Clues by Sam Feb 16, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained
Easy·Solved
A1
🕵️♀️
Alice
sleuth
B1
💂♀️
Barb
guard
C1
👩💻
Celia
coder
D1
🕵️♀️
Diane
sleuth
A2
👨⚕️
Erwin
doctor
B2
👩⚕️
Flora
doctor
C2
👮♂️
Gabe
cop
D2
👮♀️
Helen
cop
A3
👨💼
Isaac
clerk
B3
👨💼
John
clerk
C3
👷♂️
Klay
builder
D3
👷♂️
Luigi
builder
A4
👨🍳
Mark
cook
B4
👩🍳
Nancy
cook
C4
👮♀️
Olive
cop
D4
👨💼
Steve
clerk
A5
👩💻
Rose
coder
B5
💂♂️
Will
guard
C5
👨🍳
Xavi
cook
D5
👷♀️
Zara
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 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
[ A1 ] [ C1 ] [ A2 ] [ C2 ] [ A3 ] [ B3 ] [ A4 ] [ B4 ] [ C4 ] [ D4 ] [ B5 ] [ C5 ] [ D5 ]
Criminal · 7
[ B1 ] [ D1 ] [ B2 ] [ D2 ] [ C3 ] [ D3 ] [ A5 ]
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
"Row 5 is the only row with exactly 3 innocents"
B1 · Barb
"Exactly 1 innocent in row 1 is neighboring Erwin"
C1 · Celia
"There's an equal number of innocents in rows 1 and 2"
D1 · Diane
"Caught immediately? How embarrassing!"
A2 · Erwin
"There are 9 innocents on the edges"
B2 · Flora
"I can't even remember if I was a criminal the next day."
C2 · Gabe
"Column D has more criminals than any other column"
D2 · Helen
"Both criminals below Diane are connected"
A3 · Isaac
"Challenge accepted, Steve!"
B3 · John
"Exactly 1 innocent below Gabe is neighboring Luigi"
C3 · Klay
"Exactly 2 of the 5 innocents neighboring me are below Flora"
D3 · Luigi
"Can we pretend this never happened?"
A4 · Mark
"There are exactly 2 innocents in row 1"
B4 · Nancy
"There's an odd number of innocents neighboring Celia"
C4 · Olive
"There are no innocents above Luigi"
D4 · Steve
"Don't feel bad Diane! No one will remember tomorrow."
A5 · Rose
"Things people waste their brain capacity on..."
B5 · Will
"Each column has at least one criminal"
C5 · Xavi
"I'm making a mnemonic from your initials! "bf... bh... blrf..." Tough one..."
D5 · Zara
"John is one of Erwin's 3 innocent neighbors"
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 (18 steps)
D1 · Diane → CRIMINAL, D2 · Helen → CRIMINAL
Because: Luigi is at D3, and “above Luigi” means the people in the same column D in rows 1 and 2, which are Diane at D1 and Helen at D2. Olive’s clue says there are no innocents above Luigi, so neither Diane nor Helen can be innocent. Therefore, we can determine that D1 Diane is CRIMINAL and D2 Helen is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"There are no innocents above Luigi" — Olive (C4)
D5 · Zara → INNOCENT
Because: The clue talks about the people below Diane in column D, which are Helen at D2, Luigi at D3, Steve at D4, and Zara at D5. Saying “both criminals below Diane” means there are exactly two criminals among those four, and saying they are “connected” means those two criminals must touch through up/down adjacency with no gap. Since Helen at D2 is already a criminal, the only way to have exactly one more criminal and still be connected to her is for Luigi at D3 to be that second criminal; if the second criminal were at D4 or D5, you would need D3 to also be a criminal to connect them, creating more than two criminals. That leaves Steve at D4 and Zara at D5 as not criminals. Therefore, we can determine that D5 Zara is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Both criminals below Diane are connected" — Helen (D2)
D3 · Luigi → CRIMINAL
Because: The clue talks about the people below Diane in column D, which are Helen at D2, Luigi at D3, Steve at D4, and Zara at D5. It says there are exactly two criminals among those four, and those two criminals are connected, meaning they must touch orthogonally with no gaps. Since Helen at D2 is already known to be a criminal, she must be one of those two, so the other criminal has to be adjacent to her; the only person below her who is adjacent is Luigi at D3. Therefore, we can determine that D3 Luigi is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Both criminals below Diane are connected" — Helen (D2)
D4 · Steve → INNOCENT
Because: Below Diane in column D are Helen at D2, Luigi at D3, Steve at D4, and Zara at D5. Helen’s clue says that both criminals below Diane are connected, and “both” means there are exactly two criminals in that group. Since Helen and Luigi are already known criminals and they are directly adjacent, they must be the two criminals the clue is talking about, so there cannot be any additional criminal below Diane. That means Steve cannot be a criminal. Therefore, we can determine that D4 Steve is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Both criminals below Diane are connected" — Helen (D2)
B3 · John → INNOCENT
Because: Zara’s clue explicitly says that John is one of Erwin’s innocent neighbors, which directly states that John is innocent. Therefore, we can determine that B3 John is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"John is one of Erwin's 3 innocent neighbors" — Zara (D5)
C3 · Klay → CRIMINAL
Because: The people below Gabe in column C are Klay at C3, Olive at C4, and Xavi at C5. Among them, the ones who neighbor Luigi at D3 are Klay (directly left of Luigi) and Olive (diagonally down-left from Luigi), while Xavi does not neighbor Luigi. John’s clue says exactly one innocent below Gabe is neighboring Luigi, and we already know Olive is innocent and she is neighboring Luigi, so she must be that one. That means Klay cannot be innocent, so Klay must be criminal. Therefore, we can determine that C3 Klay is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Exactly 1 innocent below Gabe is neighboring Luigi" — John (B3)
B4 · Nancy → INNOCENT
Because: Klay at C3 has eight neighbors, including John at B3 and Nancy at B4. “Below Flora” means in Flora’s column B and in a lower row than Flora at B2, so among Klay’s neighbors the only people who can be below Flora are John (B3) and Nancy (B4). The clue says exactly 2 of Klay’s innocent neighbors are below Flora, so both of those positions must be innocent neighbors. Since John is already known to be innocent, Nancy must also be innocent. Therefore, we can determine that B4 Nancy is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of the 5 innocents neighboring me are below Flora" — Klay (C3)
B1 · Barb → CRIMINAL
Because: Celia is at C1, so her neighbors are Barb at B1, Diane at D1, Flora at B2, Gabe at C2, and Helen at D2. Nancy’s clue says the number of innocents among these five neighbors is odd, and we already know Diane and Helen are criminals, so the only possible innocents in that group would be among Barb, Flora, and Gabe. Klay’s clue tells us he has exactly 5 innocent neighbors, and since four of Klay’s neighbors are already confirmed innocents (John, Nancy, Olive, and Steve), exactly one of Flora and Gabe must be innocent and the other must be criminal. That means among Barb, Flora, and Gabe there is already exactly 1 innocent coming from Flora or Gabe, so Barb cannot be innocent or Celia would have an even number of innocent neighbors. Therefore, we can determine that B1 Barb is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of the 5 innocents neighboring me are below Flora" — Klay (C3)
"There's an odd number of innocents neighboring Celia" — Nancy (B4)
A1 · Alice → INNOCENT
Because: Erwin is at A2, and in row 1 the only people who neighbor him are Alice at A1 (directly above) and Barb at B1 (diagonally above-right). Barb is already known to be a criminal, so she cannot be the “innocent in row 1” that the clue is counting. Since the clue says there is exactly 1 innocent in row 1 who is neighboring Erwin, that one innocent must be Alice at A1. Therefore, we can determine that A1 Alice is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Exactly 1 innocent in row 1 is neighboring Erwin" — Barb (B1)
A4 · Mark → INNOCENT
Because: Row 4 currently has Nancy at B4, Olive at C4, and Steve at D4 all already confirmed as innocents, while Mark at A4 is the only unknown in that row. Alice’s clue says that row 5 is the only row that has exactly 3 innocents, so every other row must have a number of innocents different from 3. Since row 4 already has 3 innocents among the known people, Mark cannot be a criminal, because that would leave row 4 with exactly 3 innocents. So Mark must be innocent, making row 4 have 4 innocents instead of 3. Therefore, we can determine that A4 Mark is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Row 5 is the only row with exactly 3 innocents" — Alice (A1)
C1 · Celia → INNOCENT
Because: Row 1 contains Alice at A1, Barb at B1, Celia at C1, and Diane at D1. Mark’s clue says there are exactly 2 innocents in row 1. We already know Alice is innocent, while Barb and Diane are criminals, so the only way to reach a total of 2 innocents in that row is for Celia to be the second innocent. Therefore, we can determine that C1 Celia is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"There are exactly 2 innocents in row 1" — Mark (A4)
A2 · Erwin → INNOCENT
Because: Row 1 already has exactly two innocents, Alice at A1 and Celia at C1. Celia’s clue says rows 1 and 2 have an equal number of innocents, so row 2 must also contain exactly two innocents; since Helen at D2 is a criminal, that means exactly two of A2 Erwin, B2 Flora, and C2 Gabe are innocents. Klay’s clue says he has exactly five innocent neighbors, and around C3 we already see four confirmed innocent neighbors (John at B3, Nancy at B4, Olive at C4, and Steve at D4), so among Flora at B2 and Gabe at C2 exactly one must be innocent and the other must be criminal. That gives only one innocent coming from B2 and C2 together, so Erwin at A2 has to be the second innocent needed in row 2. Therefore, we can determine that A2 Erwin is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of the 5 innocents neighboring me are below Flora" — Klay (C3)
"There's an equal number of innocents in rows 1 and 2" — Celia (C1)
A3 · Isaac → INNOCENT
Because: The edge of the board has 14 people, and Erwin says exactly 9 of those edge people are innocents, so there must be exactly 5 edge criminals. We already see 4 confirmed edge criminals (Barb at B1, Diane at D1, Helen at D2, and Luigi at D3), so among the four unknown edge spots A3, A5, B5, and C5 there is exactly one criminal and the other three are innocents. Alice says row 5 is the only row with exactly 3 innocents; since Zara at D5 is already innocent, that forces exactly one of A5, B5, and C5 to be criminal and the other two to be innocent. That single row-5 criminal must be the one remaining edge criminal, so A3 cannot be criminal and must be innocent. Therefore, we can determine that A3 Isaac is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Row 5 is the only row with exactly 3 innocents" — Alice (A1)
"There are 9 innocents on the edges" — Erwin (A2)
B2 · Flora → CRIMINAL
Because: Erwin is at A2, so his neighbors are A1 Alice, B1 Barb, B2 Flora, A3 Isaac, and B3 John. Zara’s clue says that John is one of Erwin’s 3 innocent neighbors, so Erwin must have exactly three innocent neighbors in total. We already know Alice, Isaac, and John are innocent, which makes three, and Barb is a criminal. That leaves Flora as the only remaining neighbor, so she cannot be innocent and must be a criminal. Therefore, we can determine that B2 Flora is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"John is one of Erwin's 3 innocent neighbors" — Zara (D5)
C2 · Gabe → INNOCENT
Because: Klay at C3 is talking about his neighboring innocents, meaning the adjacent people around C3. Among Klay’s neighbors, John at B3, Nancy at B4, Olive at C4, and Steve at D4 are already confirmed innocents, giving us four innocent neighbors for sure. The clue says there are exactly five innocent neighbors in total, so the only remaining neighbor who can supply the fifth innocent is Gabe at C2. Therefore, we can determine that C2 Gabe is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of the 5 innocents neighboring me are below Flora" — Klay (C3)
B5 · Will → INNOCENT
Because: Look at how many criminals are already fixed in each column. Column D has Diane, Helen, and Luigi as criminals, so column D already has 3 criminals no matter what happens in row 5. Column B already has 2 criminals (Barb and Flora), so if Will at B5 were also a criminal then column B would have 3 criminals, which would stop column D from having more criminals than any other column. So Will cannot be a criminal. Therefore, we can determine that B5 Will is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Column D has more criminals than any other column" — Gabe (C2)
A5 · Rose → CRIMINAL
Because: Will’s clue says that every column A through D must contain at least one criminal. In column A, Alice at A1, Erwin at A2, Isaac at A3, and Mark at A4 are all already confirmed innocent. That means the only remaining person in column A who could satisfy the “at least one criminal in the column” requirement is Rose at A5. Therefore, we can determine that A5 Rose is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Each column has at least one criminal" — Will (B5)
C5 · Xavi → INNOCENT
Because: Row 5 contains Rose at A5, Will at B5, Xavi at C5, and Zara at D5. Alice’s clue says that row 5 is the only row with exactly 3 innocents, so row 5 must have exactly three innocents in it. Since Will and Zara are already innocent and Rose is already a criminal, the only way for row 5 to reach exactly three innocents is for Xavi to be innocent as well. Therefore, we can determine that C5 Xavi is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Row 5 is the only row with exactly 3 innocents" — Alice (A1)