Clues by Sam Feb 26, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained
Tricky·Solved
A1
👮♀️
Alice
cop
B1
🕵️♂️
Bruce
sleuth
C1
💂♂️
Chad
guard
D1
👩🌾
Evie
farmer
A2
👮♀️
Freya
cop
B2
💂♂️
Gabe
guard
C2
👷♀️
Helen
builder
D2
👨🌾
Isaac
farmer
A3
👮♂️
John
cop
B3
🕵️♂️
Kyle
sleuth
C3
👩🍳
Linda
cook
D3
👩✈️
Nicole
pilot
A4
🕵️♂️
Oscar
sleuth
B4
💂♂️
Peter
guard
C4
👩✈️
Ruth
pilot
D4
👩✈️
Tina
pilot
A5
👷♀️
Uma
builder
B5
👷♀️
Vera
builder
C5
👨🌾
Xavi
farmer
D5
👨🍳
Zach
cook
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 4Criminal 16Unknown 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 · 4
[ B2 ] [ B4 ] [ B5 ] [ C5 ]
Criminal · 16
[ A1 ] [ B1 ] [ C1 ] [ D1 ] [ A2 ] [ C2 ] [ D2 ] [ A3 ] [ B3 ] [ C3 ] [ D3 ] [ A4 ] [ C4 ] [ D4 ] [ A5 ] [ 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
"Exactly 1 innocent in column C is on the edges"
B1 · Bruce
"Ruth has exactly 3 innocent neighbors"
C1 · Chad
"Only one of the 3 builders has exactly one innocent neighbor"
D1 · Evie
"So keep your hats on! We might do it again!"
A2 · Freya
"There's an equal number of criminals in rows 2 and 4"
B2 · Gabe
"There are exactly 3 innocents in column B"
C2 · Helen
"Still chuckling about yesterday's trick. You totally fell for it."
D2 · Isaac
"There are more criminals in row 3 than row 4"
A3 · John
"There's an odd number of criminals neighboring me"
B3 · Kyle
"Socks are old hat. Hats are where the business is at!"
C3 · Linda
"Exactly 2 innocents in column B are neighboring Ruth"
D3 · Nicole
"There's an odd number of criminals neighboring Oscar"
A4 · Oscar
"There's an odd number of criminals in between Bruce and Vera"
B4 · Peter
"I must tip my hat. It was clever."
C4 · Ruth
"I'd do it again at the drop of a hat!"
D4 · Tina
"Only one of the 3 cops has exactly 2 innocent neighbors"
A5 · Uma
"Exactly 2 of the 3 criminals in row 4 are on the edges"
B5 · Vera
"Both innocents in row 5 are connected"
C5 · Xavi
"2 of the 3 pilots have a criminal directly to the left of them"
D5 · Zach
"There are exactly 2 innocents to the right of Uma"
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)
D5 · Zach → CRIMINAL
Because: In row 5, the four people are Uma at A5, Vera at B5, Xavi at C5, and Zach at D5, and we already know Vera is innocent. Vera’s clue says there are exactly two innocents in row 5, and those two innocents are connected by orthogonal adjacency, which in a single row means they must be next to each other. Since Vera is at B5, the only way for her to be connected to the other innocent is if that other innocent is at A5 or C5. That means Zach at D5 cannot be one of the two innocents in row 5. Therefore, we can determine that D5 Zach is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Both innocents in row 5 are connected" — Vera (B5)
C5 · Xavi → INNOCENT
Because: Uma is at A5, so the people to the right of Uma in the same row are B5 Vera, C5 Xavi, and D5 Zach. Zach’s clue says there are exactly 2 innocents among those three people. Since Vera is already known to be INNOCENT and Zach is already known to be CRIMINAL, the only way to reach exactly 2 innocents is for Xavi to be INNOCENT. Therefore, we can determine that C5 Xavi is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"There are exactly 2 innocents to the right of Uma" — Zach (D5)
A5 · Uma → CRIMINAL
Because: In row 5, the clue says that there are exactly two innocents there, and that those two innocents form one orthogonally connected group. We already know Vera at B5 and Xavi at C5 are innocents, and they are directly next to each other, so they can be the connected pair the clue is talking about. Since the clue says there are only two innocents in row 5 total, the remaining two people in that row, Uma at A5 and Zach at D5, cannot be innocent. Therefore, we can determine that A5 Uma is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Both innocents in row 5 are connected" — Vera (B5)
A4 · Oscar → CRIMINAL, D4 · Tina → CRIMINAL
Because: Row 4 contains Oscar at A4, Peter at B4, Ruth at C4, and Tina at D4, and the only edge positions in that row are A4 and D4. Uma’s clue says there are exactly 3 criminals in row 4, and exactly 2 of those 3 criminals are on the edges. Since there are only two edge spots available in row 4, those two edge spots must be the two edge criminals, so both Oscar at A4 and Tina at D4 must be criminals. Therefore, we can determine that A4 Oscar is CRIMINAL and D4 Tina is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of the 3 criminals in row 4 are on the edges" — Uma (A5)
C3 · Linda → CRIMINAL
Because: In row 4, Oscar at A4 and Tina at D4 are already criminals and both are on the edge. Uma’s clue says there are exactly 3 criminals in row 4 and exactly 2 of them are on the edges, so the third criminal in row 4 must be either Peter at B4 or Ruth at C4, meaning exactly one of B4 and C4 is criminal. Xavi’s clue is about the three pilots (Nicole at D3, Ruth at C4, and Tina at D4): the person directly left of Nicole is Linda at C3, the person directly left of Ruth is Peter at B4, and the person directly left of Tina is Ruth at C4. Since exactly one of B4 and C4 is criminal, exactly one of Ruth or Tina can have a criminal directly to the left, so to reach the required total of 2 pilots with a criminal directly to the left, Nicole must be the other one, which forces Linda at C3 to be criminal. Therefore, we can determine that C3 Linda is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of the 3 criminals in row 4 are on the edges" — Uma (A5)
"2 of the 3 pilots have a criminal directly to the left of them" — Xavi (C5)
B2 · Gabe → INNOCENT
Because: Bruce is at B1 and Vera is at B5, so the people in between them are Gabe at B2, Kyle at B3, and Peter at B4. Oscar’s clue says there is an odd number of criminals among those three. Linda’s clue says that exactly 2 innocents in column B are neighboring Ruth, and the column B neighbors of Ruth are Kyle, Peter, and Vera; since Vera is already INNOCENT, exactly one of Kyle or Peter must be INNOCENT and the other must be a CRIMINAL, so Kyle and Peter together contribute exactly 1 criminal. That already makes the in-between criminal count odd, so Gabe cannot also be a criminal, because that would make the total 2 and therefore even. Therefore, we can determine that B2 Gabe is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"There's an odd number of criminals in between Bruce and Vera" — Oscar (A4)
"Exactly 2 innocents in column B are neighboring Ruth" — Linda (C3)
B1 · Bruce → CRIMINAL
Because: Bruce and Vera are both in column B, with Gabe, Kyle, and Peter strictly between them at B2, B3, and B4. Oscar’s clue says the number of criminals among those three in-between people is odd, and since Gabe is already an innocent, that forces Kyle and Peter to be different from each other, with exactly one of them being a criminal and the other an innocent. Gabe’s clue says there are exactly 3 innocents in column B; with Gabe and Vera already innocent, there is room for only one more innocent among Bruce, Kyle, and Peter. Since Kyle and Peter already account for that one remaining innocent, Bruce cannot be the third innocent in column B. Therefore, we can determine that B1 Bruce is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"There's an odd number of criminals in between Bruce and Vera" — Oscar (A4)
"There are exactly 3 innocents in column B" — Gabe (B2)
D3 · Nicole → CRIMINAL
Because: Bruce and Vera are in the same column (B1 and B5), so the people in between them are Gabe at B2, Kyle at B3, and Peter at B4. Oscar’s clue says there is an odd number of criminals among those three, and since Gabe is already INNOCENT, that forces exactly one of Kyle and Peter to be CRIMINAL and the other to be INNOCENT. Ruth is at C4, and her eight neighbors are Kyle (B3), Linda (C3), Nicole (D3), Peter (B4), Tina (D4), Vera (B5), Xavi (C5), and Zach (D5); among these, Vera and Xavi are INNOCENT while Linda, Tina, and Zach are CRIMINAL. Bruce’s clue says Ruth has exactly 3 innocent neighbors, so among the remaining three neighbors (Kyle, Peter, and Nicole) there must be exactly one more INNOCENT. Because Kyle and Peter already contribute exactly one INNOCENT between them, Nicole cannot be INNOCENT, so she must be CRIMINAL. Therefore, we can determine that D3 Nicole is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"There's an odd number of criminals in between Bruce and Vera" — Oscar (A4)
"Ruth has exactly 3 innocent neighbors" — Bruce (B1)
A3 · John → CRIMINAL
Because: Bruce is at B1 and Vera is at B5, so the people in between them are exactly B2, B3, and B4. Oscar’s clue says there is an odd number of criminals among those three, and since B2 (Gabe) is already INNOCENT, that forces exactly one of B3 and B4 to be CRIMINAL. Nicole’s clue says Oscar has an odd number of criminal neighbors, and Oscar’s neighbors are A3 (John), B3 (Kyle), B4 (Peter), A5 (Uma), and B5 (Vera); with Uma already CRIMINAL and Vera already INNOCENT, the remaining three (A3, B3, B4) must contain an even number of criminals. Since B3 and B4 together contribute exactly one criminal, A3 must be the second criminal to make that even. Therefore, we can determine that A3 John is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"There's an odd number of criminals in between Bruce and Vera" — Oscar (A4)
"There's an odd number of criminals neighboring Oscar" — Nicole (D3)
A2 · Freya → CRIMINAL
Because: Bruce is at B1 and Vera is at B5, so the people in between them are B2 Gabe, B3 Kyle, and B4 Peter. Oscar’s clue says there is an odd number of criminals among those three, and since Gabe is already known to be innocent, that forces exactly one of Kyle or Peter to be a criminal. John’s clue says there is an odd number of criminals neighboring A3 John, and John’s neighbors are A2 Freya, B2 Gabe, B3 Kyle, A4 Oscar, and B4 Peter; with Gabe innocent and Oscar criminal, the total will be odd only if the number of criminals among Freya, Kyle, and Peter is even. Because Kyle and Peter contribute exactly one criminal, Freya must also be a criminal to make that count even. Therefore, we can determine that A2 Freya is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"There's an odd number of criminals in between Bruce and Vera" — Oscar (A4)
"There's an odd number of criminals neighboring me" — John (A3)
C2 · Helen → CRIMINAL, D2 · Isaac → CRIMINAL
Because: In row 4, the edge positions are A4 and D4, and both Oscar at A4 and Tina at D4 are already known criminals. Uma’s clue says there are exactly 3 criminals in row 4, and exactly 2 of those 3 are on the edges, so the two edge criminals must be Oscar and Tina, and exactly one of B4 or C4 is also a criminal. That fixes the total number of criminals in row 4 as 3. Freya’s clue says rows 2 and 4 have an equal number of criminals, so row 2 must also have 3 criminals. In row 2, Freya at A2 is a criminal and Gabe at B2 is an innocent, so the only way to reach 3 criminals is for both Helen at C2 and Isaac at D2 to be criminals. Therefore, we can determine that C2 Helen is CRIMINAL and D2 Isaac is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of the 3 criminals in row 4 are on the edges" — Uma (A5)
"There's an equal number of criminals in rows 2 and 4" — Freya (A2)
B3 · Kyle → CRIMINAL
Because: Row 4 has A4 Oscar and D4 Tina already known to be criminals, and Uma’s clue says there are exactly 3 criminals in row 4 in total. Isaac’s clue says there are more criminals in row 3 than in row 4, so row 3 must have at least 4 criminals. Row 3 currently has three known criminals (A3 John, C3 Linda, and D3 Nicole), so the only way to reach 4 is for B3 Kyle to be a criminal. Therefore, we can determine that B3 Kyle is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of the 3 criminals in row 4 are on the edges" — Uma (A5)
"There are more criminals in row 3 than row 4" — Isaac (D2)
B4 · Peter → INNOCENT
Because: Bruce is at B1 and Vera is at B5, so the people in between them are exactly B2 Gabe, B3 Kyle, and B4 Peter. Oscar’s clue says the number of criminals among those three must be odd. Gabe is already INNOCENT and Kyle is already a CRIMINAL, so the count is currently 1, and it will stay odd only if Peter is not a criminal. Therefore, we can determine that B4 Peter is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"There's an odd number of criminals in between Bruce and Vera" — Oscar (A4)
C4 · Ruth → CRIMINAL
Because: Row 4 is A4 Oscar, B4 Peter, C4 Ruth, and D4 Tina. Uma’s clue says there are exactly 3 criminals in row 4, and exactly 2 of those criminals are on the edges; in this row, the only edge positions are A4 and D4. Since Oscar at A4 and Tina at D4 are already criminals, they account for the exactly two edge criminals, so the third criminal in the row must be someone not on an edge, which can only be Ruth at C4 (and it also fits the “3 criminals” total because Peter at B4 is already innocent). Therefore, we can determine that C4 Ruth is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of the 3 criminals in row 4 are on the edges" — Uma (A5)
A1 · Alice → CRIMINAL
Because: The three cops are Alice at A1, Freya at A2, and John at A3, and Tina’s clue says that exactly one of these cops has exactly two innocent neighbors. John’s neighbors include Gabe at B2 and Peter at B4, and both are innocent, while all his other neighbors are criminals, so John already has exactly two innocent neighbors. That means Freya cannot also have exactly two innocent neighbors; but Freya is always next to Gabe (innocent), and she would have a second innocent neighbor precisely when Alice is innocent. So Alice cannot be innocent. Therefore, we can determine that A1 Alice is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Only one of the 3 cops has exactly 2 innocent neighbors" — Tina (D4)
C1 · Chad → CRIMINAL
Because: The clue from Alice says that the number of innocents who are both in column C and on the edge is exactly 1. In column C, the only edge positions are C1 (top edge) and C5 (bottom edge). We already know C5 (Xavi) is INNOCENT, so that uses up the single allowed innocent on the edge in column C. That means C1 (Chad) cannot be innocent, so he must be CRIMINAL. Therefore, we can determine that C1 Chad is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Exactly 1 innocent in column C is on the edges" — Alice (A1)
D1 · Evie → CRIMINAL
Because: The three builders are Helen at C2, Uma at A5, and Vera at B5, and Chad’s clue says exactly one of these three builders has exactly one innocent neighbor. Uma’s neighbors are Oscar, Peter, and Vera, and since Peter and Vera are both innocent, Uma already has two innocent neighbors. Vera’s neighbors include Peter and Xavi, who are both innocent, so Vera also has two innocent neighbors. That means the only builder who could possibly be the “exactly one innocent neighbor” builder is Helen, and Helen has Gabe as an innocent neighbor plus Evie as a neighbor; so Helen has exactly one innocent neighbor only if Evie is not innocent. Therefore, we can determine that D1 Evie is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Only one of the 3 builders has exactly one innocent neighbor" — Chad (C1)