Clues by Sam Feb 12, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained
Tricky·Solved
A1
👮♀️
Bonnie
cop
B1
👩🏫
Celia
teacher
C1
👩🎨
Dana
painter
D1
🕵️♂️
Erwin
sleuth
A2
👩🏫
Flora
teacher
B2
👨🍳
Gus
cook
C2
👨💼
Isaac
clerk
D2
👨💼
Jose
clerk
A3
👮♀️
Kay
cop
B3
👨🎤
Martin
singer
C3
👨💼
Nick
clerk
D3
🕵️♂️
Ollie
sleuth
A4
💂♂️
Paul
guard
B4
👩🎤
Ruby
singer
C4
👩🎤
Saga
singer
D4
💂♂️
Tyler
guard
A5
👨🍳
Vince
cook
B5
👷♀️
Wanda
builder
C5
👩🎨
Xena
painter
D5
👷♀️
Zoe
builder
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 12Criminal 8Unknown 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 · 12
[ D1 ] [ A2 ] [ D2 ] [ B3 ] [ C3 ] [ D3 ] [ A4 ] [ B4 ] [ C4 ] [ A5 ] [ C5 ] [ D5 ]
Criminal · 8
[ A1 ] [ B1 ] [ C1 ] [ B2 ] [ C2 ] [ A3 ] [ 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 · Bonnie
"There are exactly 2 innocents in row 2"
B1 · Celia
"Only 1 of the 3 innocents neighboring Xena is Paul's neighbor"
C1 · Dana
"There are more criminals in row 2 than row 3"
D1 · Erwin
"Only 1 of the 3 innocents below me is Ollie's neighbor"
A2 · Flora
"I know where the clue is! Isaac has it!"
B2 · Gus
"Celia has exactly 4 criminal neighbors"
C2 · Isaac
"Let's see... The clue says: "Isaac is a criminal""
D2 · Jose
"Vince has exactly 2 innocent neighbors"
A3 · Kay
"I lost a clue. On purpose."
B3 · Martin
"I found a great clue! But I forgot it..."
C3 · Nick
"There's an odd number of innocents neighboring Flora"
D3 · Ollie
"There's an odd number of innocents neighboring Celia in row 2"
A4 · Paul
"There's an odd number of criminals neighboring Martin"
B4 · Ruby
"I got a clue for you, but someone stole it"
C4 · Saga
"Only one row has exactly 2 innocents"
D4 · Tyler
"Only 1 of the 3 innocents neighboring Paul is Flora's neighbor"
A5 · Vince
"There are exactly 2 innocents in between Bonnie and me"
B5 · Wanda
"I stole a clue for you, but then I lost it"
C5 · Xena
"I found a clue, but it wasn't very good."
D5 · Zoe
"Exactly 1 innocent in row 2 is neighboring Gus"
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)
D3 · Ollie → INNOCENT, D5 · Zoe → INNOCENT
Because: Look at the four people below Erwin in column D: Jose at D2, Ollie at D3, Tyler at D4, and Zoe at D5. Erwin’s clue says that among these four, exactly three are innocents, and among those three innocents, exactly one is a neighbor of Ollie. Ollie’s only neighbors within this column are Jose (directly above him) and Tyler (directly below him), so if Ollie were the one criminal then the three innocents would be Jose, Tyler, and Zoe, which would make two of the innocents (Jose and Tyler) Ollie’s neighbors and break the clue. The same problem happens if Zoe were the one criminal: the three innocents would be Jose, Ollie, and Tyler, again giving Ollie two innocent neighbors in this group, which the clue does not allow. Therefore, we can determine that D3 Ollie is INNOCENT and D5 Zoe is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 3 innocents below me is Ollie's neighbor" — Erwin (D1)
B2 · Gus → CRIMINAL
Because: Celia is at B1, and the only people in row 2 who neighbor her are Flora at A2, Gus at B2, and Isaac at C2. Ollie’s clue says the number of innocents among those three (A2, B2, and C2) is odd. Zoe’s clue says that in row 2, exactly one innocent is neighboring Gus; the only row 2 neighbors of Gus are Flora (A2) and Isaac (C2), so exactly one of A2 and C2 is innocent. That already gives an odd count of innocents among A2 and C2, so to keep the total among A2, B2, and C2 odd, Gus cannot be innocent. Therefore, we can determine that B2 (Gus) is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"There's an odd number of innocents neighboring Celia in row 2" — Ollie (D3)
"Exactly 1 innocent in row 2 is neighboring Gus" — Zoe (D5)
A1 · Bonnie → CRIMINAL, C1 · Dana → CRIMINAL
Because: Celia is at B1, so her neighbors are A1, C1, A2, B2, and C2, and the only neighbors she has in row 2 are A2, B2, and C2. Ollie’s clue says the number of innocents among those row 2 neighbors is odd, and since Gus at B2 is already a criminal, that odd number cannot be 3, so it must be exactly 1 innocent in row 2. That means among A2, B2, and C2 there are exactly 2 criminals in total. Gus’s clue says Celia has exactly 4 criminal neighbors overall, so the remaining two neighbors A1 and C1 must both be criminals to bring the total up from 2 criminals in row 2 to 4 criminals overall. Therefore, we can determine that A1 Bonnie is CRIMINAL and C1 Dana is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"There's an odd number of innocents neighboring Celia in row 2" — Ollie (D3)
"Celia has exactly 4 criminal neighbors" — Gus (B2)
D2 · Jose → INNOCENT
Because: Celia is at B1, so the people in row 2 who neighbor her are Flora at A2, Gus at B2, and Isaac at C2. Ollie’s clue says the number of innocents among those three is odd, and since Gus is already a criminal, that forces exactly one of Flora and Isaac to be innocent. Bonnie’s clue says there are exactly 2 innocents in all of row 2, so with Gus criminal and only one innocent coming from the Flora/Isaac pair, the second innocent in row 2 must be Jose at D2. Therefore, we can determine that D2 Jose is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"There's an odd number of innocents neighboring Celia in row 2" — Ollie (D3)
"There are exactly 2 innocents in row 2" — Bonnie (A1)
D4 · Tyler → CRIMINAL
Because: Below Erwin at D1 are Jose at D2, Ollie at D3, Tyler at D4, and Zoe at D5. Erwin’s clue says there are only 3 innocents below him, and we already know that Jose, Ollie, and Zoe are innocents. That uses up all three innocent slots below Erwin, so Tyler cannot also be innocent and must be the remaining criminal. Therefore, we can determine that D4 Tyler is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 3 innocents below me is Ollie's neighbor" — Erwin (D1)
C3 · Nick → INNOCENT
Because: Celia’s neighbors that are in row 2 are Flora (A2), Gus (B2), and Isaac (C2). Ollie says there is an odd number of innocents among those three, and since Gus is already a criminal, that forces exactly one of Flora and Isaac to be innocent and the other to be criminal, so row 2 has exactly two criminals in total. Dana says row 2 has more criminals than row 3, so row 3 must have at most one criminal. Tyler’s clue about Paul works with the fact that the only people who are neighbors of both Paul (A4) and Flora (A2) are Kay (A3) and Martin (B3), so “only 1 of the 3 innocents neighboring Paul is Flora’s neighbor” means exactly one of Kay and Martin is innocent and the other is a criminal, giving row 3 at least one criminal already. Since row 3 can have at most one criminal, Nick (C3) cannot be a criminal. Therefore, we can determine that C3 Nick is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"There's an odd number of innocents neighboring Celia in row 2" — Ollie (D3)
"Only 1 of the 3 innocents neighboring Paul is Flora's neighbor" — Tyler (D4)
"There are more criminals in row 2 than row 3" — Dana (C1)
B1 · Celia → CRIMINAL
Because: Paul is at A4, and the only people who are both neighbors of Paul and neighbors of Flora at A2 are Kay at A3 and Martin at B3. Tyler’s clue says Paul has exactly three innocent neighbors, and exactly one of those three is a neighbor of Flora, so exactly one of Kay and Martin is innocent and the other is criminal. Nick’s clue says Flora has an odd number of innocent neighbors, and since Bonnie at A1 and Gus at B2 are already criminals, the innocence count among Celia at B1, Kay, and Martin must be odd; with exactly one of Kay and Martin innocent, Celia must be criminal to keep that total odd. Therefore, we can determine that B1 (Celia) is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 3 innocents neighboring Paul is Flora's neighbor" — Tyler (D4)
"There's an odd number of innocents neighboring Flora" — Nick (C3)
C4 · Saga → INNOCENT
Because: Xena is at C5, and her neighbors are Ruby at B4, Saga at C4, Tyler at D4, Wanda at B5, and Zoe at D5. Celia’s clue says there are exactly three innocents among those neighbors, and exactly one of those three is also a neighbor of Paul at A4. Among Xena’s neighbors, the only ones who are also Paul’s neighbors are Ruby and Wanda, so exactly one of Ruby or Wanda can be one of those three innocents; Zoe is already an innocent and is not Paul’s neighbor, and Tyler is already a criminal and is not Paul’s neighbor. That means the remaining needed innocent neighbor of Xena who is not Paul’s neighbor must be Saga. Therefore, we can determine that C4 · Saga is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 3 innocents neighboring Xena is Paul's neighbor" — Celia (B1)
A4 · Paul → INNOCENT
Because: Vince is at A5, and his only neighbors are Paul at A4, Ruby at B4, and Wanda at B5, so Jose’s clue means exactly two of Paul, Ruby, and Wanda are innocent. Xena is at C5, and her neighbors include Ruby at B4 and Wanda at B5, while Saga at C4 and Zoe at D5 are already known innocents and Tyler at D4 is a known criminal, so Celia’s clue forces exactly one of Ruby and Wanda to be innocent to make three innocent neighbors of Xena in total. That means among Ruby and Wanda there is exactly one innocent, so to reach Jose’s required total of two innocent neighbors for Vince, Paul must be the other innocent. Therefore, we can determine that A4 Paul is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Vince has exactly 2 innocent neighbors" — Jose (D2)
"Only 1 of the 3 innocents neighboring Xena is Paul's neighbor" — Celia (B1)
B4 · Ruby → INNOCENT
Because: In row 2, Jose at D2 is already an innocent, and the only people in row 2 who neighbor Gus at B2 are Flora at A2 and Isaac at C2. Zoe’s clue says exactly 1 innocent in row 2 is neighboring Gus, so exactly one of Flora or Isaac is innocent, which means row 2 has exactly 2 innocents in total. Saga’s clue says only one row has exactly 2 innocents, so no other row is allowed to end up with exactly 2 innocents. Row 4 already has Paul and Saga as innocents and Tyler as a criminal, so if Ruby were a criminal then row 4 would have exactly 2 innocents, which is not allowed; Ruby must be an innocent to make row 4 have 3 innocents. Therefore, we can determine that B4 Ruby is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Exactly 1 innocent in row 2 is neighboring Gus" — Zoe (D5)
"Only one row has exactly 2 innocents" — Saga (C4)
B5 · Wanda → CRIMINAL
Because: Vince is at A5, so his only neighbors are Paul at A4, Ruby at B4, and Wanda at B5. Jose’s clue says Vince has exactly 2 innocent neighbors. Paul and Ruby are already known to be innocent, which already makes two innocent neighbors for Vince. That means Wanda cannot also be innocent, or Vince would have three innocent neighbors. Therefore, we can determine that B5 Wanda is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Vince has exactly 2 innocent neighbors" — Jose (D2)
A5 · Vince → INNOCENT
Because: Paul is at A4, and his neighbors are Kay (A3), Martin (B3), Ruby (B4), Vince (A5), and Wanda (B5). Tyler’s clue says that Paul has exactly three innocent neighbors, and among those three, exactly one is also a neighbor of Flora. Flora is at A2, and among Paul’s neighbors the only people who are also Flora’s neighbors are Kay and Martin, so at most one of Kay and Martin can be an innocent neighbor of Paul. Since Ruby is already one innocent neighbor of Paul and Wanda is not, Paul still needs two more innocent neighbors, so Vince must be one of them. Therefore, we can determine that A5 Vince is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 3 innocents neighboring Paul is Flora's neighbor" — Tyler (D4)
A3 · Kay → CRIMINAL
Because: Gus is at B2, and the only people in row 2 who neighbor him are Flora at A2 and Isaac at C2. Zoe’s clue says exactly 1 innocent in row 2 is neighboring Gus, so exactly one of Flora and Isaac is innocent and the other is criminal. Martin is at B3, and among his neighbors Gus is already a criminal while Nick, Paul, Ruby, and Saga are innocents, so the only neighbors whose status can change the parity are Flora, Isaac, and Kay at A3. Paul’s clue says Martin has an odd number of criminal neighbors, and since Gus already makes that count odd, Flora plus Isaac plus Kay must contain an even number of criminals; because Flora and Isaac contribute exactly one criminal, Kay must be criminal to make it two. Therefore, we can determine that A3 Kay is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Exactly 1 innocent in row 2 is neighboring Gus" — Zoe (D5)
"There's an odd number of criminals neighboring Martin" — Paul (A4)
B3 · Martin → INNOCENT
Because: Paul is at A4, so his neighbors are Kay at A3, Martin at B3, Ruby at B4, Vince at A5, and Wanda at B5. Tyler’s clue says there are exactly three innocents among Paul’s neighbors, and that only one of those three is also a neighbor of Flora at A2. We already know Ruby and Vince are innocents, while Kay and Wanda are criminals, so the only way to reach three innocent neighbors for Paul is for Martin at B3 to be innocent as well; and among Ruby, Vince, and Martin, only Martin is adjacent to Flora, matching the “only 1” part. Therefore, we can determine that B3 Martin is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 3 innocents neighboring Paul is Flora's neighbor" — Tyler (D4)
A2 · Flora → INNOCENT
Because: Bonnie is at A1 and Vince is at A5, so the people in between them are exactly A2 Flora, A3 Kay, and A4 Paul. Vince’s clue says there are exactly 2 innocents among those three in-between people. We already know Kay at A3 is a criminal, so the other two in-between spots must be innocents to make the total exactly 2 innocents. Therefore, we can determine that A2 Flora is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"There are exactly 2 innocents in between Bonnie and me" — Vince (A5)
C2 · Isaac → CRIMINAL
Because: The clue talks about the people in row 2 who neighbor Celia at B1. The only row-2 neighbors of Celia are A2 Flora, B2 Gus, and C2 Isaac. Flora is already INNOCENT and Gus is already CRIMINAL, so among these three there is currently exactly 1 innocent for sure, and Isaac would make it 2 if he were innocent. Since the clue says the number of innocents among these neighbors is odd, Isaac cannot be innocent, so he must be criminal. Therefore, we can determine that C2 Isaac is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"There's an odd number of innocents neighboring Celia in row 2" — Ollie (D3)
C5 · Xena → INNOCENT
Because: Look at how many innocents are in each row right now. Row 2 already has exactly two innocents (Flora at A2 and Jose at D2), while Row 1 has one innocent, and Rows 3 and 4 each have three innocents. Saga’s clue says that only one row in the whole board has exactly two innocents, so Row 5 cannot also end up with exactly two innocents; but Row 5 would have exactly two innocents if Xena at C5 were a criminal (since Vince at A5 and Zoe at D5 are already innocent). That means Xena cannot be a criminal, so she must be innocent. Therefore, we can determine that C5 Xena is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Only one row has exactly 2 innocents" — Saga (C4)