Clues by Sam Jan 26, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained
Easy·Solved
A1
👩🎤
Alice
singer
B1
👨🔧
Ben
mech
C1
👩🌾
Carol
farmer
D1
🕵️♀️
Dana
sleuth
A2
👨🔧
Floyd
mech
B2
🕵️♀️
Hazel
sleuth
C2
👨⚖️
Ivan
judge
D2
👩⚖️
Janet
judge
A3
👨✈️
Kevin
pilot
B3
👨🌾
Martin
farmer
C3
👨⚖️
Noah
judge
D3
👨✈️
Olof
pilot
A4
👨🏫
Paul
teacher
B4
👩🏫
Sofia
teacher
C4
👨🏫
Tyler
teacher
D4
👩🎤
Uma
singer
A5
👨💻
Vince
coder
B5
👩💻
Wanda
coder
C5
👩💻
Xena
coder
D5
👩🌾
Zoe
farmer
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 9Criminal 11Unknown 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 · 9
[ B1 ] [ C1 ] [ D1 ] [ D2 ] [ C3 ] [ D3 ] [ A4 ] [ B5 ] [ C5 ]
Criminal · 11
[ A1 ] [ A2 ] [ B2 ] [ C2 ] [ A3 ] [ B3 ] [ B4 ] [ C4 ] [ D4 ] [ A5 ] [ 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 · Alice
"Could have been me. Most definitely maybe. Like, 50/50."
B1 · Ben
"Noah and I have no innocent neighbors in common"
C1 · Carol
"There's an equal number of criminals in rows 2 and 4"
D1 · Dana
"An odd number of innocents in column D are Tyler's neighbors"
A2 · Floyd
"Only 1 of the 2 innocents neighboring Vince is Martin's neighbor"
B2 · Hazel
"I know who did it! Not telling, though."
C2 · Ivan
"There are exactly 2 criminals in between Alice and Paul"
D2 · Janet
"There are more criminals in column A than column B"
A3 · Kevin
"I also know who did it! No, wait. I forgot."
B3 · Martin
"Both criminals below Dana are connected"
C3 · Noah
"I wish I knew half as much as the criminals today"
D3 · Olof
"Kevin is always so forgetful. Flying with him is scary."
A4 · Paul
"Column B is the only column with exactly 3 criminals"
B4 · Sofia
"I only know it wasn't me."
C4 · Tyler
"Column A has more criminals than any other column"
D4 · Uma
"I'm actually not sure... Maybe it was me?"
A5 · Vince
"Row 1 is the only row with exactly 3 innocents"
B5 · Wanda
"There is only one innocent below Martin"
C5 · Xena
"Hazel, why don't you tell us? Pleeease? Pretty please?"
D5 · Zoe
"Oh, yeah! It was me. I'm certain of it now. Sorry."
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)
C2 · Ivan → CRIMINAL, B2 · Hazel → CRIMINAL
Because: Ben is at B1 and Noah is at C3, so we look at the people who are neighbors of both of them. Ben’s neighbors are A1, A2, B2, C1, and C2, and Noah’s neighbors include B2 and C2 among others, so their only common neighbors are Hazel at B2 and Ivan at C2. Ben’s clue says that he and Noah have no innocent neighbors in common, so neither Hazel nor Ivan can be innocent. Therefore, we can determine that C2 Ivan is CRIMINAL and B2 Hazel is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Noah and I have no innocent neighbors in common" — Ben (B1)
A3 · Kevin → CRIMINAL, A2 · Floyd → CRIMINAL
Because: Alice is at A1 and Paul is at A4, so the only people strictly in between them in column A are Floyd at A2 and Kevin at A3. Ivan’s clue says there are exactly 2 criminals in between Alice and Paul, which means both of those in-between people must be criminals. Therefore, we can determine that A2 Floyd is CRIMINAL and A3 Kevin is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"There are exactly 2 criminals in between Alice and Paul" — Ivan (C2)
B5 · Wanda → INNOCENT
Because: Vince is at A5, so his only neighbors are A4 (Paul), B4 (Sofia), and B5 (Wanda). Martin is at B3, and among Vince’s neighbors, Paul (A4) and Sofia (B4) are neighbors of Martin, but Wanda (B5) is not. Floyd’s clue says Vince has exactly two innocent neighbors, and exactly one of those two is a neighbor of Martin; if Wanda were not one of Vince’s innocents, then both innocents would have to be Paul and Sofia, which would make two of the two innocents neighbors of Martin, not only one. Therefore, we can determine that B5 Wanda is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 2 innocents neighboring Vince is Martin's neighbor" — Floyd (A2)
B4 · Sofia → CRIMINAL
Because: Martin is at B3, so the people below him in the same column are B4 Sofia and B5 Wanda. Wanda’s clue says there is only one innocent below Martin, and we already know Wanda (at B5) is innocent. That means Sofia cannot also be innocent, or there would be two innocents below Martin. Therefore, we can determine that B4 Sofia is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"There is only one innocent below Martin" — Wanda (B5)
A4 · Paul → INNOCENT
Because: Vince is at A5, so his only neighbors are Paul at A4, Sofia at B4, and Wanda at B5. Floyd’s clue says that Vince has exactly two innocent neighbors, and among those two innocents, exactly one is also a neighbor of Martin at B3. Wanda is already known to be innocent, and Sofia is already known to be a criminal, so the only way for Vince to have two innocent neighbors is for Paul to be innocent as well; this also fits the “only one” part because Paul neighbors Martin but Wanda does not. Therefore, we can determine that A4 Paul is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 2 innocents neighboring Vince is Martin's neighbor" — Floyd (A2)
B3 · Martin → CRIMINAL
Because: In column B, Ben at B1 and Wanda at B5 are already INNOCENT, while Hazel at B2 and Sofia at B4 are already CRIMINAL. Paul’s clue says column B has exactly 3 criminals, so there must be one more criminal in column B besides Hazel and Sofia. The only remaining person in column B is Martin at B3, so Martin must be that third criminal. Therefore, we can determine that B3 Martin is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Column B is the only column with exactly 3 criminals" — Paul (A4)
D1 · Dana → INNOCENT
Because: Dana is at D1, so the people below her are Janet at D2, Olof at D3, Uma at D4, and Zoe at D5. Martin’s clue says “Both criminals below Dana are connected,” which also tells us there are exactly two criminals among those four people below Dana. That means column D has either exactly 2 criminals (if Dana is innocent) or exactly 3 criminals (if Dana is criminal). Paul’s clue says column B is the only column with exactly 3 criminals, so column D cannot have exactly 3 criminals, which forces Dana not to be criminal. Therefore, we can determine that D1 Dana is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Column B is the only column with exactly 3 criminals" — Paul (A4)
"Both criminals below Dana are connected" — Martin (B3)
D2 · Janet → INNOCENT
Because: The people below Dana in column D are Janet (D2), Olof (D3), Uma (D4), and Zoe (D5), and Martin’s clue says there are exactly two criminals among those four. Tyler is at C4, so the only people in column D who are Tyler’s neighbors are Olof, Uma, and Zoe, and Dana’s clue says an odd number of those three are innocents. That means Olof, Uma, and Zoe contain either 0 criminals or 2 criminals, but it cannot be 0 criminals because then we could not reach a total of two criminals among D2–D5. So the two criminals below Dana must be among Olof, Uma, and Zoe, which forces Janet to not be one of them. Therefore, we can determine that D2 Janet is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Both criminals below Dana are connected" — Martin (B3)
"An odd number of innocents in column D are Tyler's neighbors" — Dana (D1)
D4 · Uma → CRIMINAL
Because: The clue talks about the people below Dana in column D, which are Janet at D2, Olof at D3, Uma at D4, and Zoe at D5. It says there are exactly two criminals among those four (“both criminals”), and those two criminals must be connected by up/down adjacency. Since Janet is already known to be innocent, the two criminals must be chosen from D3, D4, and D5, and the only way for two criminals in a single column to be connected is for them to be either D3 and D4 or D4 and D5. In either connected pair, Uma at D4 must be one of the criminals. Therefore, we can determine that D4 Uma is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Both criminals below Dana are connected" — Martin (B3)
A1 · Alice → CRIMINAL, A5 · Vince → CRIMINAL
Because: Column B is already fully known: Hazel, Martin, and Sofia are criminals, while Ben and Wanda are innocents, so column B has exactly 3 criminals. Janet’s clue says column A has more criminals than column B, so column A must have at least 4 criminals. In column A, Floyd and Kevin are already criminals and Paul is already an innocent, so the only way to reach 4 criminals is for both remaining unknowns in column A, Alice at A1 and Vince at A5, to be criminals. Therefore, we can determine that A1 Alice is CRIMINAL and A5 Vince is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"There are more criminals in column A than column B" — Janet (D2)
C1 · Carol → INNOCENT
Because: In row 1 we have Alice at A1 who is already known to be a criminal, Ben at B1 who is innocent, Dana at D1 who is innocent, and Carol at C1 who is the only unknown. Vince’s clue says row 1 has exactly 3 innocents, and no other row has exactly 3 innocents. Since row 1 already contains one criminal (Alice), the remaining three people in that row must all be innocents, so Carol cannot be a criminal. Therefore, we can determine that C1 Carol is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Row 1 is the only row with exactly 3 innocents" — Vince (A5)
C4 · Tyler → CRIMINAL
Because: Row 2 currently has three criminals: Floyd, Hazel, and Ivan, with Janet as innocent. Carol’s clue says rows 2 and 4 have an equal number of criminals, so row 4 must also contain three criminals. In row 4 we already have Sofia and Uma as criminals and Paul as innocent, so Tyler must be the third criminal in that row. Therefore, we can determine that C4 Tyler is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"There's an equal number of criminals in rows 2 and 4" — Carol (C1)
C3 · Noah → INNOCENT, C5 · Xena → INNOCENT
Because: Look at the column totals implied by the two clues. Paul says column B is the only column with exactly 3 criminals, and column B already has exactly three criminals (Hazel, Martin, and Sofia), so no other column is allowed to end with 3 criminals. Tyler says column A has more criminals than any other column, and column A already has four criminals (Alice, Floyd, Kevin, and Vince), so every other column must have at most three criminals. Putting those together, every other column must actually have at most two criminals, because they cannot be four or more (column A would not be the most) and they also cannot be exactly three (column B would not be the only one with three). Column C already has two criminals for sure (Ivan at C2 and Tyler at C4), so C3 and C5 cannot be criminals and must be innocent. Therefore, we can determine that C3 Noah is INNOCENT and C5 Xena is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Column B is the only column with exactly 3 criminals" — Paul (A4)
"Column A has more criminals than any other column" — Tyler (C4)
D5 · Zoe → CRIMINAL
Because: Row 1 currently has Ben, Carol, and Dana as innocents, and Alice as a criminal, so Row 1 has exactly 3 innocents. Vince’s clue says Row 1 is the only row with exactly 3 innocents, so no other row is allowed to end up with 3 innocents. In Row 5, Wanda and Xena are already innocents, so if Zoe were also innocent then Row 5 would have exactly 3 innocents, which is not allowed. Therefore, we can determine that D5 Zoe is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Row 1 is the only row with exactly 3 innocents" — Vince (A5)
D3 · Olof → INNOCENT
Because: Paul’s clue says that column B is the only column that has exactly 3 criminals, so every other column must have a number of criminals different from 3. In column B, Hazel, Martin, and Sofia are already known criminals, so column B already has exactly 3 criminals as required. In column D, Uma and Zoe are criminals while Dana and Janet are innocents, so column D currently has 2 criminals with only Olof left undecided. If Olof were a criminal, column D would also have exactly 3 criminals, so Olof must be innocent to keep column D from matching column B’s total. Therefore, we can determine that D3 Olof is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Column B is the only column with exactly 3 criminals" — Paul (A4)