Clues by Sam Jan 29, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained
Tricky·Solved
A1
👨🍳
Alex
cook
B1
👨🎨
Bruce
painter
C1
👩🎨
Cheryl
painter
D1
👷♀️
Donna
builder
A2
👷♀️
Hope
builder
B2
👮♂️
Isaac
cop
C2
👨🌾
Jerry
farmer
D2
👩🌾
Katie
farmer
A3
🕵️♀️
Laura
sleuth
B3
🕵️♀️
Megan
sleuth
C3
👨🔧
Nick
mech
D3
💂♀️
Olive
guard
A4
👨💻
Paul
coder
B4
👩🍳
Ruby
cook
C4
👮♀️
Saga
cop
D4
💂♂️
Thor
guard
A5
👩💻
Uma
coder
B5
👨💻
Wally
coder
C5
👨🔧
Xavi
mech
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 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 ] [ B2 ] [ D2 ] [ A3 ] [ C3 ] [ A4 ] [ A5 ] [ B5 ] [ C5 ]
Criminal · 10
[ C1 ] [ D1 ] [ A2 ] [ C2 ] [ B3 ] [ D3 ] [ B4 ] [ C4 ] [ D4 ] [ 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
"You won't believe this but... My spatula was stolen again."
B1 · Bruce
"Ruby has exactly 6 innocent neighbors"
C1 · Cheryl
"I won a spatula in poker, but it was terrible to paint with"
D1 · Donna
"Exactly 3 of the 8 innocents on the edges are Isaac's neighbors"
A2 · Hope
"There's an odd number of criminals to the right of Uma"
B2 · Isaac
"Donna is one of 2 criminals in row 1"
C2 · Jerry
"Sorry Alex, I gave it away after realizing it wasn't silver."
D2 · Katie
"There's an odd number of innocents to the right of Alex"
A3 · Laura
"Row 5 is the only row with exactly one criminal"
B3 · Megan
"There's an odd number of criminals neighboring Saga"
C3 · Nick
"There is only one innocent to the right of Laura"
D3 · Olive
"There's an equal number of innocents in rows 1 and 3"
A4 · Paul
"Exactly 2 of Jerry's 4 innocent neighbors also neighbor Olive"
B4 · Ruby
"Only one person in column C has exactly 5 criminal neighbors"
C4 · Saga
"No one in column D has more than 2 innocent neighbors"
D4 · Thor
"I got one from Jerry, but lost it in poker."
A5 · Uma
"Was your spatula red with a metal handle? Nope, haven't seen it."
B5 · Wally
"2 of Cheryl's neighbors on the edges are innocent"
C5 · Xavi
"Is this spatula covered in paint yours by any chance, Alex?"
D5 · Ziad
"Ah, man. I was hoping to get my hands on that spatula!"
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 (17 steps)
C3 · Nick → INNOCENT, D2 · Katie → INNOCENT
Because: Jerry at C2 has several neighbors, but only two of them are also neighbors of Olive at D3: Katie at D2 and Nick at C3. Paul’s clue says that exactly 2 of Jerry’s 4 innocent neighbors also neighbor Olive. Since Katie and Nick are the only people who can possibly be counted in that “also neighbor Olive” group, they must be the two innocent neighbors being referred to. Therefore, we can determine that Nick is INNOCENT and Katie is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of Jerry's 4 innocent neighbors also neighbor Olive" — Paul (A4)
D3 · Olive → CRIMINAL, B3 · Megan → CRIMINAL
Because: Laura is at A3, so the people to the right of Laura in the same row are Megan at B3, Nick at C3, and Olive at D3. Nick’s clue says there is only one innocent to the right of Laura, meaning exactly one of those three people is innocent. Since Nick at C3 is already known to be innocent, he must be that only innocent among the three. That forces Megan at B3 and Olive at D3 to not be innocent. Therefore, we can determine that D3 Olive is CRIMINAL and B3 Megan is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"There is only one innocent to the right of Laura" — Nick (C3)
B2 · Isaac → INNOCENT
Because: Jerry is at C2, and his eight neighbors are B1, C1, D1, B2, D2, B3, C3, and D3. Paul’s clue says Jerry has exactly four innocent neighbors; since Katie at D2 and Nick at C3 are already innocent neighbors of Jerry, and Megan at B3 and Olive at D3 are already criminal neighbors of Jerry, that leaves B1, C1, D1, and B2 containing exactly two more innocents. Katie’s clue says the people to the right of Alex (B1, C1, and D1) contain an odd number of innocents, and the only odd count that can fit while still leaving exactly two innocents across B1, C1, D1, and B2 is one. That means B2 must provide the second innocent, so Isaac at B2 is innocent. Therefore, we can determine that B2 Isaac is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of Jerry's 4 innocent neighbors also neighbor Olive" — Paul (A4)
"There's an odd number of innocents to the right of Alex" — Katie (D2)
D1 · Donna → CRIMINAL
Because: Isaac’s clue says that Donna is one of the two criminals in row 1, which directly includes Donna among the criminals. Therefore, we can determine that D1 Donna is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Donna is one of 2 criminals in row 1" — Isaac (B2)
A1 · Alex → INNOCENT
Because: In row 1, the people are Alex at A1, Bruce at B1, Cheryl at C1, and Donna at D1. Isaac’s clue says Donna is one of exactly two criminals in row 1, so among Alex, Bruce, and Cheryl there is exactly one criminal. Paul’s clue talks about Jerry at C2 having exactly four innocent neighbors; since Jerry’s known innocent neighbors already include Isaac (B2), Katie (D2), and Nick (C3), the only way to reach four is for exactly one of Bruce or Cheryl to be innocent, which means the other one is criminal. That already supplies the one extra criminal in row 1 besides Donna, so Alex cannot be the criminal in row 1. Therefore, we can determine that A1 Alex is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of Jerry's 4 innocent neighbors also neighbor Olive" — Paul (A4)
"Donna is one of 2 criminals in row 1" — Isaac (B2)
A3 · Laura → INNOCENT
Because: Jerry is at C2, and Paul’s clue says Jerry has exactly four innocent neighbors. Around Jerry, Isaac at B2, Katie at D2, and Nick at C3 are already known innocents, so the fourth innocent neighbor must be either Bruce at B1 or Cheryl at C1, meaning row 1 contains at least two innocents (Alex plus at least one of Bruce or Cheryl). Olive’s clue says rows 1 and 3 have the same number of innocents, so row 3 must also have at least two innocents. In row 3, Megan and Olive are criminals and Nick is an innocent, so the only way to reach at least two innocents in that row is for Laura at A3 to be innocent. Therefore, we can determine that A3 Laura is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of Jerry's 4 innocent neighbors also neighbor Olive" — Paul (A4)
"There's an equal number of innocents in rows 1 and 3" — Olive (D3)
A2 · Hope → CRIMINAL
Because: Jerry is at C2, and the only people who are neighbors of both Jerry and Olive (at D3) are Katie at D2 and Nick at C3. Paul’s clue says exactly 2 of Jerry’s 4 innocent neighbors also neighbor Olive, so those two must be Katie and Nick, which means Jerry has exactly one more innocent neighbor besides Isaac, Katie, and Nick; the only candidates left around Jerry are Bruce at B1 and Cheryl at C1, so exactly one of B1 and C1 is innocent. Donna’s clue says that among all edge innocents, exactly 3 are neighbors of Isaac, and Isaac’s edge neighbors are A1, B1, C1, A2, and A3; since A1 and A3 are already innocent, this forces exactly one of B1, C1, and A2 to be innocent. Because the single innocent among B1 and C1 already accounts for that “exactly one,” A2 cannot be innocent. Therefore, we can determine that A2 (Hope) is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of Jerry's 4 innocent neighbors also neighbor Olive" — Paul (A4)
"Exactly 3 of the 8 innocents on the edges are Isaac's neighbors" — Donna (D1)
C2 · Jerry → CRIMINAL
Because: Laura’s clue says that row 5 is the only row that has exactly one criminal, so every other row must have either zero criminals or at least two criminals. In row 2, we already have Hope at A2 marked as a criminal, and Isaac at B2 and Katie at D2 marked as innocents, so row 2 cannot have zero criminals. That means row 2 must have at least two criminals, and the only remaining person in row 2 who could add another criminal is Jerry at C2. Therefore, we can determine that C2 Jerry is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Row 5 is the only row with exactly one criminal" — Laura (A3)
A5 · Uma → INNOCENT
Because: Laura’s clue says that row 5 has exactly one criminal in total among Uma, Wally, Xavi, and Ziad. Hope’s clue says there is an odd number of criminals to the right of Uma, meaning among Wally, Xavi, and Ziad. If Uma were the one criminal in row 5, then Wally, Xavi, and Ziad would all have to be innocent, giving 0 criminals to Uma’s right, which is not odd. Therefore, we can determine that A5 Uma is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Row 5 is the only row with exactly one criminal" — Laura (A3)
"There's an odd number of criminals to the right of Uma" — Hope (A2)
B4 · Ruby → CRIMINAL
Because: Consider the four edge people who neighbor Saga at C4: Thor at D4, Wally at B5, Xavi at C5, and Ziad at D5. Donna’s clue says there are exactly 8 innocents on the edges in total, and exactly 3 of those edge-innocents are neighbors of Isaac at B2; Isaac’s edge-neighbors are A1, B1, C1, A2, and A3, and since A1 and A3 are already innocent while A2 is criminal, only one of B1 or C1 can be an edge-innocent neighbor, so all the other edge-innocents must come from the edge spaces that are not Isaac’s neighbors. Among those non-neighbor edge spaces, we already have three innocents (D2, A4, and A5) and two criminals (D1 and D3), so the remaining four non-neighbor edge unknowns (D4, B5, C5, D5) must contain exactly two innocents and therefore exactly two criminals. Megan’s clue says Saga has an odd number of criminal neighbors; among Saga’s neighbors we already have two fixed criminals (Megan at B3 and Olive at D3), and we just established that Thor, Wally, Xavi, and Ziad contribute exactly two more criminals, making four criminals so far. To make Saga’s total number of criminal neighbors odd, Ruby at B4 must be the additional criminal neighbor. Therefore, we can determine that B4 Ruby is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"There's an odd number of criminals neighboring Saga" — Megan (B3)
"Exactly 3 of the 8 innocents on the edges are Isaac's neighbors" — Donna (D1)
D4 · Thor → CRIMINAL
Because: Saga is at C4, so her neighbors are Megan (B3), Nick (C3), Olive (D3), Ruby (B4), Thor (D4), plus Wally (B5), Xavi (C5), and Ziad (D5). Megan, Olive, and Ruby are already criminals, so Saga already has 3 criminal neighbors. Laura’s clue says row 5 has exactly one criminal, and since Uma (A5) is innocent, exactly one of Wally, Xavi, and Ziad is a criminal. That makes the criminal-neighbor count around Saga equal to 3 + 1 + (Thor’s status) = 4 + (Thor’s status), and Megan’s clue requires this total to be odd, so Thor must be a criminal to make it 5. Therefore, we can determine that D4 Thor is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"There's an odd number of criminals neighboring Saga" — Megan (B3)
"Row 5 is the only row with exactly one criminal" — Laura (A3)
C4 · Saga → CRIMINAL
Because: Row 5 has exactly one criminal, so among B5, C5, and D5 there is exactly one criminal. For Saga at C4, the known criminals around her are Megan at B3, Olive at D3, Ruby at B4, and Thor at D4, which is already four criminal neighbors, and the row 5 condition guarantees exactly one more criminal neighbor among B5, C5, and D5, so Saga has exactly five criminal neighbors. Ruby’s clue says only one person in column C has exactly five criminal neighbors, so Nick at C3 cannot also have exactly five; but Nick already has five criminal neighbors for sure (Jerry at C2, Megan at B3, Olive at D3, Ruby at B4, and Thor at D4), and the only way for Nick not to be stuck on exactly five is if Saga herself is also a criminal neighbor, raising Nick’s total to six. Therefore, we can determine that C4 Saga is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Row 5 is the only row with exactly one criminal" — Laura (A3)
"Only one person in column C has exactly 5 criminal neighbors" — Ruby (B4)
B5 · Wally → INNOCENT
Because: In row 5, Uma at A5 is already INNOCENT, so the only people who could be the single criminal in that row are Wally at B5, Xavi at C5, and Ziad at D5. Laura’s clue says row 5 has exactly one criminal, so exactly one of those three must be a CRIMINAL. Saga’s clue applies to Thor at D4, whose neighbors include Nick at C3 (INNOCENT) and also Xavi at C5 and Ziad at D5; if both Xavi and Ziad were INNOCENT then Thor would have three innocent neighbors, which is not allowed. So at least one of Xavi or Ziad must be a CRIMINAL, meaning the lone criminal in row 5 is among them and Wally cannot be it. Therefore, we can determine that B5 Wally is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Row 5 is the only row with exactly one criminal" — Laura (A3)
"No one in column D has more than 2 innocent neighbors" — Saga (C4)
B1 · Bruce → INNOCENT
Because: Cheryl is at C1, so her neighbors are the people around C1, and the ones among them that are on the edge of the board are B1, D1, and D2. Wally’s clue says exactly 2 of those edge-neighbors are innocent. We already know D1 (Donna) is a criminal and D2 (Katie) is innocent, so the only way to have 2 innocents among B1, D1, and D2 is for B1 to be innocent. Therefore, we can determine that B1 (Bruce) is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"2 of Cheryl's neighbors on the edges are innocent" — Wally (B5)
C1 · Cheryl → CRIMINAL
Because: Jerry is at C2, and his neighbors are Bruce (B1), Cheryl (C1), Donna (D1), Isaac (B2), Katie (D2), Megan (B3), Nick (C3), and Olive (D3). Paul’s clue says “Exactly 2 of Jerry’s 4 innocent neighbors also neighbor Olive,” which means Jerry has exactly four innocent neighbors in total. Right now, the known innocent neighbors of Jerry are Bruce, Isaac, Katie, and Nick, and among these only Katie and Nick are neighbors of Olive, already giving exactly two. Since the clue says Jerry has only four innocent neighbors altogether, Cheryl cannot be an additional innocent neighbor, so Cheryl must be criminal. Therefore, we can determine that C1 Cheryl is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of Jerry's 4 innocent neighbors also neighbor Olive" — Paul (A4)
C5 · Xavi → INNOCENT
Because: Ruby is at B4, so her neighbors are A3 Laura, B3 Megan, C3 Nick, A4 Paul, C4 Saga, A5 Uma, B5 Wally, and C5 Xavi. Bruce’s clue says Ruby has exactly 6 innocent neighbors. Among those neighbors, Laura, Nick, Paul, Uma, and Wally are already known to be innocent, while Megan and Saga are known criminals, so Ruby currently has exactly 5 confirmed innocent neighbors and the only undecided neighbor is Xavi. To reach exactly 6 innocent neighbors, Xavi must be innocent. Therefore, we can determine that C5 Xavi is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Ruby has exactly 6 innocent neighbors" — Bruce (B1)
D5 · Ziad → CRIMINAL
Because: The clue from Megan says that among the eight neighbors of Saga at C4, the number of criminals is odd. Saga’s neighbors are Megan (B3), Nick (C3), Olive (D3), Ruby (B4), Thor (D4), Wally (B5), Xavi (C5), and Ziad (D5). Among these, Megan, Olive, Ruby, and Thor are already known criminals, while Nick, Wally, and Xavi are known innocents, so there are currently 4 criminals neighboring Saga. Since 4 is even and the total must be odd, Ziad must be a criminal to make the total 5. Therefore, we can determine that D5 Ziad is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"There's an odd number of criminals neighboring Saga" — Megan (B3)