Clues by Sam Mar 03, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained
Medium·Solved
A1
👮♀️
Amy
cop
B1
💂♀️
Betsy
guard
C1
👷♀️
Cheryl
builder
D1
👨🌾
Derek
farmer
A2
👮♂️
Eli
cop
B2
🕵️♂️
Frank
sleuth
C2
🕵️♂️
Hank
sleuth
D2
🕵️♂️
Ivan
sleuth
A3
👩🔧
Julie
mech
B3
👨🔧
Larry
mech
C3
👷♂️
Mark
builder
D3
👩⚕️
Nancy
doctor
A4
👮♀️
Olga
cop
B4
👷♀️
Petra
builder
C4
👨🌾
Rohan
farmer
D4
👨⚕️
Salil
doctor
A5
💂♀️
Uma
guard
B5
💂♀️
Wanda
guard
C5
👨🌾
Xavi
farmer
D5
👩🔧
Zoe
mech
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
[ B1 ] [ D1 ] [ C3 ] [ D3 ] [ A4 ] [ B4 ] [ C5 ] [ D5 ]
Criminal · 12
[ A1 ] [ C1 ] [ A2 ] [ B2 ] [ C2 ] [ D2 ] [ A3 ] [ B3 ] [ C4 ] [ D4 ] [ A5 ] [ B5 ]
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 · Amy
"There's an odd number of innocents neighboring Ivan"
B1 · Betsy
"Only 1 of the 8 criminals on the edges is in column C"
C1 · Cheryl
"Julie has exactly 2 innocent neighbors"
D1 · Derek
"There are exactly 2 innocents to the right of Wanda"
A2 · Eli
"Cheryl has exactly 2 innocent neighbors"
B2 · Frank
"We're invincible!"
C2 · Hank
"An odd number of innocents above Wanda neighbor Eli"
D2 · Ivan
"Amy has only one innocent neighbor"
A3 · Julie
"No matter how hard you try, you'll never catch us all"
B3 · Larry
"There are exactly 2 innocents above Wanda"
C3 · Mark
"I always felt you're more like the moles in Whack-a-Mole"
D3 · Nancy
"Frank has exactly 2 innocent neighbors"
A4 · Olga
"A pain in the neck, that's what you are."
B4 · Petra
"Column D is the only column with exactly 2 criminals"
C4 · Rohan
"Eli has exactly 4 criminal neighbors"
D4 · Salil
"We criminals are like the Hydra. Cut down one head, two more appear!"
A5 · Uma
"You caught us again! But we'll be back!"
B5 · Wanda
"Exactly 1 innocent above Rohan is neighboring Hank"
C5 · Xavi
"Cheryl and Hank have 2 innocent neighbors in common"
D5 · Zoe
"There is only one innocent above Larry"
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)
C5 · Xavi → INNOCENT, D5 · Zoe → INNOCENT
Because: Wanda is at B5, and the only people to the right of Wanda in the same row are C5 (Xavi) and D5 (Zoe). Derek’s clue says there are exactly 2 innocents to the right of Wanda, so both of those two people must be innocents. Therefore, we can determine that C5 Xavi is INNOCENT and D5 Zoe is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"There are exactly 2 innocents to the right of Wanda" — Derek (D1)
D2 · Ivan → CRIMINAL
Because: Cheryl is at C1 and Hank is at C2, and their common neighbors are B1, B2, D1, and D2. Xavi’s clue says Cheryl and Hank have exactly 2 innocent neighbors in common, and we already know Derek at D1 is innocent, so among B1, B2, and D2 there must be exactly 1 more innocent. Zoe’s clue says there is only one innocent above Larry (who is at B3), which means among B1 and B2 exactly one is innocent. Since that already accounts for the one remaining innocent needed among B1, B2, and D2, Ivan at D2 cannot be innocent and must be criminal. Therefore, we can determine that D2 (Ivan) is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Cheryl and Hank have 2 innocent neighbors in common" — Xavi (C5)
"There is only one innocent above Larry" — Zoe (D5)
A2 · Eli → CRIMINAL
Because: Cheryl at C1 and Hank at C2 share exactly four common neighbors: Betsy at B1, Frank at B2, Derek at D1, and Ivan at D2. Xavi’s clue says Cheryl and Hank have exactly 2 innocent neighbors in common, and we already know Derek is INNOCENT while Ivan is CRIMINAL, so exactly one of Betsy or Frank must be INNOCENT and the other must be CRIMINAL. Amy at A1 has only three neighbors at all (Betsy B1, Eli A2, and Frank B2), and Ivan’s clue says Amy has only one innocent neighbor, so Amy cannot also have Eli as an innocent neighbor because Betsy and Frank already include exactly one innocent between them. Therefore, we can determine that A2 (Eli) is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Cheryl and Hank have 2 innocent neighbors in common" — Xavi (C5)
"Amy has only one innocent neighbor" — Ivan (D2)
C2 · Hank → CRIMINAL
Because: Cheryl at C1 and Hank at C2 share exactly four common neighbors: Betsy (B1), Derek (D1), Frank (B2), and Ivan (D2). Xavi’s clue says that among these four shared neighbors, exactly two are innocent; since Derek is already innocent and Ivan is already a criminal, exactly one of Betsy or Frank must be innocent. Eli’s clue says Cheryl has exactly two innocent neighbors total, and Cheryl’s neighbors are Betsy, Derek, Frank, Hank, and Ivan; Derek plus that one innocent from Betsy or Frank already makes Cheryl’s two innocents, so Hank cannot also be innocent. Therefore, we can determine that C2 Hank is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Cheryl and Hank have 2 innocent neighbors in common" — Xavi (C5)
"Cheryl has exactly 2 innocent neighbors" — Eli (A2)
B3 · Larry → CRIMINAL
Because: Cheryl at C1 and Hank at C2 share the common neighbors B1 (Betsy), B2 (Frank), D1 (Derek), and D2 (Ivan). Xavi’s clue says there are exactly 2 innocents among these common neighbors, and since Derek is already INNOCENT while Ivan is already CRIMINAL, exactly one of Betsy or Frank must be INNOCENT. Hank’s other clue counts the innocents who are both above Wanda (B1, B2, B3, B4) and also neighbor Eli at A2, which is exactly Betsy, Frank, and Larry at B3; since Betsy and Frank include exactly one INNOCENT, the total will be odd only if Larry is not INNOCENT. Therefore, we can determine that B3 Larry is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Cheryl and Hank have 2 innocent neighbors in common" — Xavi (C5)
"An odd number of innocents above Wanda neighbor Eli" — Hank (C2)
B4 · Petra → INNOCENT
Because: Cheryl is at C1 and Hank is at C2, so the people who are neighbors of both of them are B1 (Betsy), D1 (Derek), B2 (Frank), and D2 (Ivan). Xavi says exactly two of those common neighbors are innocent; since Derek at D1 is already innocent and Ivan at D2 is already a criminal, that means Betsy and Frank must include exactly one innocent between them. Larry says there are exactly two innocents above Wanda in column B, and the people above Wanda (B5) are Betsy (B1), Frank (B2), Larry (B3), and Petra (B4); because Larry is a criminal, the two innocents must be among Betsy, Frank, and Petra. Since Betsy and Frank together contribute exactly one innocent, Petra must be the other innocent. Therefore, we can determine that B4 Petra is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Cheryl and Hank have 2 innocent neighbors in common" — Xavi (C5)
"There are exactly 2 innocents above Wanda" — Larry (B3)
B5 · Wanda → CRIMINAL
Because: Cheryl at C1 and Hank at C2 share exactly four common neighbors: Betsy at B1, Derek at D1, Frank at B2, and Ivan at D2. Xavi’s clue says those shared neighbors include exactly 2 innocents; since Derek is already INNOCENT and Ivan is already CRIMINAL, exactly one of Betsy or Frank must be INNOCENT and the other must be CRIMINAL. That guarantees column B already has 2 criminals in total: Larry at B3 plus whichever of Betsy or Frank is the criminal. Petra’s clue says column D is the only column with exactly 2 criminals, so column B cannot be left with exactly 2 criminals; with Petra at B4 already INNOCENT, the only way to avoid exactly 2 is for Wanda at B5 to also be CRIMINAL. Therefore, we can determine that B5 Wanda is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Cheryl and Hank have 2 innocent neighbors in common" — Xavi (C5)
"Column D is the only column with exactly 2 criminals" — Petra (B4)
C4 · Rohan → CRIMINAL
Because: In column C, the people above Rohan are Cheryl at C1, Hank at C2, and Mark at C3, and the only ones among them who can be “innocent” and also “neighboring Hank” are Cheryl and Mark, since Hank cannot be his own neighbor. Wanda’s clue says exactly one innocent above Rohan is neighboring Hank, so exactly one of Cheryl and Mark is innocent and the other is criminal. That means column C already contains exactly two criminals from Hank and whichever of Cheryl or Mark is criminal, while Xavi at C5 is fixed as innocent, so the only way for column C not to be a column with exactly two criminals is for Rohan himself to be criminal. Therefore, we can determine that C4 Rohan is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Column D is the only column with exactly 2 criminals" — Petra (B4)
"Exactly 1 innocent above Rohan is neighboring Hank" — Wanda (B5)
A1 · Amy → CRIMINAL, A3 · Julie → CRIMINAL
Because: The common neighbors of Cheryl (C1) and Hank (C2) are exactly Betsy (B1), Derek (D1), Frank (B2), and Ivan (D2). Xavi’s clue says that exactly two of these four common neighbors are innocent, and we already know Derek is innocent while Ivan is criminal, so Betsy and Frank must split as one innocent and one criminal. Eli (A2) has exactly five neighbors: Amy (A1), Betsy (B1), Frank (B2), Julie (A3), and Larry (B3), and Rohan’s clue says exactly four of these five are criminals, so exactly one of Amy, Betsy, Frank, and Julie is innocent because Larry is already criminal. Since Betsy and Frank already contain exactly one innocent between them, that uses up the only allowed innocent among those four, forcing both Amy and Julie to be criminals. Therefore, we can determine that A1 Amy is CRIMINAL and A3 Julie is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Cheryl and Hank have 2 innocent neighbors in common" — Xavi (C5)
"Eli has exactly 4 criminal neighbors" — Rohan (C4)
D3 · Nancy → INNOCENT
Because: The people above Rohan (at C4) are Cheryl at C1, Hank at C2, and Mark at C3, and among those, the only ones who can be neighbors of Hank are Cheryl (directly above him) and Mark (directly below him). Wanda’s clue says exactly one innocent above Rohan is neighboring Hank, so exactly one of Cheryl and Mark is innocent. Ivan’s neighbors are Cheryl, Derek, Hank, Mark, and Nancy, and Amy’s clue says the number of innocents among them is odd; since Derek is already innocent and Hank is already criminal, the total will be odd only if an even number of Cheryl, Mark, and Nancy are innocent. Because exactly one of Cheryl and Mark is innocent (an odd count), Nancy must also be innocent to make the combined count even. Therefore, we can determine that D3 Nancy is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Exactly 1 innocent above Rohan is neighboring Hank" — Wanda (B5)
"There's an odd number of innocents neighboring Ivan" — Amy (A1)
D4 · Salil → CRIMINAL
Because: Petra’s clue says that column D has exactly 2 criminals. In column D, Derek (D1), Nancy (D3), and Zoe (D5) are already innocent, and Ivan (D2) is already a criminal, so the only remaining spot that can supply the second criminal in that column is Salil (D4). Therefore, we can determine that D4 (Salil) is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Column D is the only column with exactly 2 criminals" — Petra (B4)
B1 · Betsy → INNOCENT
Because: In column D we already see exactly two criminals, Ivan at D2 and Salil at D4, with Derek, Nancy, and Zoe all innocent. Petra’s clue says column D is the only column with exactly two criminals, so no other column is allowed to end up with exactly two criminals. Nancy’s clue says Frank at B2 has exactly two innocent neighbors, and Frank’s only possible innocent neighbors are the three unknowns next to him: Betsy at B1, Cheryl at C1, and Mark at C3, because all his other neighbors are already known criminals. If Betsy were a criminal, then Frank’s two innocent neighbors would have to be Cheryl and Mark, which would make column C have exactly two criminals (Hank at C2 and Rohan at C4), contradicting Petra’s clue that only column D can have exactly two criminals. Therefore, we can determine that B1 Betsy is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Column D is the only column with exactly 2 criminals" — Petra (B4)
"Frank has exactly 2 innocent neighbors" — Nancy (D3)
B2 · Frank → CRIMINAL
Because: Cheryl at C1 and Hank at C2 share the same neighboring squares, so their common neighbors are exactly Betsy at B1, Derek at D1, Frank at B2, and Ivan at D2. The clue says that among these common neighbors, there are exactly 2 innocents. Betsy and Derek are already known to be innocent, which already makes the count of innocent common neighbors equal to 2, so Frank and Ivan cannot be innocent. Ivan is already known to be criminal, so Frank must also be criminal. Therefore, we can determine that B2 Frank is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Cheryl and Hank have 2 innocent neighbors in common" — Xavi (C5)
C1 · Cheryl → CRIMINAL
Because: The only edge squares in column C are C1 (Cheryl) and C5 (Xavi). Betsy’s clue says that among the eight criminals on the edges, exactly one of them is in column C. Since Xavi at C5 is already known to be innocent, he cannot be that one edge criminal in column C, so it must be Cheryl at C1. Therefore, we can determine that C1 Cheryl is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 8 criminals on the edges is in column C" — Betsy (B1)
C3 · Mark → INNOCENT
Because: The people above Rohan at C4 are Cheryl at C1, Hank at C2, and Mark at C3, because “above” means somewhere in the same column. Wanda’s clue says that among those people, exactly one is innocent, and that innocent is a neighbor of Hank. Cheryl and Hank are already known criminals, so neither of them can be the one innocent above Rohan, leaving only Mark as the required innocent (and Mark is indeed a neighbor of Hank since he is directly below him). Therefore, we can determine that C3 Mark is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Exactly 1 innocent above Rohan is neighboring Hank" — Wanda (B5)
A4 · Olga → INNOCENT
Because: Julie is at A3, so her neighbors are A2 Eli, B2 Frank, B3 Larry, A4 Olga, and B4 Petra (including diagonals). Cheryl’s clue says Julie has exactly 2 innocent neighbors. Among those neighbors, Eli, Frank, and Larry are already criminal, and Petra is already innocent, so the only way to reach exactly two innocent neighbors is for Olga to be the second innocent neighbor. Therefore, we can determine that A4 Olga is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Julie has exactly 2 innocent neighbors" — Cheryl (C1)
A5 · Uma → CRIMINAL
Because: The edge positions are the outer 14 squares of the board, and the clue says there are exactly 8 criminals among those edge positions, with only 1 of those edge criminals being in column C. On the edge in column C, C1 is already a criminal and C5 is an innocent, so C1 must be that single column C edge criminal. Counting the edge criminals we already have A1, C1, A2, A3, D2, D4, and B5, which makes 7 edge criminals so far. Since the clue says there are 8 edge criminals in total, the only remaining undetermined edge person, A5 Uma, must be the 8th. Therefore, we can determine that A5 Uma is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 8 criminals on the edges is in column C" — Betsy (B1)