Clues by Sam Jan 15, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained
Tricky·Solved
A1
👨🌾
Alex
farmer
B1
👮♀️
Betty
cop
C1
👩⚖️
Claire
judge
D1
👨🌾
Denis
farmer
A2
🕵️♀️
Eve
sleuth
B2
👮♂️
Floyd
cop
C2
👩💻
Hilda
coder
D2
👨🎤
Jerry
singer
A3
👮♀️
Lisa
cop
B3
👩🌾
Mary
farmer
C3
👩💻
Nicole
coder
D3
👩🎤
Petra
singer
A4
👨💼
Ronald
clerk
B4
👨💼
Salil
clerk
C4
👨⚖️
Tyler
judge
D4
👩💼
Uma
clerk
A5
🕵️♂️
Vince
sleuth
B5
💂♂️
Wally
guard
C5
👩⚖️
Xena
judge
D5
👨🎤
Zane
singer
Final Board State
This puzzle is fully solved.
All characters have been identified as innocent or criminal based on today's clues.
Final Result
Innocent 14Criminal 6Unknown 0
See how each clue leads to the final result
Answer (spoilers)
A quick reference of the final identities. For explanations, see the reasoning above.
▶ Answer list (spoilers)
Innocent · 14
[ B1 ] [ D1 ] [ A2 ] [ B2 ] [ A3 ] [ B3 ] [ C3 ] [ A4 ] [ B4 ] [ C4 ] [ D4 ] [ A5 ] [ C5 ] [ D5 ]
Criminal · 6
[ A1 ] [ C1 ] [ C2 ] [ D2 ] [ D3 ] [ B5 ]
Clues
Raw text reference from the original puzzle
Original clue texts as provided in today's puzzle. No deductions or interpretations are applied here.
▶ Raw clues (original text)
A1 · Alex
"Are you trying to cheer us up, Denis?"
B1 · Betty
"Only 1 of the 3 innocents in column D is Nicole's neighbor"
C1 · Claire
"How depressing to get caught again!"
D1 · Denis
"Fun fact: Cucumbers are fruits!"
A2 · Eve
"There are more criminals in row 1 than row 3"
B2 · Floyd
"You can't hum while holding your nose! I learned this the hard way."
C2 · Hilda
"Exactly 1 innocent in row 3 is neighboring Nicole"
D2 · Jerry
"Nicole and Tyler have 3 innocent neighbors in common"
A3 · Lisa
"There are 6 criminals in total"
B3 · Mary
"Carrots used to be pink! Isn't that hilarious?"
C3 · Nicole
"And honey never spoils! Not even in a thousand years!"
D3 · Petra
"Alright, these do cheer me up a bit."
A4 · Ronald
"... mmmpph. Yup, can't do it."
B4 · Salil
"No one in row 4 has more than 2 criminal neighbors"
C4 · Tyler
"Exactly 2 of the 3 innocents in row 5 are Uma's neighbors"
D4 · Uma
"Each row has at least 2 innocents"
A5 · Vince
"Betty is one of 2 innocents in row 1"
B5 · Wally
"There's an equal number of innocents in columns C and D"
C5 · Xena
"Vince is one of 3 innocents in the corners"
D5 · Zane
"Only 1 of the 5 innocents neighboring Nicole is below Jerry"
Answer Explanation
Full reasoning transcript (reference)
This is the full reasoning transcript for today's puzzle. For an interactive walkthrough, use Replay above.
▶ View full transcript (17 steps)
D5 · Zane → INNOCENT, C5 · Xena → INNOCENT
Because: Uma is at D4, and in row 5 her only neighbors are C5 (Xena) and D5 (Zane); A5 (Vince) and B5 (Wally) are not adjacent to her. The clue says that exactly 2 of the 3 innocents in row 5 are Uma’s neighbors. Since the only row 5 neighbors Uma has are Xena and Zane, those two must be the ones counted as innocents. Therefore, we can determine that D5 Zane is INNOCENT, C5 Xena is INNOCENT, and so on.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of the 3 innocents in row 5 are Uma's neighbors" — Tyler (C4)
A5 · Vince → INNOCENT
Because: Xena’s clue explicitly states, “Vince is one of 3 innocents in the corners,” which directly tells us Vince is an innocent. Therefore, we can determine that Vince is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Vince is one of 3 innocents in the corners" — Xena (C5)
B5 · Wally → CRIMINAL
Because: Row 5 consists of Vince (A5), Wally (B5), Xena (C5), and Zane (D5), and Vince, Xena, and Zane are already known to be innocent. Tyler’s clue states that there are exactly three innocents in row 5. That means the three spots for innocents are already filled by Vince, Xena, and Zane, leaving no room for Wally to be an innocent. Therefore, we can determine that B5 Wally is a CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of the 3 innocents in row 5 are Uma's neighbors" — Tyler (C4)
B1 · Betty → INNOCENT
Because: The clue directly states that “Betty is one of 2 innocents in row 1,” which by itself confirms Betty is an innocent. Therefore, we can determine that B1 · Betty is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Betty is one of 2 innocents in row 1" — Vince (A5)
D1 · Denis → INNOCENT
Because: Nicole is at C3; in column D, her neighbors are D2 (Jerry), D3 (Petra), and D4 (Uma), while D1 (Denis) and D5 (Zane) are not her neighbors. The clue says column D has exactly three innocents, and only one of those three is Nicole’s neighbor, so the other two innocents must be the non-neighbors D1 and D5. Since Zane at D5 is already known to be innocent, the remaining required non-neighbor innocent is Denis at D1. Therefore, we can determine that D1 Denis is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 3 innocents in column D is Nicole's neighbor" — Betty (B1)
A1 · Alex → CRIMINAL
Because: The relevant corners are A1 Alex, D1 Denis, A5 Vince, and D5 Zane. The clue says there are exactly 3 innocents among the corners and that Vince is one of them. We already know Denis and Zane are innocents, so with Vince that makes the full set of 3 corner innocents. That leaves A1 as the only corner that cannot be innocent. Therefore, we can determine that A1 Alex is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Vince is one of 3 innocents in the corners" — Xena (C5)
C1 · Claire → CRIMINAL
Because: Row 1 has Alex (criminal), Betty (innocent), Claire (unknown), and Denis (innocent). The clue says there are exactly two innocents in row 1 and Betty is one of them. Since Denis is already known to be an innocent in that row, the two innocents are Betty and Denis, so no one else there can be innocent. Therefore, we can determine that Claire (C1) is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Betty is one of 2 innocents in row 1" — Vince (A5)
D2 · Jerry → CRIMINAL
Because: Relevant people: Nicole is at C3, Jerry is at D2. In column D, Denis (D1) and Zane (D5) are already known innocents. Betty’s clue says column D has exactly three innocents, and only one of them is a neighbor of Nicole. Since D1 and D5 are innocents and are not adjacent to Nicole, exactly one of D2, D3, or D4 is innocent. Zane’s clue says Nicole has five innocent neighbors, and only one of them is below Jerry. The only neighbors of Nicole that are below D2 are D3 and D4, so exactly one of D3 or D4 is innocent. Combining these, the sole innocent among D2–D4 must be in {D3, D4}, leaving D2 not innocent. Therefore, we can determine that D2 Jerry is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 5 innocents neighboring Nicole is below Jerry" — Zane (D5)
"Only 1 of the 3 innocents in column D is Nicole's neighbor" — Betty (B1)
B3 · Mary → INNOCENT, B4 · Salil → INNOCENT
Because: Nicole (C3) and Tyler (C4) share exactly four common neighbors: Mary (B3), Petra (D3), Salil (B4), and Uma (D4). Zane’s clue says only one of Nicole’s five innocent neighbors is below Jerry (D2); the only neighbors of Nicole that are below Jerry are Petra (D3) and Uma (D4), so exactly one of Petra or Uma is innocent. Jerry’s clue says Nicole and Tyler have three innocent neighbors in common, so among the four common neighbors (Mary, Petra, Salil, Uma), exactly three are innocent. With only one of Petra/Uma innocent, the remaining two innocents among the common neighbors must be Mary and Salil. Therefore, we can determine that Mary is INNOCENT, Salil is INNOCENT, and so on.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 5 innocents neighboring Nicole is below Jerry" — Zane (D5)
"Nicole and Tyler have 3 innocent neighbors in common" — Jerry (D2)
C3 · Nicole → INNOCENT
Because: Nicole (C3) has two neighbors in column D: Petra (D3) and Uma (D4), and these are the only neighbors of Nicole that are “below Jerry” (since Jerry is at D2). Zane’s clue says that among Nicole’s innocent neighbors, only one is below Jerry, so exactly one of Petra or Uma is innocent. Salil’s row-4 clue applied to Tyler (C4) means Tyler can have at most two criminal neighbors; Tyler already has Wally (B5) as one criminal neighbor, so among the three unknown neighbors Nicole (C3), Petra (D3), and Uma (D4), at most one can be criminal—therefore at least two of them are innocent. Since only one of Petra and Uma is innocent, the second required innocent in that trio must be Nicole. Therefore, we can determine that Nicole is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 5 innocents neighboring Nicole is below Jerry" — Zane (D5)
"No one in row 4 has more than 2 criminal neighbors" — Salil (B4)
C2 · Hilda → CRIMINAL
Because: For Nicole at C3, the only neighbors that are below Jerry at D2 are D3 (Petra) and D4 (Uma). Zane says only 1 of Nicole’s 5 innocent neighbors is below Jerry, so exactly one of D3 and D4 is innocent, which fixes column D at exactly three innocents in total (D1 Denis, D5 Zane, and one of D3/D4). Wally says columns C and D have the same number of innocents, so column C must also have exactly three. Column C already has three known innocents (C3 Nicole, C4 Tyler, C5 Xena), so C2 Hilda cannot be innocent. Therefore, we can determine that C2 Hilda is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 5 innocents neighboring Nicole is below Jerry" — Zane (D5)
"There's an equal number of innocents in columns C and D" — Wally (B5)
B2 · Floyd → INNOCENT
Because: Nicole (C3) has eight neighbors: B2 Floyd, C2 Hilda, D2 Jerry, B3 Mary, D3 Petra, B4 Salil, C4 Tyler, and D4 Uma; among these, Hilda and Jerry are criminals while Mary, Salil, and Tyler are already innocents. The clue says exactly five of Nicole’s neighbors are innocent, and only one of those innocents is below Jerry; within Nicole’s neighbors, the only people below Jerry (D2) are Petra (D3) and Uma (D4). So at most one of Petra/Uma can be an innocent neighbor, meaning from the three unknowns {Floyd, Petra, Uma} we still need exactly two innocents to reach five in total. Since only one of Petra/Uma can be innocent, Floyd must be the other required innocent. Therefore, we can determine that B2 Floyd is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 5 innocents neighboring Nicole is below Jerry" — Zane (D5)
D3 · Petra → CRIMINAL
Because: In row 3, Nicole is at C3, and the only people in the same row who neighbor her are B3 (Mary, already INNOCENT) and D3 (Petra). The clue states that exactly one innocent in row 3 is neighboring Nicole. Since Mary already satisfies this “one innocent neighbor,” Petra cannot also be innocent. Therefore, we can determine that D3 Petra is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Exactly 1 innocent in row 3 is neighboring Nicole" — Hilda (C2)
D4 · Uma → INNOCENT
Because: Nicole (C3) has eight neighbors: B2 Floyd, C2 Hilda, D2 Jerry, B3 Mary, D3 Petra, B4 Salil, C4 Tyler, and D4 Uma; the ones below Jerry (D2) are D3 and D4. We already know four of Nicole’s neighbors are innocent (Floyd, Mary, Salil, Tyler) and that Hilda, Jerry, and Petra are criminals. Zane’s clue says Nicole has exactly five innocent neighbors, and only one of those is below Jerry. Since D3 is a criminal, the only neighbor below Jerry who can be that one innocent is D4. Therefore, we can determine that D4 · Uma is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 5 innocents neighboring Nicole is below Jerry" — Zane (D5)
A2 · Eve → INNOCENT
Because: Look at row 2: A2 Eve (unknown), B2 Floyd (innocent), C2 Hilda (criminal), and D2 Jerry (criminal). The clue says every row must contain at least two innocents. Row 2 currently has only one known innocent (Floyd), and with two criminals already, the only way to reach two innocents in this row is for Eve to be the second one. Therefore, we can determine that A2 Eve is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Each row has at least 2 innocents" — Uma (D4)
A3 · Lisa → INNOCENT
Because: We only need rows 1 and 3. Row 1 already has exactly two criminals (Alex and Claire), while row 3 has Petra as a criminal, Mary and Nicole as innocents, and Lisa unknown. Eve’s clue says row 1 has more criminals than row 3, so row 3 must have fewer than two criminals; since Petra is already one, Lisa cannot also be a criminal. Therefore, we can determine that A3 Lisa is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"There are more criminals in row 1 than row 3" — Eve (A2)
A4 · Ronald → INNOCENT
Because: Lisa says there are 6 criminals in total. We already have exactly six criminals identified: Alex (A1), Claire (C1), Hilda (C2), Jerry (D2), Petra (D3), and Wally (B5). Since that exhausts the total, the only remaining undecided person cannot be a criminal. Therefore, we can determine that A4 Ronald is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"There are 6 criminals in total" — Lisa (A3)