Clues by Sam Jan 19, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained
A1
👨💼
clerk
B1
👨🎤
singer
C1
👩⚕️
doctor
D1
👷♂️
builder
A2
👩💼
clerk
B2
👨💼
clerk
C2
👨🎤
singer
D2
👨🏫
teacher
A3
👮♂️
cop
B3
👷♀️
builder
C3
👨🏫
teacher
D3
👩🏫
teacher
A4
👩⚕️
doctor
B4
👮♂️
cop
C4
💂♀️
guard
D4
👨🎤
singer
A5
👩🌾
farmer
B5
💂♀️
guard
C5
👩🌾
farmer
D5
💂♀️
guard
Final Board State
This puzzle is fully solved.
All characters have been identified as innocent or criminal based on today's clues.
See how each clue leads to the final result
Skip the reasoning — 15 criminals.
Clues by Sam answer for Jan 19, 2026 — a Easy solved in 15 steps
Today's Clues by Sam puzzle is rated Easy and resolves with 15 criminals on a 20-cell, 4-column × 5-row grid. The criminals are Alex (A1), Chloe (C1), Freya (A2), Gary (B2), Henry (C2), Igor (D2), Jason (A3), Katie (B3), Luigi (C3), Megan (D3), Nancy (A4), Olof (B4), Thor (D4), Vicky (A5) and Wanda (B5); the remaining 5 suspects are innocent.
The deduction chain, in plain English
01.A3 · Jason → CRIMINAL, B4 · Olof → CRIMINAL
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.
02.A2 · Freya → CRIMINAL, A1 · Alex → CRIMINAL, B2 · Gary → CRIMINAL
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.
03.B1 · Ben → INNOCENT
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.
04.B3 · Katie → CRIMINAL
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.
05.C4 · Ruby → INNOCENT
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.
06.C1 · Chloe → CRIMINAL
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.
07.C2 · Henry → CRIMINAL
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.
08.B5 · Wanda → CRIMINAL
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.
09.D3 · Megan → CRIMINAL
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.
10.D2 · Igor → CRIMINAL
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.
11.A4 · Nancy → CRIMINAL, A5 · Vicky → CRIMINAL
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.
12.C5 · Xia → INNOCENT
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.
13.C3 · Luigi → CRIMINAL
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.
14.D5 · Zoe → INNOCENT
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.
15.D4 · Thor → CRIMINAL
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.