Clues by Sam Jan 22, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained
Tricky·Solved
A1
👩⚕️
Anna
doctor
B1
👨🌾
Bruce
farmer
C1
👩🌾
Chloe
farmer
D1
👨⚕️
Denis
doctor
A2
👩💼
Emma
clerk
B2
👩💼
Flora
clerk
C2
👨🌾
Gus
farmer
D2
👨🎤
Hal
singer
A3
👨💼
Ike
clerk
B3
💂♂️
John
guard
C3
👩⚖️
Laura
judge
D3
🕵️♀️
Megan
sleuth
A4
🕵️♀️
Nicole
sleuth
B4
👩🎤
Olive
singer
C4
👩⚖️
Penny
judge
D4
👩🔧
Ruby
mech
A5
👨⚕️
Tom
doctor
B5
💂♂️
Vince
guard
C5
👨⚖️
Xavi
judge
D5
👨🔧
Ziad
mech
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 13Criminal 7Unknown 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 · 13
[ B1 ] [ C1 ] [ D1 ] [ A2 ] [ B2 ] [ C2 ] [ D2 ] [ A3 ] [ A4 ] [ C4 ] [ A5 ] [ C5 ] [ D5 ]
Criminal · 7
[ A1 ] [ B3 ] [ C3 ] [ D3 ] [ B4 ] [ D4 ] [ 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 · Anna
"I feel disconnected..."
B1 · Bruce
"Only one row has exactly 2 criminals"
C1 · Chloe
"2 of us 3 farmers have an innocent directly below them"
D1 · Denis
"There is only one innocent in between Ziad and me"
A2 · Emma
"Hal is one of 10 innocents on the edges"
B2 · Flora
"Ike is one of Emma's 3 innocent neighbors"
C2 · Gus
"Being a criminal sounds fun! Such a social experience."
D2 · Hal
"Exactly 1 innocent on the edges is in column B"
A3 · Ike
"There are exactly 3 criminals in column B"
B3 · John
"I wouldn't mind staying connected. Anyone want my number?"
C3 · Laura
"I hope Vince doesn't lose his book to the officials"
D3 · Megan
"Only 1 of the 5 innocents neighboring Flora is below Chloe"
A4 · Nicole
"Exactly 2 innocents in column C are neighboring Vince"
B4 · Olive
"There are more criminal guards than criminal sleuths"
C4 · Penny
"There's an odd number of innocents in column D"
D4 · Ruby
"Megan, it's been fun. Let's stay connected!"
A5 · Tom
"Why are no innocents ever giving me a call?"
B5 · Vince
"I have all the criminals in my phonebook!"
C5 · Xavi
"Both criminals below Denis are connected"
D5 · Ziad
"There are exactly 4 innocents in column C"
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 (16 steps)
C4 · Penny → INNOCENT, C5 · Xavi → INNOCENT
Because: Vince is at B5, and the clue says exactly two innocents in column C are neighboring him. The only people in column C who neighbor B5 are C4 (Penny) and C5 (Xavi), since neighbors include diagonals and C1–C3 are too far away. For there to be exactly two such innocents in column C, both Penny and Xavi must be those two. Therefore, we can determine that Penny is INNOCENT, Xavi is INNOCENT, and so on.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 innocents in column C are neighboring Vince" — Nicole (A4)
D1 · Denis → INNOCENT
Because: We focus on column D: Denis at D1, with Hal (D2), Megan (D3), Ruby (D4), and Ziad (D5) below him. Xavi says “Both criminals below Denis are connected,” which tells us there are exactly two criminals among D2–D5. Penny says the total number of innocents in column D is odd. With exactly two criminals below Denis, the other two below are innocents; to make the column’s total count of innocents odd, Denis himself must be an innocent (otherwise the column would have an even two). Therefore, we can determine that Denis is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Both criminals below Denis are connected" — Xavi (C5)
"There's an odd number of innocents in column D" — Penny (C4)
D3 · Megan → CRIMINAL, D5 · Ziad → INNOCENT
Because: Focus on column D under Denis (D1): D2 Hal, D3 Megan, D4 Ruby, and D5 Ziad. Denis says there is only one innocent between him and Ziad, so among D2–D4 exactly one is innocent and two are criminals. Xavi says both criminals below Denis are connected, which means there are exactly two criminals among D2–D5 and those two must form a connected chain. This forces Ziad (D5) to be innocent; otherwise there would be three criminals below Denis. Now, if the two criminals among D2–D4 were D2 and D4 (making D3 the single innocent), D4 would be isolated because its only orthogonal neighbors are C4 (already innocent), D3 (then innocent), and D5 (innocent), so the pair could not be connected. Therefore the connected pair must include D3, making Megan a criminal. Therefore, we can determine that D3 · Megan is CRIMINAL and D5 · Ziad is INNOCENT, and so on.
Clue:
"Both criminals below Denis are connected" — Xavi (C5)
"There is only one innocent in between Ziad and me" — Denis (D1)
C1 · Chloe → INNOCENT
Because: Column C has Chloe (C1), Gus (C2), Laura (C3), Penny (C4, innocent), and Xavi (C5, innocent). Ziad says there are exactly 4 innocents in column C, so exactly two of C1–C3 must be innocent. Among Flora’s neighbors, the only ones below Chloe (same column, lower rows) are C2 and C3, and Megan says only 1 of Flora’s 5 innocent neighbors is below Chloe—so exactly one of C2 or C3 is innocent. To reach two innocents among C1–C3, Chloe must be the other innocent. Therefore, we can determine that Chloe is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"There are exactly 4 innocents in column C" — Ziad (D5)
"Only 1 of the 5 innocents neighboring Flora is below Chloe" — Megan (D3)
B2 · Flora → INNOCENT
Because: Among the three Farmers, one of them is on the bottom row (row 5), so that Farmer cannot possibly have anyone directly below them, innocent or otherwise. Chloe’s clue says that exactly two of the three Farmers do have an innocent directly below, so the other two Farmers (the ones not on row 5) must be the ones who each have an innocent directly below. One of those Farmers is directly above Flora at B2, so Flora must be the “innocent directly below” that the clue requires. Therefore, we can determine that B2 (Flora) is INNOCENT
Clue:
"There are exactly 4 innocents in column C" — Ziad (D5)
"2 of us 3 farmers have an innocent directly below them" — Chloe (C1)
A3 · Ike → INNOCENT
Because: The clue explicitly states that “Ike is one of Emma’s 3 innocent neighbors,” which directly means Ike is an innocent neighbor of Emma. Therefore, we can determine that A3 Ike is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Ike is one of Emma's 3 innocent neighbors" — Flora (B2)
A2 · Emma → INNOCENT
Because: First focus on Flora at B2: her neighbors are A1, A2 (Emma), A3 (Ike), B1, B3, C1 (Chloe), C2, and C3, and among these the ones “below Chloe” are C2 and C3. Megan’s clue says Flora has exactly five innocent neighbors, with only one of them below Chloe, so exactly one of C2/C3 is innocent; with Ike and Chloe already innocent, that means exactly two of A1, A2, B1, and B3 must be innocent. Flora’s own clue says Emma has exactly three innocent neighbors, and since Ike and Flora are already two of them, exactly one of A1, B1, and B3 is innocent. Therefore the second innocent among A1, A2, B1, and B3 must be Emma herself. Therefore, we can determine that A2 Emma is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 5 innocents neighboring Flora is below Chloe" — Megan (D3)
"Ike is one of Emma's 3 innocent neighbors" — Flora (B2)
D2 · Hal → INNOCENT
Because: Emma’s clue says Hal is one of the 10 innocents on the edges, so Hal is an innocent. Therefore, we can determine that D2 · Hal is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Hal is one of 10 innocents on the edges" — Emma (A2)
D4 · Ruby → CRIMINAL
Because: Denis is at D1, so the people below him in column D are Hal (D2), Megan (D3), Ruby (D4), and Ziad (D5). The clue says both criminals below Denis are connected, meaning there are exactly two criminals among these four and they must be adjacent by up/down/left/right. We already know Hal and Ziad are innocents, and Megan is a criminal, so the only way to have two connected criminals below Denis is for Ruby to be the second one, adjacent to Megan at D3–D4. Therefore, we can determine that D4 Ruby is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Both criminals below Denis are connected" — Xavi (C5)
B3 · John → CRIMINAL, B4 · Olive → CRIMINAL
Because: Focus on column B: B1 Bruce, B2 Flora (already innocent), B3 John, B4 Olive, and B5 Vince; among these, only B1 and B5 are on the edge. Hal’s clue says exactly one edge innocent is in column B, so between B1 and B5, exactly one is innocent and the other is criminal. Ike’s clue says there are exactly three criminals in column B; with B2 already innocent, the three criminals must come from B1, B3, B4, and B5. Since B1 and B5 together account for exactly one criminal, the other two criminals must be B3 and B4. Therefore, we can determine that B3 John is CRIMINAL, B4 Olive is CRIMINAL, and so on.
Clue:
"Exactly 1 innocent on the edges is in column B" — Hal (D2)
"There are exactly 3 criminals in column B" — Ike (A3)
B5 · Vince → CRIMINAL
Because: We’re comparing two specific groups: guards and sleuths, and Vince (B5) is a guard. Olive’s clue requires that the total number of criminal guards is strictly greater than the total number of criminal sleuths. From the people already solved, the criminal sleuth count is fixed, and among the guards everyone except Vince is already determined; without Vince, the criminal guards do not outnumber the criminal sleuths. To satisfy “more criminal guards than criminal sleuths,” Vince must be a criminal. Therefore, we can determine that B5 · Vince is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"There are more criminal guards than criminal sleuths" — Olive (B4)
B1 · Bruce → INNOCENT
Because: The clue says that among all edge positions, exactly one innocent is in column B. The only edge squares in column B are B1 and B5. We already know B5 (Vince) is a criminal, so the “exactly one” innocent in column B must be B1. Therefore, we can determine that B1 Bruce is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Exactly 1 innocent on the edges is in column B" — Hal (D2)
A1 · Anna → CRIMINAL
Because: Flora (B2) has neighbors A1, B1, C1, A2, C2, A3, B3, and C3; Chloe is at C1, so among Flora’s neighbors, the only ones “below Chloe” are C2 and C3. The clue says Flora has exactly 5 innocent neighbors and only one of those is below Chloe. We already know B1, C1, A2, and A3 are innocent (4), and B3 is criminal, so among A1, C2, and C3 exactly one is innocent. Since the single innocent “below Chloe” must be either C2 or C3, A1 cannot be that one and must be a criminal. Therefore, we can determine that A1 · Anna is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 5 innocents neighboring Flora is below Chloe" — Megan (D3)
A5 · Tom → INNOCENT
Because: We focus on the edge positions, especially A5 (Tom), and the known edge identities. The clue says there are exactly 10 innocents on the edges (and Hal is among them). Currently, nine edge innocents are already known: Bruce, Chloe, Denis, Emma, Ike, Nicole, Hal, Xavi, and Ziad; the other edge spots are criminals Anna, Vince, Megan, and Ruby, leaving only Tom unassigned. To reach the total of 10 edge innocents, Tom must be the tenth. Therefore, we can determine that A5 · Tom is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Hal is one of 10 innocents on the edges" — Emma (A2)
C3 · Laura → CRIMINAL
Because: Row 4 already has exactly two criminals (Olive and Ruby), while in Row 3 John and Megan are criminals and only Laura’s status is unknown. The clue says only one row has exactly 2 criminals. Since Row 4 already fulfills that, no other row may also total exactly two. In Row 3, that means Laura cannot be innocent (which would make Row 3 also have exactly two), so she must be a third criminal in that row. Therefore, we can determine that Laura (C3) is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Only one row has exactly 2 criminals" — Bruce (B1)
C2 · Gus → INNOCENT
Because: We only need to look at column C: Chloe at C1 is innocent, Laura at C3 is criminal, Penny at C4 is innocent, and Xavi at C5 is innocent, leaving Gus at C2 as the only unknown there. The clue says there are exactly 4 innocents in column C. We already have three innocents (C1, C4, C5) and one criminal (C3), so the remaining spot must be the fourth innocent. Therefore, we can determine that Gus (C2) is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"There are exactly 4 innocents in column C" — Ziad (D5)