Clues by Sam Feb 23, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained
Easy·Solved
A1
👩💻
Anna
coder
B1
💂♂️
Donald
guard
C1
💂♂️
Eric
guard
D1
🕵️♀️
Freya
sleuth
A2
👨🏫
Gus
teacher
B2
👩🏫
Hazel
teacher
C2
🕵️♂️
Isaac
sleuth
D2
🕵️♂️
Jerry
sleuth
A3
👩🎤
Karen
singer
B3
👩🔧
Lucy
mech
C3
👨🍳
Noah
cook
D3
👩🍳
Olga
cook
A4
👨🔧
Phil
mech
B4
👩🔧
Ruby
mech
C4
👩🎤
Saga
singer
D4
👨💻
Tyler
coder
A5
👩🎤
Uma
singer
B5
👩🍳
Vera
cook
C5
👨💻
Wally
coder
D5
👨🏫
Ziad
teacher
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 14Criminal 6Unknown 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 · 14
[ B1 ] [ D1 ] [ A2 ] [ B2 ] [ C2 ] [ D2 ] [ A3 ] [ B3 ] [ C3 ] [ D3 ] [ B4 ] [ A5 ] [ B5 ] [ C5 ]
Criminal · 6
[ A1 ] [ C1 ] [ A4 ] [ 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 · Anna
"Hold on to your socks! It'll happen any day now!"
B1 · Donald
"Aw, we must wait? I was hoping it'd happen today!"
C1 · Eric
"There's an odd number of innocents in column D"
D1 · Freya
"Both innocents above Uma are connected"
A2 · Gus
"2 of the 3 singers have an innocent directly to the right of them"
B2 · Hazel
"I hear the criminals have a plan that will knock our socks off"
C2 · Isaac
"Row 5 is the only row with exactly one criminal"
D2 · Jerry
"Isaac is one of Olga's 3 innocent neighbors"
A3 · Karen
"Only one row has exactly one innocent"
B3 · Lucy
"Should I be scared? For some reason I'm not."
C3 · Noah
"Exactly 2 innocents to the right of Gus are neighboring Isaac"
D3 · Olga
"Should I hold on to my spatula? Or is it something bigger?"
A4 · Phil
"Each column has at least 3 innocents"
B4 · Ruby
"Only 1 of the 6 innocents neighboring Saga is Ziad's neighbor"
C4 · Saga
"You bet, Hazel!"
D4 · Tyler
"Just wait and see!"
A5 · Uma
"Will it happen today?"
B5 · Vera
"There is only one innocent to the right of Phil"
C5 · Wally
"There are exactly 2 innocents above me"
D5 · Ziad
"It'll be a big surprise when it happens!"
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)
B2 · Hazel → INNOCENT, D2 · Jerry → INNOCENT
Because: Gus is at A2, so the people to the right of Gus in row 2 are Hazel at B2, Isaac at C2, and Jerry at D2. Isaac is at C2, and among those people, the only ones who are neighboring Isaac are Hazel (directly left of him) and Jerry (directly right of him). Noah’s clue says that exactly 2 innocents to the right of Gus are neighboring Isaac, and there are exactly two such neighbors available. So Hazel and Jerry must be those two innocents. Therefore, we can determine that B2 · Hazel is INNOCENT and D2 · Jerry is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 innocents to the right of Gus are neighboring Isaac" — Noah (C3)
C2 · Isaac → INNOCENT
Because: Jerry’s clue explicitly says that Isaac is one of Olga’s 3 innocent neighbors, which directly states that Isaac is innocent. Therefore, we can determine that C2 Isaac is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Isaac is one of Olga's 3 innocent neighbors" — Jerry (D2)
C4 · Saga → CRIMINAL, D4 · Tyler → CRIMINAL
Because: Olga is at D3, so her neighbors are Isaac at C2, Jerry at D2, Noah at C3, Saga at C4, and Tyler at D4. Jerry’s clue says that Isaac is one of Olga’s 3 innocent neighbors, meaning Olga has exactly three innocent neighbors in total. We already know Isaac, Jerry, and Noah are innocent, which fills all three of Olga’s innocent-neighbor slots. That leaves Saga and Tyler as Olga’s remaining neighbors, so neither of them can be innocent. Therefore, we can determine that C4 Saga is CRIMINAL and D4 Tyler is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Isaac is one of Olga's 3 innocent neighbors" — Jerry (D2)
A2 · Gus → INNOCENT
Because: Row 2 contains Hazel at B2, Isaac at C2, and Jerry at D2, and all three are already known to be innocent, leaving only Gus at A2 unknown. Isaac’s clue says that row 5 is the only row that has exactly one criminal, so no other row is allowed to have exactly one criminal. If Gus were a criminal, then row 2 would have exactly one criminal (Gus), which the clue forbids. Therefore, we can determine that A2 Gus is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Row 5 is the only row with exactly one criminal" — Isaac (C2)
B3 · Lucy → INNOCENT, B5 · Vera → INNOCENT
Because: The three singers are Karen at A3, Saga at C4, and Uma at A5. Gus’s clue says that exactly two of these singers have an innocent directly to their right. Saga’s direct right neighbor is Tyler at D4, and Tyler is a known criminal, so Saga is not one of the singers who has an innocent to the right. That forces the other two singers, Karen and Uma, to be the ones whose right neighbors are innocent, so Lucy at B3 and Vera at B5 must both be innocent. Therefore, we can determine that B3 Lucy is INNOCENT and B5 Vera is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"2 of the 3 singers have an innocent directly to the right of them" — Gus (A2)
B4 · Ruby → INNOCENT
Because: Phil is at A4, so the people to the right of Phil in the same row are Ruby at B4, Saga at C4, and Tyler at D4. Vera’s clue says there is only one innocent among those people to the right of Phil. Since Saga and Tyler are already known to be criminals, the only remaining person who can be that single innocent is Ruby. Therefore, we can determine that B4 Ruby is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"There is only one innocent to the right of Phil" — Vera (B5)
C5 · Wally → INNOCENT
Because: Saga is at C4, and the only people who are both neighbors of Saga and also neighbors of Ziad at D5 are Tyler at D4 and Wally at C5. Ruby’s clue talks about “the 6 innocents neighboring Saga” and says that exactly one of those innocents is a neighbor of Ziad. Tyler cannot be that one because Tyler is already known to be a criminal, so the only way the clue can be true is if Wally is an innocent neighbor of Saga and also Ziad’s neighbor. Therefore, we can determine that C5 Wally is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 6 innocents neighboring Saga is Ziad's neighbor" — Ruby (B4)
C1 · Eric → CRIMINAL
Because: Wally is at C5, so the people above him are Eric at C1, Isaac at C2, Noah at C3, and Saga at C4. His clue says there are exactly 2 innocents above him, and Isaac and Noah are already confirmed innocents, making exactly 2. That means neither Eric nor Saga can be innocent, and since Saga is already known to be a criminal, Eric must also be a criminal. Therefore, we can determine that C1 Eric is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"There are exactly 2 innocents above me" — Wally (C5)
D1 · Freya → INNOCENT
Because: Saga is at C4, and her neighbors include Lucy, Noah, Ruby, Vera, Wally, Olga at D3, and Ziad at D5 (Tyler at D4 is also a neighbor but is a criminal). Ruby’s clue says Saga has exactly 6 innocent neighbors, and we already see five of them for sure (Lucy, Noah, Ruby, Vera, and Wally), so exactly one of Olga (D3) and Ziad (D5) must be innocent. Eric’s clue says there is an odd number of innocents in column D; since Jerry at D2 is already innocent, the other three spots in column D (D1, D3, D5) must contain an even number of innocents. Because D3 and D5 contain exactly one innocent between them, D1 must be innocent to make the total for (D1, D3, D5) equal to two. Therefore, we can determine that D1 Freya is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 6 innocents neighboring Saga is Ziad's neighbor" — Ruby (B4)
"There's an odd number of innocents in column D" — Eric (C1)
A4 · Phil → CRIMINAL
Because: The clue talks about the people above Uma, which are the four positions A1, A2, A3, and A4 in column A. It says there are exactly two innocents among those four, and that those two innocents are connected, meaning they must touch orthogonally. Since Gus at A2 is already an innocent, the other innocent above Uma has to be either A1 or A3 so it is directly next to A2; it cannot be A4, because A2 and A4 are not adjacent and having A3 also innocent would make more than two innocents. Therefore, we can determine that A4 Phil is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Both innocents above Uma are connected" — Freya (D1)
A5 · Uma → INNOCENT
Because: Uma is at A5, so “above Uma” refers to A1, A2, A3, and A4 in column A. Freya’s clue says there are exactly two innocents among those four people, and those two innocents are connected; since A4 is already a criminal and A2 is already an innocent, this means there are exactly two innocents total in A1–A4. Phil’s clue says each column has at least 3 innocents, so column A must contain at least three innocents overall; with only two innocents allowed in A1–A4, the third required innocent in column A must be Uma at A5. Therefore, we can determine that A5 Uma is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Both innocents above Uma are connected" — Freya (D1)
"Each column has at least 3 innocents" — Phil (A4)
D5 · Ziad → CRIMINAL
Because: In row 5 we have Uma at A5, Vera at B5, Wally at C5, and Ziad at D5. Isaac’s clue says that row 5 has exactly one criminal. Since Uma, Vera, and Wally are already confirmed innocent, the only person in row 5 who can be that single criminal is Ziad. Therefore, we can determine that D5 Ziad is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Row 5 is the only row with exactly one criminal" — Isaac (C2)
D3 · Olga → INNOCENT
Because: Saga is at C4, and her neighbors are B3 Lucy, C3 Noah, D3 Olga, B4 Ruby, D4 Tyler, B5 Vera, C5 Wally, and D5 Ziad. Ruby’s clue says “the 6 innocents neighboring Saga,” so among those eight neighbors exactly six must be innocent. We already know five of them are innocent (Lucy, Noah, Ruby, Vera, and Wally), and two of them are criminal (Tyler and Ziad), so the only way to reach six innocent neighbors is for Olga at D3 to be innocent as well. Therefore, we can determine that D3 Olga is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 6 innocents neighboring Saga is Ziad's neighbor" — Ruby (B4)
A3 · Karen → INNOCENT
Because: Karen is at A3 in row 3, where Lucy at B3, Noah at C3, and Olga at D3 are already known to be innocent. Isaac’s clue says that row 5 is the only row with exactly one criminal, and row 5 already has exactly one criminal (Ziad at D5) with the other three people in that row innocent. That means no other row is allowed to have exactly one criminal, so row 3 cannot end up with exactly one criminal. If Karen were a criminal, row 3 would have exactly one criminal, so Karen must be innocent instead. Therefore, we can determine that A3 Karen is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Row 5 is the only row with exactly one criminal" — Isaac (C2)
A1 · Anna → CRIMINAL
Because: Uma is at A5, so the people above her in column A are Phil at A4, Karen at A3, Gus at A2, and Anna at A1. Freya’s clue says there are exactly two innocents above Uma, and those two innocents must be connected. Gus and Karen are already the two innocents above Uma, and they are connected because A2 and A3 are directly adjacent. That means Anna cannot also be an innocent above Uma, so Anna must be a criminal. Therefore, we can determine that A1 Anna is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Both innocents above Uma are connected" — Freya (D1)
B1 · Donald → INNOCENT
Because: Look at the rows and count how many innocents each one has. Row 4 has Phil, Saga, and Tyler as criminals, with only Ruby as innocent, so row 4 already has exactly one innocent. Karen’s clue says only one row on the whole board has exactly one innocent, so no other row can also end up with exactly one innocent. In row 1, we already have Anna and Eric as criminals and Freya as innocent, so if Donald were a criminal then row 1 would also have exactly one innocent, which is not allowed. Therefore, we can determine that B1 Donald is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Only one row has exactly one innocent" — Karen (A3)