.

31. During the war, Dunn and his pals were known as the “Olympic Five” + Who’s the guy passing for Yale’s Doctor? = Mitchell, one of the Olympic five, tried to pass off as Yale’s doctor (New Clue)
32. O’Leary personally kills anyone who threatens his family or business + Someone ordered Randal Leigh to commit those murders = O’Leary has nothing to do with Dunn’s death (New Clue)
33. Spannow blames everything on the "Surgeon", an old friend in common with Dunn + Mitchell, one of the Olympic five, tried to pass off as Yale’s doctor = Mitchell, “The Surgeon”, could be the persona behind the entire case (New Clue)

Weekly’s Darkroom

34. Dunn's murderer had it all carefully planned out + Cassidy acts recklessly, by impulse = Cassidy is too impulsive to plan something as twisted as Dunn’s murder (New Clue)

Pier 36

35. The Horse Standing guard at the warehouse is armed + Two thugs tried to scare me into leaving the case, but one of the was trigger happy = The warehouse guard is trigger happy (New Clue)

Warehouse and Basement

36. The horse who works for Mitchell wears an arrowhead around his neck + There's an attic full of Indian objects in the port warehouse = The woman in the picture under the totem pole is Gill’s Mother (New Clue, Dialogue)

37. A list of names that somehow relate to rare chemical compounds + There's pill bottles with athlete's names in the lab + Spannow enhanced his performance by using drugs = Mitchell sells athletes drugs to enhance their performance (New Clue)

38. Mitchell sells athletes drugs to enhance their performance + Spannow's health took a toll after using the drugs = Grune’s Drugs have unwanted side effects on athletes (New Clue)

The Wrap up With Smirnov

Note: You can make the deduction for Gill killing Randal in the basement but I made it during the conversation with Smirnov during the playthrough that it unlocked for me.

39. Gil works for Mitchell, even though he hates his guts + The cops found Gil close to the basement door + Mitchell was trapped in the basement = Maybe Gill blocked the basement door to kill Mitchell (New Clue)
40. The warehouse guard is trigger happy + A sniper killed Randal Leigh + Gill had to kill a friend in order for the mission to succeed + Gil works for Mitchell, even though he hates his guts = Perhaps Mitchell ordered Gill to kill Randal Leigh (New Clue)
41. A sniper killed Randal Leigh + Mitchell missed two shots point blank = Mitchell didn’t kill Randal Leigh personally (New Clue)
42. Mitchell's drugs help overcome physical limitations + There was a bottle with Spannow's name on it in the ventilation shaft + Spannow stopped a fan with his bad arm + Spannow died shortly after recovering his strength = Mitchell’s drugs killed Spannow (New Clue)

Thorpe’s Agency

43. A list of names that somehow relate to rare chemical compounds + Thorpe hires athletes for advertising campaigns = What if Tim Thorpe was involved in Mitchell's operation? (New clue)
44. What if Tim Thorpe was involved in Mitchell's operation? + All of Thorpe's appointments are in his agenda = Maybe there’s a meeting with Mitchell in the agenda (New Clue)
45. Mitchell's drugs help overcome physical limitations + Thorpe can't walk and uses a wheelchair + There's a bottle of pills in Thorpe's desk = What if the drugs help Thorpe walk? (New Clue)
46. What if the drugs help Thorpe walk? + A sniper killed Randal Leigh + They called Thorpe the "Surgeon" for his excellent aim as a sniper = Thorpe killed Randal (New Clue)
47. Spannow blames everything on the "Surgeon", an old friend common with Dunn + They called Thorpe the "Surgeon" for his excellent aim as a sniper + What if Tim Thorpe was involved in Mitchell's operation? = Thorpe is the mastermind behind the athlete doping operation (New Clue)
48. I have to lure Thorpe into a trap + Thorpe keeps a gun in his desk drawer + What if the drugs help Thorpe walk? = This activates the end game sequence

Broken Deduction: If you call Smirnov at Thorpe's Agency, you will get the clue "Gill says someone knocked him unconscious and left him right by the basement entrance" which appears to be part of a deduction where Blacksad deduces that Thorpe put Gill there but this seems to be broken but is not necessary to unlock Smart Aleck. When I unlocked it on Steam, I did not call Smirnov.

Gill says someone knocked him unconscious and left him right by the basement entrance + What if the drugs help Thorpe walk? + The cops found gill close to the basement door + ??? = ???

I've seen a lot of other people's experience vary around the chest expander and Mary's relationship. At first, I saved the chest expander belongs to Yale deduction until after I made the deduction for Dunn being strangled by a chest expander during my first attempt and didn't unlock this trophy. I went back and made the chest expander belongs to Yale first and it unlocked this time.

My biggest question now is whether this walkthrough will unlock Smart Aleck on the PS4 version. The version on Steam right now is listed at 1.04. I cannot test this for myself as the North American version is only at 1.03 and last I checked, I was unable to make the Avenarius deductions. Until we see a newer patch here in North America, I won't be able to test this myself and I won't be able to get the platinum until then.

[Razor<<Clawson>>]

Thanks!