Clues by Sam Jan 24, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained
Hard·Solved
A1
👨🎤
Alex
singer
B1
👩✈️
Carol
pilot
C1
👨✈️
Donald
pilot
D1
👨🏫
Ethan
teacher
A2
👩🎤
Flora
singer
B2
🕵️♂️
Gabe
sleuth
C2
👨🎨
Hal
painter
D2
👨🏫
Igor
teacher
A3
🕵️♀️
Joy
sleuth
B3
👨⚕️
Kyle
doctor
C3
👩🎨
Lucy
painter
D3
👨🎨
Martin
painter
A4
👩🌾
Olive
farmer
B4
💂♂️
Peter
guard
C4
👩⚕️
Susan
doctor
D4
👩✈️
Uma
pilot
A5
👩🌾
Vicky
farmer
B5
💂♂️
Will
guard
C5
💂♀️
Xena
guard
D5
👩🏫
Zara
teacher
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 10Criminal 10Unknown 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 · 10
[ A1 ] [ B1 ] [ C2 ] [ D2 ] [ A3 ] [ C3 ] [ D3 ] [ A4 ] [ B4 ] [ C5 ]
Criminal · 10
[ C1 ] [ D1 ] [ A2 ] [ B2 ] [ B3 ] [ C4 ] [ D4 ] [ A5 ] [ B5 ] [ D5 ]
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
"Who would steal from a criminal? A super criminal?"
B1 · Carol
"Only 1 of the 3 innocents neighboring Will is below Donald"
C1 · Donald
"We paid big bucks for them! Oh, wait, no we didn't. But still!"
D1 · Ethan
"A theft is a theft! You have to help us!"
A2 · Flora
"Our evil plans are doomed if we don't find them!"
B2 · Gabe
"Has anyone seen Zara's lockpicks?"
C2 · Hal
"Exactly 2 of the 7 innocents on the edges are Donald's neighbors"
D2 · Igor
"I'm... not sure I want to help with this one."
A3 · Joy
"There are exactly 2 innocents above Zara"
B3 · Kyle
"Row 3 is the only row with exactly one criminal"
C3 · Lucy
"There's an odd number of innocents to the right of Alex"
D3 · Martin
"Zara is one of 3 criminals in row 5"
A4 · Olive
"Did you look everywhere? Maybe you just misplaced them?"
B4 · Peter
"Kyle is one of my 4 criminal neighbors"
C4 · Susan
"Now I know what it feels like to be a victim!"
D4 · Uma
"Exactly 2 of the 5 innocents neighboring Kyle are above Susan"
A5 · Vicky
"Oh, I was sitting on them. Sorry!"
B5 · Will
"Only one person in row 3 has exactly 4 criminal neighbors"
C5 · Xena
"The criminals are so dramatic..."
D5 · Zara
"Hey! Someone stole my lockpicks!"
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)
B3 · Kyle → CRIMINAL
Because: Peter’s clue says that Kyle is one of Peter’s four criminal neighbors, and Kyle is indeed a neighbor of Peter because Kyle is at B3 directly above Peter at B4. Therefore, we can determine that B3 Kyle is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Kyle is one of my 4 criminal neighbors" — Peter (B4)
C3 · Lucy → INNOCENT, D3 · Martin → INNOCENT, A3 · Joy → INNOCENT
Because: Row 3 contains Joy at A3, Kyle at B3, Lucy at C3, and Martin at D3. Kyle’s clue says that row 3 has exactly one criminal, and Kyle himself is already known to be a criminal in that row. Since there can be only one criminal in row 3, the other three people in row 3 cannot be criminals. Therefore, we can determine that A3 Joy is INNOCENT, C3 Lucy is INNOCENT, and D3 Martin is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Row 3 is the only row with exactly one criminal" — Kyle (B3)
D5 · Zara → CRIMINAL
Because: Martin’s clue explicitly says that Zara is one of the three criminals in row 5. Since all clues are true, Zara must be a criminal. Therefore, we can determine that D5 Zara is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Zara is one of 3 criminals in row 5" — Martin (D3)
D4 · Uma → CRIMINAL
Because: Peter at B4 says he has exactly 4 criminal neighbors and that Kyle is one of them, and among Peter’s neighbors we already know Joy at A3 and Lucy at C3 are innocent. That means that besides Kyle, exactly 3 of the five unknown neighbors A4 (Olive), C4 (Susan), A5 (Vicky), B5 (Will), and C5 (Xena) must be criminals. Martin at D3 says row 5 has exactly 3 criminals including Zara, so among Vicky, Will, and Xena there are exactly 2 criminals, which forces exactly 1 criminal total between Olive and Susan. If Uma at D4 were innocent, then row 4 would have Peter innocent and exactly one criminal (the one among Olive and Susan), but Kyle’s clue says row 3 is the only row with exactly one criminal, so row 4 cannot have exactly one criminal. Therefore, we can determine that D4 (Uma) is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Kyle is one of my 4 criminal neighbors" — Peter (B4)
"Row 3 is the only row with exactly one criminal" — Kyle (B3)
"Zara is one of 3 criminals in row 5" — Martin (D3)
C2 · Hal → INNOCENT
Because: Kyle is at B3, and his neighbors include C2 Hal and C3 Lucy, along with the other surrounding squares. Susan is at C4, so the only neighbors of Kyle who are above Susan (in column C and higher than row 4) are Hal at C2 and Lucy at C3. Uma’s clue says that exactly 2 of Kyle’s 5 innocent neighbors are above Susan, so both Hal and Lucy must be innocent neighbors of Kyle. Since Lucy is already known to be innocent, Hal must be innocent as well. Therefore, we can determine that C2 Hal is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of the 5 innocents neighboring Kyle are above Susan" — Uma (D4)
B1 · Carol → INNOCENT
Because: Zara is at D5, so the people above her are Ethan at D1, Igor at D2, Martin at D3, and Uma at D4. Joy’s clue says there are exactly 2 innocents above Zara, and since Martin is already INNOCENT and Uma is already a CRIMINAL, exactly one of Ethan or Igor must be INNOCENT. Hal’s clue says exactly 2 of the 7 edge innocents are Donald’s neighbors, and the only edge neighbors of Donald at C1 are Carol at B1, Ethan at D1, and Igor at D2, so exactly two of those three must be INNOCENT. Since only one of Ethan and Igor can be INNOCENT, Carol must be the other INNOCENT among Donald’s edge neighbors. Therefore, we can determine that B1 Carol is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"There are exactly 2 innocents above Zara" — Joy (A3)
"Exactly 2 of the 7 innocents on the edges are Donald's neighbors" — Hal (C2)
B5 · Will → CRIMINAL
Because: Peter at B4 says Kyle is one of his 4 criminal neighbors, and Peter’s neighbors are Joy, Kyle, Lucy, Olive, Susan, Vicky, Will, and Xena. Since Joy and Lucy are already known innocents, Peter’s clue means that among Olive, Susan, Vicky, Will, and Xena there must be exactly 3 criminals and 2 innocents. Carol’s clue says that Will has exactly 3 innocent neighbors; because Peter is already one innocent neighbor of Will, that forces exactly 2 of Will’s other neighbors (Olive, Susan, Vicky, and Xena) to be innocent. That already accounts for the 2 innocents available in Peter’s set of {Olive, Susan, Vicky, Will, Xena}, so Will cannot be one of those innocents and must be one of the criminals instead. Therefore, we can determine that B5 Will is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Kyle is one of my 4 criminal neighbors" — Peter (B4)
"Only 1 of the 3 innocents neighboring Will is below Donald" — Carol (B1)
A2 · Flora → CRIMINAL, B2 · Gabe → CRIMINAL
Because: Kyle’s neighbors are A2 Flora, B2 Gabe, C2 Hal, A3 Joy, C3 Lucy, A4 Olive, B4 Peter, and C4 Susan. Uma’s clue says Kyle has 5 innocent neighbors, and we already know Hal, Joy, Lucy, and Peter are innocent, so exactly one of Flora, Gabe, Olive, and Susan must be innocent. Martin’s clue says there are exactly 3 criminals in row 5; since Will and Zara are already criminals, exactly one of Vicky or Xena is criminal. Peter’s clue says he has exactly 4 criminal neighbors, and among his neighbors we already have Kyle and Will as criminals, so exactly two of Olive, Susan, Vicky, and Xena are criminals; with exactly one of Vicky/Xena being criminal, exactly one of Olive/Susan must be criminal (so the other is innocent). That means the single innocent among Flora, Gabe, Olive, and Susan must be either Olive or Susan, leaving Flora and Gabe unable to be that innocent. Therefore, we can determine that A2 Flora is CRIMINAL and B2 Gabe is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Kyle is one of my 4 criminal neighbors" — Peter (B4)
"Zara is one of 3 criminals in row 5" — Martin (D3)
"Exactly 2 of the 5 innocents neighboring Kyle are above Susan" — Uma (D4)
D2 · Igor → INNOCENT
Because: Kyle’s neighbors already include four known innocents (Joy, Hal, Lucy, and Peter), so Uma’s clue that Kyle has exactly five innocent neighbors means exactly one of Olive and Susan is innocent and the other is criminal. Will’s clue says that in row 3, exactly one person has exactly four criminal neighbors; Martin cannot reach four because he has only Uma for sure and at most Igor and Susan besides that, and Kyle cannot have four because that would require both Olive and Susan to be criminal, which Uma’s clue rules out. So the only way to satisfy Will’s clue is for either Joy to be the unique “four criminal neighbors” person (which happens when Susan is the innocent one, forcing Olive to be criminal) or for Lucy to be the unique one (which happens when Susan is the criminal one). Lucy already has three criminal neighbors for sure (Gabe, Kyle, and Uma), and in either of those two situations she reaches exactly four criminal neighbors only if Igor is not criminal. Therefore, we can determine that D2 Igor is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of the 5 innocents neighboring Kyle are above Susan" — Uma (D4)
"Only one person in row 3 has exactly 4 criminal neighbors" — Will (B5)
D1 · Ethan → CRIMINAL
Because: Zara is at D5, so the people above Zara are the four people in column D at D1 Ethan, D2 Igor, D3 Martin, and D4 Uma. Joy’s clue says there are exactly 2 innocents among those four. We already know Igor and Martin are innocents, which already makes the total of innocents above Zara equal to 2, so Ethan and Uma cannot be innocent. Since Uma is already known to be a criminal, the remaining person who must be a criminal is Ethan. Therefore, we can determine that D1 Ethan is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"There are exactly 2 innocents above Zara" — Joy (A3)
C1 · Donald → CRIMINAL
Because: The people to the right of Alex in row 1 are Carol at B1, Donald at C1, and Ethan at D1. Lucy’s clue says the number of innocents among those three must be odd. Carol is already an innocent and Ethan is already a criminal, so the count is currently 1, and it would only change if Donald were an innocent. Since adding Donald as an innocent would make the total 2, which is not odd, Donald must be a criminal. Therefore, we can determine that C1 Donald is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"There's an odd number of innocents to the right of Alex" — Lucy (C3)
C4 · Susan → CRIMINAL, A1 · Alex → INNOCENT
Because: Peter at B4 says he has exactly 4 criminal neighbors, and Kyle is one of them. Around Peter, Kyle and Will are already criminals, while Joy and Lucy are innocents, so among Olive, Susan, Vicky, and Xena there must be exactly 2 criminals. Hal’s clue tells us there are exactly 7 innocents on the edges; since the edge-innocents we already know are Carol, Joy, Igor, and Martin, that means Alex, Olive, Vicky, and Xena contain exactly 3 innocents and therefore exactly 1 criminal. So among Olive, Vicky, and Xena there can be at most 1 criminal, which forces Susan to be criminal to reach Peter’s required total of 2 criminals in {Olive, Susan, Vicky, Xena}. With Susan now taking one of those two criminal slots, exactly one of {Olive, Vicky, Xena} is criminal, and since {Alex, Olive, Vicky, Xena} has only one criminal in total, Alex must be innocent. Therefore, we can determine that C4 Susan is CRIMINAL and A1 Alex is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Kyle is one of my 4 criminal neighbors" — Peter (B4)
"Exactly 2 of the 7 innocents on the edges are Donald's neighbors" — Hal (C2)
C5 · Xena → INNOCENT
Because: Will is at B5, so his neighbors are A4 (Olive), B4 (Peter), C4 (Susan), A5 (Vicky), and C5 (Xena). Carol’s clue says that Will has exactly 3 innocent neighbors, and exactly 1 of those innocents is in the column below Donald (column C). Among Will’s neighbors, the only square that is below Donald is in column C, and C4 (Susan) is already a criminal, so the only possible innocent neighbor of Will that can be below Donald is C5 (Xena). Since the clue requires exactly one such innocent, Xena must be that one. Therefore, we can determine that C5 Xena is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 3 innocents neighboring Will is below Donald" — Carol (B1)
A5 · Vicky → CRIMINAL
Because: Row 5 contains Vicky at A5, Will at B5, Xena at C5, and Zara at D5. Martin’s clue says that Zara is one of 3 criminals in row 5, so there must be exactly 3 criminals across those four people. We already know Will and Zara are criminals and Xena is innocent, so the only way to reach 3 criminals in the row is for Vicky to be the third criminal. Therefore, we can determine that A5 (Vicky) is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Zara is one of 3 criminals in row 5" — Martin (D3)
A4 · Olive → INNOCENT
Because: Will is at B5, and his neighbors are A4 (Olive), B4 (Peter), C4 (Susan), A5 (Vicky), and C5 (Xena). Carol’s clue talks about “the 3 innocents neighboring Will,” so Will must have exactly three innocent neighbors. Right now, Peter and Xena are already known to be innocent, while Susan and Vicky are known criminals, so the only way for Will to have three innocent neighbors is for Olive to be the third innocent. Therefore, we can determine that A4 (Olive) is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 3 innocents neighboring Will is below Donald" — Carol (B1)