Clues by Sam Feb 20, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained
Hard·Solved
A1
👨💻
Austin
coder
B1
👩💻
Barb
coder
C1
👨💻
Carl
coder
D1
👷♂️
Derek
builder
A2
💂♀️
Ellie
guard
B2
💂♀️
Flora
guard
C2
👮♂️
Gabe
cop
D2
👮♂️
Hank
cop
A3
🕵️♂️
Igor
sleuth
B3
🕵️♀️
Joyce
sleuth
C3
👷♂️
Larry
builder
D3
👮♀️
Mary
cop
A4
🕵️♂️
Olof
sleuth
B4
💂♀️
Paula
guard
C4
👨💼
Scott
clerk
D4
👩💼
Uma
clerk
A5
👩🎤
Vicky
singer
B5
👩🎤
Wanda
singer
C5
👨🎤
Xavi
singer
D5
👩💼
Zoe
clerk
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 8Criminal 12Unknown 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 · 8
[ A2 ] [ C2 ] [ D2 ] [ A3 ] [ B3 ] [ D3 ] [ A4 ] [ C4 ]
Criminal · 12
[ A1 ] [ B1 ] [ C1 ] [ D1 ] [ B2 ] [ C3 ] [ B4 ] [ D4 ] [ A5 ] [ B5 ] [ C5 ] [ 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 · Austin
"Ouch, my stomach... And my hands are shaking."
B1 · Barb
"All that coffee... I'll never have another cup in my life."
C1 · Carl
"Uh, oh. I don't think it's working..."
D1 · Derek
"Only 1 of the 3 criminals neighboring Wanda is Xavi's neighbor"
A2 · Ellie
"I can't think without my hot beverage!"
B2 · Flora
"There's an odd number of criminals neighboring Gabe"
C2 · Gabe
"There's an equal number of innocents in rows 1 and 5"
D2 · Hank
"All innocents in column A are connected"
A3 · Igor
"Where are all the coffee cups?"
B3 · Joyce
"The whole coffee roastery is empty!"
C3 · Larry
"2 clerks have a criminal directly to the left of them"
D3 · Mary
"Exactly 2 of the 4 criminals neighboring Xavi are in row 4"
A4 · Olof
"Exactly 2 of Flora's 4 criminal neighbors also neighbor Barb"
B4 · Paula
"We found your weak spots!"
C4 · Scott
"Where did all the coffee go?"
D4 · Uma
"Derek and Flora have only one innocent neighbor in common"
A5 · Vicky
"This must be our most cunning plan yet!"
B5 · Wanda
"There is only one innocent above Scott"
C5 · Xavi
"Column B is the only column with exactly 4 criminals"
D5 · Zoe
"There's an odd number of criminals neighboring Hank"
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 (16 steps)
B5 · Wanda → CRIMINAL, D5 · Zoe → CRIMINAL
Because: The neighbors of Xavi at C5 are Paula at B4, Scott at C4, Uma at D4, Wanda at B5, and Zoe at D5. Mary’s clue says that Xavi has exactly 4 neighboring criminals in total, and exactly 2 of those criminals are in row 4. That means the other 2 neighboring criminals must be in row 5, and Xavi’s only neighbors in row 5 are Wanda and Zoe, so both of them must be criminals. Therefore, we can determine that B5 Wanda is CRIMINAL and D5 Zoe is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of the 4 criminals neighboring Xavi are in row 4" — Mary (D3)
D1 · Derek → CRIMINAL
Because: The people above Scott at C4 are Carl at C1, Gabe at C2, and Larry at C3, and Wanda’s clue says exactly one of those three is innocent, so exactly two of them are criminals. Hank at D2 neighbors Carl, Gabe, Larry, Derek at D1, and Mary at D3, and Mary is already known to be innocent. Zoe’s clue says Hank has an odd number of criminal neighbors, and the three neighbors from column C contribute exactly two criminals, so Derek must be a criminal to make the total number of criminal neighbors odd. Therefore, we can determine that D1 Derek is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"There is only one innocent above Scott" — Wanda (B5)
"There's an odd number of criminals neighboring Hank" — Zoe (D5)
D4 · Uma → CRIMINAL
Because: Xavi is at C5, so his neighbors are Paula at B4, Scott at C4, Uma at D4, Wanda at B5, and Zoe at D5. Mary’s clue says Xavi has exactly four criminal neighbors, and exactly two of those are in row 4; since Wanda and Zoe (both in row 5) are already criminals and both neighbor Xavi, the remaining two criminal neighbors must be in row 4, meaning exactly two of Paula, Scott, and Uma are criminals. Wanda is at B5, and the only people who are neighbors of both Wanda and Xavi are Paula (B4) and Scott (C4); Derek’s clue says that among Wanda’s three criminal neighbors, only one is a neighbor of Xavi, so only one of Paula or Scott can be a criminal neighbor of Wanda. Since exactly two of Paula, Scott, and Uma are criminals but only one of Paula or Scott can be criminal, the second row-4 criminal neighbor of Xavi must be Uma at D4. Therefore, we can determine that D4 (Uma) is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of the 4 criminals neighboring Xavi are in row 4" — Mary (D3)
"Only 1 of the 3 criminals neighboring Wanda is Xavi's neighbor" — Derek (D1)
C3 · Larry → CRIMINAL
Because: The people above Scott at C4 are Carl at C1, Gabe at C2, and Larry at C3, and Wanda’s clue says exactly one of those three is innocent. Derek at D1 and Flora at B2 have only two neighbors in common, Carl (C1) and Gabe (C2), and Uma’s clue says exactly one of those two is innocent. That already accounts for the single innocent allowed among the three people above Scott, so Larry cannot be the innocent in that group. Therefore, we can determine that C3 Larry is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"There is only one innocent above Scott" — Wanda (B5)
"Derek and Flora have only one innocent neighbor in common" — Uma (D4)
C5 · Xavi → CRIMINAL
Because: Xavi’s neighbors are Paula (B4), Scott (C4), Uma (D4), Wanda (B5), and Zoe (D5). Mary says Xavi has exactly 4 neighboring criminals, and exactly 2 of those are in row 4; since Wanda and Zoe are already criminals in row 5 and Uma is already a criminal in row 4, the fourth neighboring criminal must be either Paula or Scott, which also makes exactly one of Paula and Scott a criminal. The only clerks are Scott, Uma, and Zoe, and the people directly to their left are Paula, Scott, and Xavi respectively; because exactly one of Paula and Scott is a criminal, exactly one of Scott and Uma has a criminal directly to the left. Larry says there are 2 clerks with a criminal directly to the left, so Zoe must be the second such clerk, which requires Xavi to be a criminal. Therefore, we can determine that C5 Xavi is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of the 4 criminals neighboring Xavi are in row 4" — Mary (D3)
"2 clerks have a criminal directly to the left of them" — Larry (C3)
D2 · Hank → INNOCENT
Because: In column D, we already know Derek at D1, Uma at D4, and Zoe at D5 are criminals, while Mary at D3 is innocent. Xavi’s clue says column B is the only column that ends up with exactly 4 criminals, so no other column is allowed to have 4 criminals. Since column D already has 3 criminals, the only way column D would reach exactly 4 criminals is if Hank at D2 were also a criminal, which is not allowed. Therefore, we can determine that D2 Hank is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Column B is the only column with exactly 4 criminals" — Xavi (C5)
C4 · Scott → INNOCENT
Because: Scott is at C4, so the people above Scott in column C are Carl at C1, Gabe at C2, and Larry at C3. Wanda’s clue says there is only one innocent above Scott, and since Larry is already a criminal, that means exactly one of Carl and Gabe is innocent and the other is a criminal. If Scott were a criminal, then column C would have criminals at C3, C4, and C5, plus one more criminal from C1/C2, making exactly 4 criminals in column C; but Xavi’s clue says column B is the only column with exactly 4 criminals, so column C cannot have 4. Therefore, we can determine that C4 Scott is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"There is only one innocent above Scott" — Wanda (B5)
"Column B is the only column with exactly 4 criminals" — Xavi (C5)
B4 · Paula → CRIMINAL
Because: Xavi is at C5, so his neighbors are B5 Wanda, D5 Zoe, B4 Paula, C4 Scott, and D4 Uma. Mary’s clue says that among Xavi’s neighboring criminals there are exactly four in total, and exactly two of those four are in row 4. We already know Wanda, Zoe, and Uma are criminals, and among the row 4 neighbors we have Uma as a criminal while Scott is confirmed innocent, so the only way to reach exactly two criminals in row 4 is for Paula at B4 to be the second one. Therefore, we can determine that B4 Paula is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of the 4 criminals neighboring Xavi are in row 4" — Mary (D3)
A4 · Olof → INNOCENT, A5 · Vicky → CRIMINAL, A3 · Igor → INNOCENT
Because: Wanda is at B5, and her neighbors include Olof at A4 and Vicky at A5. Derek’s clue says Wanda has exactly three criminal neighbors, and since Paula at B4 and Xavi at C5 are already criminals, exactly one of Olof and Vicky must be criminal and the other must be innocent. Hank’s clue says all innocents in column A are connected, meaning they must form one uninterrupted vertical chain in that column. If Vicky were the innocent one, then Olof would be criminal, and that would force Vicky to be the only innocent in column A; otherwise any innocent above would be separated from her by Olof. But then column A would have exactly four criminals, which is impossible because Xavi’s clue says column B is the only column with exactly four criminals, so Vicky cannot be the innocent one and must be criminal, making Olof innocent. Now that Olof is an innocent in column A and Vicky is a criminal, column A cannot have exactly four criminals, so at least one of A1, A2, or Igor at A3 must be innocent; for any innocent above Olof to be connected to Olof, Igor at A3 must also be innocent because he is directly between them and Olof in the column. Therefore, we can determine that A4 Olof is INNOCENT, A5 Vicky is CRIMINAL, and A3 Igor is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 3 criminals neighboring Wanda is Xavi's neighbor" — Derek (D1)
"Column B is the only column with exactly 4 criminals" — Xavi (C5)
"All innocents in column A are connected" — Hank (D2)
B2 · Flora → CRIMINAL
Because: Flora is at B2, and her neighbors who also neighbor Barb at B1 are exactly A1, A2, C1, and C2, while her other neighbors include Barb at B1, Joyce at B3, Igor at A3, and Larry at C3. Olof’s clue says Flora has exactly 4 criminal neighbors, and exactly 2 of those 4 also neighbor Barb, so exactly 2 of Flora’s criminal neighbors must come from A1/A2/C1/C2, and the other 2 must come from the neighbors that do not neighbor Barb. Larry at C3 is already a criminal neighbor of Flora and does not neighbor Barb, so there can be only one more criminal among the remaining “not-neighboring-Barb” options, and since Igor is innocent, that forces exactly one of Barb or Joyce to be criminal. Xavi’s clue says column B has exactly 4 criminals, and since Paula (B4) and Wanda (B5) are already criminals, exactly two of Barb (B1), Flora (B2), and Joyce (B3) must be criminals; with exactly one of Barb/Joyce criminal, Flora must be the other criminal. Therefore, we can determine that B2 Flora is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Column B is the only column with exactly 4 criminals" — Xavi (C5)
"Exactly 2 of Flora's 4 criminal neighbors also neighbor Barb" — Olof (A4)
C1 · Carl → CRIMINAL
Because: Gabe is at C2, and his neighbors are B1, C1, D1, B2, D2, B3, C3, and D3. Among those, D1, B2, and C3 are already known criminals, so Gabe already has 3 criminal neighbors, and Flora’s clue says the total number of criminal neighbors must stay odd. Xavi’s clue says column B is the only column with exactly 4 criminals; since B2, B4, and B5 are already criminals, exactly one of B1 or B3 must also be a criminal, meaning B1 and B3 contribute exactly 1 criminal neighbor to Gabe. To keep Gabe’s total number of criminal neighbors odd, the remaining unknown neighbor C1 must also be a criminal, so that the unknown neighbors B1, B3, and C1 contribute 2 criminals in total. Therefore, we can determine that C1 Carl is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Column B is the only column with exactly 4 criminals" — Xavi (C5)
"There's an odd number of criminals neighboring Gabe" — Flora (B2)
A2 · Ellie → INNOCENT
Because: Flora is at B2, and the only squares that are neighbors of both Flora and Barb (B1) are A1, C1, A2, and C2. Carl at C1 is already a criminal, so Olof’s clue (“Exactly 2 of Flora’s 4 criminal neighbors also neighbor Barb”) means exactly one of A1, A2, and C2 is criminal, because we need exactly two criminals among those four shared-neighbor squares and Carl already supplies one of them. Hank’s clue (“All innocents in column A are connected”) means A1 cannot be innocent unless A2 is also innocent, since A2 is the only orthogonal link between A1 and the known innocents at A3 and A4. So if A2 were criminal, A1 would have to be criminal as well, which would make at least two criminals among A1, A2, and C2 and violate the “exactly one” requirement from Olof’s clue. Therefore, we can determine that A2 · Ellie is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"All innocents in column A are connected" — Hank (D2)
"Exactly 2 of Flora's 4 criminal neighbors also neighbor Barb" — Olof (A4)
A1 · Austin → CRIMINAL
Because: Above Scott in column C are Carl, Gabe, and Larry, and Wanda’s clue says there is exactly one innocent among those three. Since Carl and Larry are already criminals, Gabe must be the only innocent above Scott. Now look at Olof’s clue about Flora at B2: Flora has exactly four criminal neighbors, and exactly two of those criminal neighbors also neighbor Barb at B1. The people who are neighbors of both Flora and Barb are Austin at A1, Carl at C1, Ellie at A2, and Gabe at C2; Ellie and Gabe are innocents, and Carl is a criminal, so the only way to reach “exactly two” criminals among the shared neighbors is for Austin at A1 to be a criminal too. Therefore, we can determine that A1 Austin is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"There is only one innocent above Scott" — Wanda (B5)
"Exactly 2 of Flora's 4 criminal neighbors also neighbor Barb" — Olof (A4)
C2 · Gabe → INNOCENT
Because: The clue talks about “above Scott,” and Scott is at C4, so we only look at the people higher up in column C: Carl at C1, Gabe at C2, and Larry at C3. The clue says there is only one innocent among those three people. Carl and Larry are already known to be criminals, so neither of them can be that one innocent. That leaves Gabe as the only person above Scott who can be innocent. Therefore, we can determine that C2 Gabe is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"There is only one innocent above Scott" — Wanda (B5)
B1 · Barb → CRIMINAL
Because: Row 5 has Vicky, Wanda, Xavi, and Zoe, and they are all already marked CRIMINAL, so row 5 has 0 innocents. Gabe’s clue says rows 1 and 5 have an equal number of innocents, so row 1 must also have 0 innocents. In row 1, Austin, Carl, and Derek are already CRIMINAL, so Barb cannot be an innocent without increasing the innocent count in row 1. Therefore, we can determine that B1 Barb is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"There's an equal number of innocents in rows 1 and 5" — Gabe (C2)
B3 · Joyce → INNOCENT
Because: In column B, Barb at B1, Flora at B2, Paula at B4, and Wanda at B5 are already known criminals. Xavi’s clue says column B is the only column with exactly 4 criminals, so column B must total exactly 4 criminals. Since there are already four criminals in column B besides Joyce, Joyce at B3 cannot also be a criminal, or column B would have more than 4. Therefore, we can determine that B3 Joyce is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Column B is the only column with exactly 4 criminals" — Xavi (C5)