Clues by Sam Feb 22, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained
Hard·Solved
A1
🕵️♀️
Alice
sleuth
B1
👩⚖️
Bonnie
judge
C1
👨✈️
Chase
pilot
D1
👷♀️
Donna
builder
A2
👮♂️
Frank
cop
B2
👨⚖️
Gabe
judge
C2
👩✈️
Helen
pilot
D2
👷♂️
Isaac
builder
A3
👩⚕️
Janet
doctor
B3
👩⚖️
Lisa
judge
C3
👩🎨
Maria
painter
D3
👩🎨
Nancy
painter
A4
🕵️♂️
Oscar
sleuth
B4
👮♀️
Pam
cop
C4
👨🎨
Raul
painter
D4
👨🍳
Tyler
cook
A5
👮♀️
Uma
cop
B5
👩🍳
Vera
cook
C5
🕵️♂️
Wally
sleuth
D5
👨⚕️
Xavi
doctor
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 5Criminal 15Unknown 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 · 5
[ A1 ] [ A3 ] [ B4 ] [ D4 ] [ B5 ]
Criminal · 15
[ B1 ] [ C1 ] [ D1 ] [ A2 ] [ B2 ] [ C2 ] [ D2 ] [ B3 ] [ C3 ] [ D3 ] [ A4 ] [ C4 ] [ A5 ] [ 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 · Alice
"It's already Sunday. Did we have a single proper crime this week?"
B1 · Bonnie
"Only 1 of the 5 criminals neighboring Raul is above Xavi"
C1 · Chase
"Gabe is one of 3 criminals above Vera"
D1 · Donna
"At least I'm doing my best. I was a criminal on Monday as well!"
A2 · Frank
"Well, we had the coffee heist! Doesn't that count?"
B2 · Gabe
"2 of Raul's neighbors on the edges are innocent"
C2 · Helen
"There's an odd number of criminals neighboring Alice"
D2 · Isaac
"Exactly 2 of the 6 criminals neighboring Pam are in row 5"
A3 · Janet
"There are exactly 2 innocents in column B"
B3 · Lisa
"Alice is one of 4 innocents on the edges"
C3 · Maria
"We even had a criminal Batman. Or did we?"
D3 · Nancy
"There was also a wedding crasher! That was pretty bad, right?"
A4 · Oscar
"Next week we'll do something unforgettable!"
B4 · Pam
"There's an odd number of criminals above Tyler"
C4 · Raul
"Donna, I thought no one was supposed to remember that?"
D4 · Tyler
"Only 1 of the 2 criminal cops is Lisa's neighbor"
A5 · Uma
"There are as many criminal cops as there are criminal pilots"
B5 · Vera
"Look what you've done, Alice"
C5 · Wally
"Oh boy. Next week will knock your socks off!"
D5 · Xavi
"There's an equal number of innocents in rows 3 and 5"
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)
A5 · Uma → CRIMINAL
Because: The cops on the board are Frank at A2, Pam at B4, and Uma at A5. Tyler’s clue says there are exactly two criminal cops in total, and among those two, only one is a neighbor of Lisa at B3. Lisa’s neighboring cops are Frank (A2) and Pam (B4), while Uma (A5) is not a neighbor of Lisa. Since only one of Lisa’s neighboring cops can be a criminal cop, at most one of Frank or Pam can be criminal, so the second criminal cop must be Uma. Therefore, we can determine that A5 Uma is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 2 criminal cops is Lisa's neighbor" — Tyler (D4)
C1 · Chase → CRIMINAL, C2 · Helen → CRIMINAL
Because: The only cops on the board are Frank at A2, Pam at B4, and Uma at A5, and Lisa is at B3. Tyler’s clue says “Only 1 of the 2 criminal cops is Lisa’s neighbor,” which tells us there are exactly two criminal cops total, and exactly one of them is adjacent (including diagonally) to Lisa. Uma at A5 is not a neighbor of Lisa, so for there to be two criminal cops with only one neighboring Lisa, Uma must be one of the criminal cops, and the other criminal cop must be either Frank or Pam. That fixes the total number of criminal cops at exactly two, and Uma’s clue then says the number of criminal cops equals the number of criminal pilots, so there must also be exactly two criminal pilots. Since the only pilots are Chase at C1 and Helen at C2, both pilots must be criminal. Therefore, we can determine that C1 Chase is CRIMINAL and C2 Helen is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 2 criminal cops is Lisa's neighbor" — Tyler (D4)
"There are as many criminal cops as there are criminal pilots" — Uma (A5)
B2 · Gabe → CRIMINAL
Because: Chase’s clue says that above Vera there are exactly three criminals, and it explicitly states that Gabe is one of those criminals above her. That directly fixes Gabe’s identity without needing any other information. Therefore, we can determine that B2 Gabe is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Gabe is one of 3 criminals above Vera" — Chase (C1)
B3 · Lisa → CRIMINAL
Because: Lisa is at B3, and the cops who could possibly be the second “criminal cop” are Frank at A2 and Pam at B4, since Uma at A5 is already a criminal cop and is not neighboring Lisa. Tyler’s clue says there are exactly two criminal cops total, and only one of them is Lisa’s neighbor; because Uma is not Lisa’s neighbor, exactly one of Frank or Pam must be the other criminal cop, so Frank and Pam cannot have the same status. Helen’s clue says Alice has an odd number of criminal neighbors, and Alice’s neighbors are only Bonnie, Frank, and Gabe; since Gabe is already a criminal, Bonnie and Frank must match each other’s status. That means Bonnie matches Frank, and since Frank is opposite Pam, Bonnie is also opposite Pam, so among Bonnie and Pam there is exactly one criminal. Chase’s clue says that above Vera in column B there are three criminals including Gabe, so among Bonnie, Lisa, and Pam there must be exactly two criminals; with Bonnie and Pam contributing exactly one criminal between them, Lisa must be the other criminal. Therefore, we can determine that B3 Lisa is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 2 criminal cops is Lisa's neighbor" — Tyler (D4)
"Gabe is one of 3 criminals above Vera" — Chase (C1)
"There's an odd number of criminals neighboring Alice" — Helen (C2)
A1 · Alice → INNOCENT
Because: Lisa’s clue explicitly says that Alice is one of the innocents on the edges, which directly assigns Alice to the innocent group. Therefore, we can determine that A1 Alice is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Alice is one of 4 innocents on the edges" — Lisa (B3)
B1 · Bonnie → CRIMINAL, A2 · Frank → CRIMINAL
Because: Alice is on the edge, and Lisa says Alice is one of exactly 4 innocents on the edges, so since Alice and Tyler at D4 are already confirmed innocent, there are exactly 2 more edge-innocents left to place. Raul’s edge-neighbors are D3, D4, B5, C5, and D5, and Gabe says exactly 2 of those are innocent; with D4 already innocent, that forces exactly 1 of D3, B5, C5, and D5 to be innocent, using up one of the remaining two edge-innocents. That leaves only 1 edge-innocent still available anywhere else on the edge, so Bonnie at B1 and Frank at A2 cannot both be innocent. Helen says the number of criminals neighboring Alice is odd, and Alice’s only neighbors are Frank at A2, Bonnie at B1, and Gabe at B2; since Gabe is already a criminal, Frank and Bonnie must be the same status, and since they cannot both be innocent, they must both be criminals. Therefore, we can determine that B1 Bonnie is CRIMINAL, A2 Frank is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"2 of Raul's neighbors on the edges are innocent" — Gabe (B2)
"There's an odd number of criminals neighboring Alice" — Helen (C2)
"Alice is one of 4 innocents on the edges" — Lisa (B3)
B4 · Pam → INNOCENT
Because: The clue talks about people “above Vera,” and Vera is at B5, so it refers to the four people in column B at B1, B2, B3, and B4. It says there are exactly 3 criminals among those four, and that Gabe at B2 is one of them. We already know Bonnie at B1, Gabe at B2, and Lisa at B3 are criminals, which already makes 3 criminals above Vera. That leaves Pam at B4 as the only one above Vera who cannot be a criminal, so she must be innocent. Therefore, we can determine that B4 Pam is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Gabe is one of 3 criminals above Vera" — Chase (C1)
D3 · Nancy → CRIMINAL
Because: Raul is at C4, so the neighbors who are above Xavi (who is at D5) must be in column D and adjacent to Raul, which means they can only be D4 Tyler and D3 Nancy. Bonnie’s clue says that among the five criminals neighboring Raul, exactly one is above Xavi, so there must be exactly one criminal among those two people in column D. Tyler is already confirmed INNOCENT, so he cannot be that one criminal above Xavi. Therefore, we can determine that D3 Nancy is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 5 criminals neighboring Raul is above Xavi" — Bonnie (B1)
C3 · Maria → CRIMINAL
Because: Raul is at C4, so his neighbors are B3 Lisa, C3 Maria, D3 Nancy, B4 Pam, D4 Tyler, B5 Vera, C5 Wally, and D5 Xavi. Bonnie’s clue says Raul has exactly five neighboring criminals; since Lisa and Nancy are already criminals and Pam and Tyler are already innocent, that means exactly three of the four unknown neighbors Maria, Vera, Wally, and Xavi are criminals. Gabe’s clue says exactly two of Raul’s neighbors who are on the edge are innocent; among those edge-neighbors, Tyler is already one innocent and Nancy is not, so exactly one of Vera, Wally, and Xavi is the second edge-innocent. That uses up the only innocent allowed among Maria, Vera, Wally, and Xavi, so Maria cannot be innocent. Therefore, we can determine that C3 Maria is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"2 of Raul's neighbors on the edges are innocent" — Gabe (B2)
"Only 1 of the 5 criminals neighboring Raul is above Xavi" — Bonnie (B1)
D1 · Donna → CRIMINAL, D2 · Isaac → CRIMINAL
Because: Consider the edge positions, since Lisa says “Alice is one of 4 innocents on the edges,” which fixes the total number of edge innocents at exactly 4. We already know two edge innocents for sure: Alice at A1 and Tyler at D4, so there must be exactly two more edge innocents among the seven edge unknowns (D1, D2, A3, A4, B5, C5, D5). Now use Gabe’s clue about Raul at C4: the edge-neighbors of Raul are D3, D4, B5, C5, and D5, and exactly 2 of those are innocent. Since D4 is already innocent and D3 is already criminal, that forces exactly one of B5, C5, and D5 to be innocent, which uses up one of the two remaining edge innocents. That means among D1, D2, A3, and A4 there can be only one innocent in total. Finally, Pam says there’s an odd number of criminals above Tyler, meaning in D1, D2, and D3 the number of criminals is odd; because D3 is already criminal, D1 and D2 must match each other (both criminal or both innocent). They cannot both be innocent, because that would make two innocents among D1, D2, A3, and A4 when only one is allowed, so both D1 and D2 must be criminals. Therefore, we can determine that D1 Donna is CRIMINAL and D2 Isaac is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"2 of Raul's neighbors on the edges are innocent" — Gabe (B2)
"Alice is one of 4 innocents on the edges" — Lisa (B3)
"There's an odd number of criminals above Tyler" — Pam (B4)
D5 · Xavi → CRIMINAL
Because: Raul is at C4, and his edge-position neighbors are Nancy at D3, Tyler at D4, Vera at B5, Wally at C5, and Xavi at D5. Gabe’s clue says exactly 2 of those edge neighbors are innocent; since Tyler is already innocent and Nancy is already criminal, exactly one of Vera, Wally, and Xavi is innocent and the other two are criminals. Isaac’s clue says Pam has exactly 6 criminal neighbors and exactly 2 of those criminals are in row 5; Pam’s row 5 neighbors are Uma, Vera, and Wally, so with Uma already criminal, exactly one of Vera and Wally is criminal and the other is innocent. That means the single innocent among Vera, Wally, and Xavi must be either Vera or Wally, so Xavi cannot be the innocent and must be criminal. Therefore, we can determine that D5 Xavi is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"2 of Raul's neighbors on the edges are innocent" — Gabe (B2)
"Exactly 2 of the 6 criminals neighboring Pam are in row 5" — Isaac (D2)
A3 · Janet → INNOCENT
Because: Raul is at C4, and his edge-neighbors are D3 Nancy, D4 Tyler, D5 Xavi, plus the two row-5 neighbors B5 Vera and C5 Wally. Gabe’s clue says exactly two of those edge-neighbors are innocent; since Tyler is already innocent and Nancy and Xavi are already criminals, the second innocent must be either Vera or Wally, meaning row 5 has exactly one innocent in total. Xavi’s clue says rows 3 and 5 have the same number of innocents, so row 3 must also have exactly one innocent; but in row 3, Lisa, Maria, and Nancy are criminals, leaving only Janet at A3 to be that one innocent. Therefore, we can determine that A3 Janet is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"2 of Raul's neighbors on the edges are innocent" — Gabe (B2)
"There's an equal number of innocents in rows 3 and 5" — Xavi (D5)
A4 · Oscar → CRIMINAL, C4 · Raul → CRIMINAL
Because: Pam is at B4, and her neighbors are Janet at A3, Lisa at B3, Maria at C3, Oscar at A4, Raul at C4, Uma at A5, Vera at B5, and Wally at C5. Isaac’s clue says there are 6 criminals among these neighbors, and exactly 2 of those 6 are in row 5. We already know Lisa, Maria, and Uma are criminals, so among the four unknown neighbors Oscar, Raul, Vera, and Wally, exactly three must be criminals to bring the total to 6. The only neighbors Pam has in row 5 are Uma, Vera, and Wally, and since exactly two of the criminal neighbors are in row 5 while Uma is already one of them, exactly one of Vera or Wally can be a criminal, meaning the other is innocent. That uses up only one of the three required criminals among Oscar, Raul, Vera, and Wally, so the remaining two criminals must be Oscar and Raul. Therefore, we can determine that A4 Oscar is CRIMINAL and C4 Raul is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of the 6 criminals neighboring Pam are in row 5" — Isaac (D2)
B5 · Vera → INNOCENT
Because: Column B contains Bonnie at B1, Gabe at B2, Lisa at B3, Pam at B4, and Vera at B5. Janet’s clue says there are exactly 2 innocents in column B. We can already see Pam is an innocent, while Bonnie, Gabe, and Lisa are all criminals, so the only remaining spot that can supply the second innocent is Vera. Therefore, we can determine that B5 Vera is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"There are exactly 2 innocents in column B" — Janet (A3)
C5 · Wally → CRIMINAL
Because: Raul is at C4, and the clue is only about Raul’s neighbors that are on the board’s edge. Raul’s edge-neighbors are Nancy at D3, Tyler at D4, Vera at B5, Wally at C5, and Xavi at D5. The clue says exactly 2 of those edge-neighbors are innocent, and we already have Tyler and Vera as innocent while Nancy and Xavi are criminal. That already makes the count of innocent edge-neighbors equal to 2, so Wally cannot also be innocent. Therefore, we can determine that C5 Wally is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"2 of Raul's neighbors on the edges are innocent" — Gabe (B2)