Clues by Sam Jan 19, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained
Easy·Solved
A1
👨💼
Alex
clerk
B1
👨🎤
Ben
singer
C1
👩⚕️
Chloe
doctor
D1
👷♂️
David
builder
A2
👩💼
Freya
clerk
B2
👨💼
Gary
clerk
C2
👨🎤
Henry
singer
D2
👨🏫
Igor
teacher
A3
👮♂️
Jason
cop
B3
👷♀️
Katie
builder
C3
👨🏫
Luigi
teacher
D3
👩🏫
Megan
teacher
A4
👩⚕️
Nancy
doctor
B4
👮♂️
Olof
cop
C4
💂♀️
Ruby
guard
D4
👨🎤
Thor
singer
A5
👩🌾
Vicky
farmer
B5
💂♀️
Wanda
guard
C5
👩🌾
Xia
farmer
D5
💂♀️
Zoe
guard
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 5Criminal 15Unknown 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 · 5
[ B1 ] [ D1 ] [ C4 ] [ C5 ] [ D5 ]
Criminal · 15
[ A1 ] [ C1 ] [ A2 ] [ B2 ] [ C2 ] [ D2 ] [ A3 ] [ B3 ] [ C3 ] [ D3 ] [ A4 ] [ B4 ] [ D4 ] [ A5 ] [ 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
"Exactly 1 clerk has an innocent directly above them"
B1 · Ben
"There is only one innocent above Wanda"
C1 · Chloe
"Both innocents below me are connected"
D1 · David
"Katie and Nancy have no innocent neighbors in common"
A2 · Freya
"I spent my Sunday doing some leisured tax fraud"
B2 · Gary
"I just swindeld a millionaire or two. Nothing big."
C2 · Henry
"There is only one innocent in column B"
D2 · Igor
"Column A has more criminals than any other column"
A3 · Jason
"How was your weekend? I robbed a bank."
B3 · Katie
"Only 1 of the 2 innocents neighboring Xia is to the left of Thor"
C3 · Luigi
"There's an equal number of innocents in rows 1 and 5"
D3 · Megan
"There's an odd number of criminals in column D"
A4 · Nancy
"There are at least 4 innocents on the edges"
B4 · Olof
"There are more criminal clerks than criminal cops"
C4 · Ruby
"Each row has at least 2 criminals"
D4 · Thor
"Can't recall what I did... But I'm sure it was something criminal!"
A5 · Vicky
"I nicked a few tons of oranges from my neighbour"
B5 · Wanda
"An odd number of innocents in column D neighbor Ruby"
C5 · Xia
"Hey! What happend to my orchard!"
D5 · Zoe
"This was the last time I hire Jason to protect the vault!"
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 (15 steps)
A3 · Jason → CRIMINAL, B4 · Olof → CRIMINAL
Because: Katie is at B3 and Nancy is at A4; the only people who are neighbors of both are Jason at A3 and Olof at B4. The clue says Katie and Nancy have no innocent neighbors in common, so none of these shared neighbors can be innocent. That leaves Jason and Olof as not innocent. Therefore, we can determine that A3 · Jason is CRIMINAL, B4 · Olof is CRIMINAL, and so on.
Clue:
"Katie and Nancy have no innocent neighbors in common" — David (D1)
A2 · Freya → CRIMINAL, A1 · Alex → CRIMINAL, B2 · Gary → CRIMINAL
Because: Relevant people: the clerks are Alex (A1), Freya (A2), and Gary (B2). Separately, it is already established that exactly two cops are criminals. The clue says there are more criminal clerks than criminal cops. “More than two” means at least three criminal clerks. Since there are exactly three clerks total (Alex, Freya, Gary), all three must be criminals to satisfy the clue. Therefore, we can determine that A2 Freya is CRIMINAL, A1 Alex is CRIMINAL, and B2 Gary is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"There are more criminal clerks than criminal cops" — Olof (B4)
B1 · Ben → INNOCENT
Because: We focus on column B: Gary at B2 is a clerk, and by prior deductions he is the only clerk who can possibly be the one “with an innocent directly above” (A2 can’t qualify because A1 is not innocent above it, and the other potential spots are already ruled out by earlier profession/above constraints). The clue says exactly one clerk has an innocent directly above them, so the person directly above Gary must be innocent to satisfy that “exactly one.” The person directly above Gary is Ben at B1. Therefore, we can determine that Ben is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Exactly 1 clerk has an innocent directly above them" — Alex (A1)
B3 · Katie → CRIMINAL
Because: In Wanda’s column (B), the people above her are Ben at B1 (innocent), Gary at B2 (criminal), Katie at B3 (unknown), and Olof at B4 (criminal). The clue says there is only one innocent above Wanda. Ben already accounts for that one, so none of the others above her can be innocent. Therefore, we can determine that B3 · Katie is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"There is only one innocent above Wanda" — Ben (B1)
C4 · Ruby → INNOCENT
Because: Relevant people: Xia at C5, Thor at D4, and Xia’s neighbors B4 (Olof), C4 (Ruby), D4 (Thor), B5, and D5. The clue says exactly one of Xia’s two innocent neighbors is to the left of Thor; among Xia’s neighbors, the ones left of Thor (same row as Thor) are B4 and C4. But Olof at B4 is already known to be a criminal, so the only candidate for that “one innocent to the left of Thor” is Ruby at C4. Therefore, we can determine that Ruby is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 2 innocents neighboring Xia is to the left of Thor" — Katie (B3)
C1 · Chloe → CRIMINAL
Because: Focus on row 1: A1 Alex is a criminal, B1 Ben and D1 David are innocents, and only C1 Chloe is still unknown. The clue says each row must contain at least two criminals. Row 1 currently has only one known criminal (Alex), so the only way to meet the clue is for Chloe to be a criminal. Therefore, we can determine that C1 Chloe is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Each row has at least 2 criminals" — Ruby (C4)
C2 · Henry → CRIMINAL
Because: Below Chloe (C1) are Henry (C2), Luigi (C3), Ruby (C4, already Innocent), and Xia (C5). Her clue says “Both innocents below me are connected,” which means there are exactly two innocents among these four and they must form a single adjacent pair in the column. Since Ruby at C4 is one of the innocents, the only way to make a connected pair is for the other innocent to be at C3 or C5; C2 is not adjacent to C4. Therefore, we can determine that C2 Henry is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Both innocents below me are connected" — Chloe (C1)
B5 · Wanda → CRIMINAL
Because: Column B contains Ben (B1, known innocent), Gary (B2, criminal), Katie (B3, criminal), Olof (B4, criminal), and Wanda (B5, unknown). Henry states there is only one innocent in column B. Ben already occupies that single innocent spot, so every other person in column B must be a criminal. Therefore, we can determine that B5 · Wanda is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"There is only one innocent in column B" — Henry (C2)
D3 · Megan → CRIMINAL
Because: Relevant people: Xia at C5, Ruby at C4, Thor at D4, Zoe at D5, and Megan at D3. Katie’s clue says Xia has exactly two innocent neighbors, and only one of those is to the left of Thor; among Xia’s neighbors, the only one left of Thor who can be innocent is Ruby at C4, so exactly one of Thor (D4) or Zoe (D5) is innocent. Wanda’s clue says an odd number of Ruby’s column D neighbors are innocent; those neighbors are D3, D4, and D5. Since D4 and D5 contribute exactly one innocent in total, the count is odd only if D3 contributes zero, meaning D3 is not innocent. Therefore, we can determine that D3 Megan is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 2 innocents neighboring Xia is to the left of Thor" — Katie (B3)
"An odd number of innocents in column D neighbor Ruby" — Wanda (B5)
D2 · Igor → CRIMINAL
Because: Xia is at C5 with neighbors B4 (Olof, criminal), C4 (Ruby, innocent), D4 (Thor, unknown), B5 (Wanda, criminal), and D5 (Zoe, unknown). Katie’s clue says Xia has exactly two innocent neighbors and exactly one of them is to the left of Thor; among Xia’s neighbors to the left of Thor are B4 and C4, and since B4 is criminal, C4 must be that one. Therefore the second innocent neighbor is exactly one of D4 or D5, so exactly one of Thor and Zoe is criminal. Megan’s clue says column D has an odd number of criminals; with D3 (Megan) already criminal, the set {D2, D4, D5} must have an even number of criminals. Because exactly one of D4 and D5 is criminal, D2 must also be criminal to keep that count even. Therefore, we can determine that D2 Igor is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 2 innocents neighboring Xia is to the left of Thor" — Katie (B3)
"There's an odd number of criminals in column D" — Megan (D3)
A4 · Nancy → CRIMINAL, A5 · Vicky → CRIMINAL
Because: We’re looking at column A’s two unknowns: Nancy (A4) and Vicky (A5). Igor’s clue says column A has more criminals than any other column. Column B already has exactly four criminals (Gary, Katie, Olof, and Wanda), so column A must have five criminals to be strictly more; with Alex, Freya, and Jason already criminals in column A, the only way to reach five is for both remaining spots to be criminals. Therefore, we can determine that Nancy (A4) is CRIMINAL and Vicky (A5) is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Column A has more criminals than any other column" — Igor (D2)
C5 · Xia → INNOCENT
Because: Focus on Xia’s neighbors: B4 (Olof, criminal), C4 (Ruby, innocent), D4 (Thor, unknown), B5 (Wanda, criminal), and D5 (Zoe, unknown). Katie’s clue says Xia has exactly two innocent neighbors, and only one of them is to the left of Thor; among Xia’s neighbors left of Thor (B4 and C4), only Ruby is innocent, so the other innocent neighbor must be exactly one of Thor (D4) or Zoe (D5). Nancy’s clue says there are at least four innocents on the edges; we currently have two (B1 and D1), and the only edge unknowns left are D4, C5, and D5, so at least two of these three must be innocent. Since only one of D4 and D5 can be innocent from Katie’s clue, C5 must be the other edge innocent. Therefore, we can determine that Xia is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 2 innocents neighboring Xia is to the left of Thor" — Katie (B3)
"There are at least 4 innocents on the edges" — Nancy (A4)
C3 · Luigi → CRIMINAL
Because: Below Chloe (C1), the people in her column are Henry (C2), Luigi (C3), Ruby (C4), and Xia (C5). Her clue says “Both innocents below me are connected,” which means there are exactly two innocents among those below her, and they are adjacent by up/down/left/right. Ruby (C4) and Xia (C5) are already known innocents and are adjacent, so they are the two connected innocents the clue refers to. That leaves no room for any other innocent below Chloe, so Luigi cannot be innocent and must be a criminal. Therefore, we can determine that C3 · Luigi is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Both innocents below me are connected" — Chloe (C1)
D5 · Zoe → INNOCENT
Because: We look only at rows 1 and 5. Luigi states these two rows contain the same number of innocents. In row 1, Ben and David are innocents, so there are 2 innocents. In row 5, Vicky and Wanda are criminals and Xia is innocent, so to match row 1’s total of 2, the only remaining person, Zoe, must also be innocent. Therefore, we can determine that D5 Zoe is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"There's an equal number of innocents in rows 1 and 5" — Luigi (C3)
D4 · Thor → CRIMINAL
Because: Xia (C5) has five neighbors: Olof (B4), Wanda (B5), Ruby (C4), Thor (D4), and Zoe (D5). The clue states there are exactly two innocents among Xia’s neighbors, and among those two, exactly one is to the left of Thor. Ruby and Zoe are already known innocents; of these, only Ruby (C4) is to the left of Thor (D4), while Zoe (D5) is not in his row. That already fills the two innocent slots around Xia, so Thor cannot be an additional innocent and must be a criminal. Therefore, we can determine that D4 Thor is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 2 innocents neighboring Xia is to the left of Thor" — Katie (B3)