Clues by Sam Mar 07, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained
Hard·Solved
A1
👩⚕️
Amy
doctor
B1
👮♀️
Bonnie
cop
C1
👷♂️
Carl
builder
D1
👷♂️
Ethan
builder
A2
👨⚕️
Gabe
doctor
B2
👨🍳
Hank
cook
C2
👨🌾
Igor
farmer
D2
👩🍳
Jane
cook
A3
👩⚕️
Katie
doctor
B3
👨🌾
Luigi
farmer
C3
👩🌾
Megan
farmer
D3
👩🍳
Nicole
cook
A4
👮♀️
Olivia
cop
B4
🕵️♂️
Peter
sleuth
C4
👷♀️
Ruby
builder
D4
👩🎨
Sarah
painter
A5
👮♂️
Thor
cop
B5
🕵️♀️
Wanda
sleuth
C5
🕵️♂️
Xavi
sleuth
D5
👨🎨
Zane
painter
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 6Criminal 14Unknown 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 · 6
[ B1 ] [ C1 ] [ B2 ] [ B4 ] [ C4 ] [ D5 ]
Criminal · 14
[ A1 ] [ D1 ] [ A2 ] [ C2 ] [ D2 ] [ A3 ] [ B3 ] [ C3 ] [ D3 ] [ A4 ] [ D4 ] [ A5 ] [ B5 ] [ C5 ]
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 criminals in row 2"
B1 · Bonnie
"Amy is one of Hank's 6 criminal neighbors"
C1 · Carl
"I'm now almost certain they are being sarcastic."
D1 · Ethan
"Peter is one of Luigi's 3 innocent neighbors"
A2 · Gabe
"Good job everyone. Great clues. Well done."
B2 · Hank
"I'm getting hungry. Does anyone mind if I cook these beans I found?"
C2 · Igor
"Luigi and Megan, why don't you start a bean farm together?"
D2 · Jane
"Yup, the floor is now covered in spilled beans. Better than legos. Love it!"
A3 · Katie
"Carl has exactly 2 innocent neighbors"
B3 · Luigi
"2 sleuths have an innocent directly to the right of them"
C3 · Megan
"An odd number of innocents in row 2 neighbor me"
D3 · Nicole
"Xavi is one of 11 criminals on the edges"
A4 · Olivia
"Hey, Nicole, you missed a bean! Want me to spill it for you?"
B4 · Peter
"There are exactly 3 innocents in column B"
C4 · Ruby
"2 of us 3 builders have a criminal directly to the right of them"
D4 · Sarah
"There are more innocents in row 2 than row 3"
A5 · Thor
"There are more innocents in row 1 than row 2"
B5 · Wanda
"I hope you all left some beans to spill for tomorrow as well"
C5 · Xavi
"Great! Keep 'em coming! Spill the beans!"
D5 · Zane
"Are the criminals being sarcastic? I can't tell."
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)
D4 · Sarah → CRIMINAL, D1 · Ethan → CRIMINAL
Because: The three builders on the board are Carl at C1, Ethan at D1, and Ruby at C4. Ruby’s clue says that exactly two of these three builders have a criminal directly to their right. Ethan is on the right edge at D1, so he has nobody directly to his right and cannot be one of the two builders described by the clue. That forces the other two builders, Carl at C1 and Ruby at C4, to be the ones who do have a criminal directly to their right, so the people directly to their right, Ethan at D1 and Sarah at D4, must both be criminals. Therefore, we can determine that D4 Sarah is CRIMINAL and D1 Ethan is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"2 of us 3 builders have a criminal directly to the right of them" — Ruby (C4)
B4 · Peter → INNOCENT
Because: Ethan’s clue says that Peter is one of Luigi’s 3 innocent neighbors, which directly states that Peter is an innocent neighbor of Luigi. Therefore, we can determine that B4 Peter is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Peter is one of Luigi's 3 innocent neighbors" — Ethan (D1)
C3 · Megan → CRIMINAL, A3 · Katie → CRIMINAL
Because: Luigi is at B3, and his neighbors are A2 Gabe, B2 Hank, C2 Igor, A3 Katie, C3 Megan, A4 Olivia, B4 Peter, and C4 Ruby. Ethan’s clue says Peter is one of Luigi’s 3 innocent neighbors, and we already know Peter and Ruby are innocent, so among the remaining six neighbors (Gabe, Hank, Igor, Katie, Megan, and Olivia) exactly one is innocent and the other five are criminals. If either Katie or Megan were that remaining innocent neighbor, then Gabe, Hank, and Igor in row 2 would all have to be criminals, meaning row 2 could have at most one innocent (only Jane at D2), while row 3 would have at least one innocent (Katie or Megan). In that situation, row 2 could never have more innocents than row 3, which Sarah’s clue requires. So neither Katie nor Megan can be that remaining innocent neighbor, and both must be criminals. Therefore, we can determine that C3 Megan is CRIMINAL and A3 Katie is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"There are more innocents in row 2 than row 3" — Sarah (D4)
"Peter is one of Luigi's 3 innocent neighbors" — Ethan (D1)
B1 · Bonnie → INNOCENT
Because: Carl is at C1, so his neighbors are Bonnie at B1, Hank at B2, Igor at C2, Ethan at D1, and Jane at D2. Katie’s clue says Carl has exactly 2 innocent neighbors, and since Ethan at D1 is already known to be a criminal, that means exactly 2 of the remaining four people (Bonnie, Hank, Igor, Jane) are innocents. Megan’s clue talks only about the row 2 neighbors of Megan at C3, which are Hank (B2), Igor (C2), and Jane (D2), and it says an odd number of those three are innocents; but they cannot be 3 innocents, because then Carl would already have at least 3 innocent neighbors among Bonnie, Hank, Igor, and Jane, which is impossible. So exactly 1 of Hank, Igor, and Jane is innocent, meaning Bonnie must be the second innocent neighbor Carl needs. Therefore, we can determine that B1 Bonnie is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"An odd number of innocents in row 2 neighbor me" — Megan (C3)
"Carl has exactly 2 innocent neighbors" — Katie (A3)
A1 · Amy → CRIMINAL
Because: Bonnie’s clue explicitly says that Amy is one of Hank’s 6 criminal neighbors, which directly identifies Amy as a criminal. Therefore, we can determine that A1 Amy is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Amy is one of Hank's 6 criminal neighbors" — Bonnie (B1)
A2 · Gabe → CRIMINAL
Because: Carl is at C1, so his neighbors are Bonnie at B1, Ethan at D1, Hank at B2, Igor at C2, and Jane at D2. Katie says Carl has exactly 2 innocent neighbors; since Bonnie is already innocent and Ethan is already criminal, exactly one of Hank, Igor, and Jane must be innocent, and the other two must be criminals. That means row 2 already contains exactly 2 criminals among B2, C2, and D2, so to satisfy Amy’s clue that row 2 has an odd number of criminals, Gabe at A2 must also be a criminal. Therefore, we can determine that A2 Gabe is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Carl has exactly 2 innocent neighbors" — Katie (A3)
"There's an odd number of criminals in row 2" — Amy (A1)
D3 · Nicole → CRIMINAL, B3 · Luigi → CRIMINAL
Because: Carl is at C1, and his neighbors are Bonnie at B1, Ethan at D1, plus Hank at B2, Igor at C2, and Jane at D2. Katie’s clue says Carl has exactly 2 innocent neighbors, and we already know Bonnie is innocent while Ethan is criminal, so among Hank, Igor, and Jane there must be exactly 1 innocent neighbor. That means row 2 has exactly 1 innocent in total, because Gabe at A2 is already a criminal and the only possible innocents in row 2 are Hank, Igor, and Jane. Sarah’s clue says there are more innocents in row 2 than in row 3, so row 3 must have 0 innocents; otherwise it would have at least 1 innocent and could not be fewer than row 2’s 1. The only unknown people in row 3 are Luigi at B3 and Nicole at D3, so they must both be criminals. Therefore, we can determine that D3 Nicole is CRIMINAL and B3 Luigi is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"There are more innocents in row 2 than row 3" — Sarah (D4)
"Carl has exactly 2 innocent neighbors" — Katie (A3)
C5 · Xavi → CRIMINAL
Because: Nicole’s clue explicitly says that Xavi is one of the criminals on the edges, which directly tells us Xavi is a criminal. Xavi is at C5, which is an edge position, matching the clue’s description. Therefore, we can determine that C5 Xavi is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Xavi is one of 11 criminals on the edges" — Nicole (D3)
D5 · Zane → INNOCENT
Because: The only sleuths on the board are Peter at B4, Wanda at B5, and Xavi at C5. Luigi’s clue says that exactly 2 sleuths have an innocent directly to their right. Peter already satisfies this because Ruby at C4, directly right of him, is innocent, while Wanda cannot satisfy it because Xavi at C5, directly right of her, is a criminal. That means the second qualifying sleuth must be Xavi, so the person directly to Xavi’s right, Zane at D5, must be innocent. Therefore, we can determine that D5 Zane is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"2 sleuths have an innocent directly to the right of them" — Luigi (B3)
A4 · Olivia → CRIMINAL
Because: Luigi is at B3, and his neighbors include Hank at B2, Igor at C2, Olivia at A4, plus Peter at B4 and Ruby at C4. Ethan’s clue says Peter is one of Luigi’s 3 innocent neighbors, and since Peter and Ruby are already innocent, exactly one of Hank, Igor, and Olivia can be innocent. Sarah’s clue says row 2 has more innocents than row 3, and because everyone in row 3 is already a criminal, row 2 must contain at least one innocent. Nicole’s clue says there are 11 criminals on the edges, so with 14 edge positions and B1 and D5 already innocent, only one more edge person can be innocent; that means Olivia and Jane (D2) cannot both be innocent. If Olivia were the one innocent among Hank, Igor, and Olivia, then Hank and Igor would be criminals, and row 2 would be forced to get its at-least-one innocent from Jane at D2, making both Olivia and Jane innocent on the edge, which is not allowed; so Olivia cannot be innocent. Therefore, we can determine that A4 Olivia is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"There are more innocents in row 2 than row 3" — Sarah (D4)
"Peter is one of Luigi's 3 innocent neighbors" — Ethan (D1)
"Xavi is one of 11 criminals on the edges" — Nicole (D3)
D2 · Jane → CRIMINAL
Because: Luigi is at B3, and his neighbors include Peter at B4 and Ruby at C4. Ethan’s clue says, “Peter is one of Luigi’s 3 innocent neighbors,” which means Luigi has exactly three innocent neighbors in total; since Peter and Ruby are already two innocents next to Luigi, exactly one of Hank at B2 or Igor at C2 must be innocent (the other must be criminal) because all of Luigi’s other neighbors are already known criminals. Megan is at C3, and her row 2 neighbors are exactly Hank (B2), Igor (C2), and Jane (D2); Megan’s clue says an odd number of those three are innocent. Since Hank and Igor contribute exactly one innocent between them, Jane cannot be innocent (that would make two innocents, which is even), so Jane must be criminal to keep the total odd. Therefore, we can determine that D2 Jane is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Peter is one of Luigi's 3 innocent neighbors" — Ethan (D1)
"An odd number of innocents in row 2 neighbor me" — Megan (C3)
A5 · Thor → CRIMINAL
Because: The edge clue says there are exactly 11 criminals on the edges, and the only edge people still unknown are Carl at C1, Thor at A5, and Wanda at B5. On the edges we already have 9 known criminals (Amy, Ethan, Gabe, Jane, Katie, Nicole, Olivia, Sarah, Xavi) and 2 known innocents (Bonnie and Zane), so among Carl, Thor, and Wanda there must be exactly 2 criminals and 1 innocent. From Ethan’s clue about Luigi’s neighbors, Luigi has exactly 3 innocent neighbors, and among Luigi’s neighbors the only two not already fixed are Hank and Igor, so exactly one of Hank and Igor is innocent. From Bonnie’s clue about Hank’s neighbors, Hank has exactly 6 criminal neighbors; among Hank’s neighbors only Carl and Igor are not already fixed, so Carl and Igor cannot match, meaning Carl has the same status as Hank. Then Peter’s clue says column B has exactly 3 innocents; since Bonnie and Peter are already innocent and Luigi is criminal, exactly one of Hank and Wanda is innocent, so Wanda must have the opposite status to Hank, and therefore the opposite status to Carl as well, meaning exactly one of Carl and Wanda is innocent. Since Carl and Wanda already account for the one required innocent among Carl, Thor, and Wanda on the edge, Thor must be one of the two edge criminals. Therefore, we can determine that A5 Thor is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Peter is one of Luigi's 3 innocent neighbors" — Ethan (D1)
"There are exactly 3 innocents in column B" — Peter (B4)
"Amy is one of Hank's 6 criminal neighbors" — Bonnie (B1)
"Xavi is one of 11 criminals on the edges" — Nicole (D3)
C1 · Carl → INNOCENT
Because: Row 3 has no innocents at all, because Katie, Luigi, Megan, and Nicole are all already known to be criminals. Sarah’s clue says row 2 has more innocents than row 3, so row 2 must contain at least 1 innocent (meaning Hank or Igor, or both, are innocent). Thor’s clue then says row 1 has more innocents than row 2, so row 1 must have at least 2 innocents in total. Since Bonnie is already one innocent in row 1 and the only other unknown in that row is Carl, Carl must be the second innocent. Therefore, we can determine that C1 Carl is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"There are more innocents in row 2 than row 3" — Sarah (D4)
"There are more innocents in row 1 than row 2" — Thor (A5)
C2 · Igor → CRIMINAL
Because: Hank is at B2, so his eight neighbors are A1 Amy, B1 Bonnie, C1 Carl, A2 Gabe, C2 Igor, A3 Katie, B3 Luigi, and C3 Megan. Bonnie’s clue says that Amy is one of Hank’s 6 criminal neighbors, so among these eight neighbors exactly six are criminals. We already know five of these neighbors are criminals (Amy, Gabe, Katie, Luigi, and Megan) and two are innocents (Bonnie and Carl), leaving only Igor’s status undecided. To reach exactly six criminal neighbors, Igor must be the sixth criminal. Therefore, we can determine that C2 Igor is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Amy is one of Hank's 6 criminal neighbors" — Bonnie (B1)
B2 · Hank → INNOCENT
Because: Luigi is at B3, so his eight neighbors are Gabe at A2, Hank at B2, Igor at C2, Katie at A3, Megan at C3, Olivia at A4, Peter at B4, and Ruby at C4. Ethan’s clue says that Peter is one of Luigi’s 3 innocent neighbors, so Luigi must have exactly three innocent neighbors in that set of eight. We already know Peter is innocent and Ruby is innocent, and every other neighbor besides Hank is already known to be a criminal. That means Hank has to be the third innocent neighbor of Luigi. Therefore, we can determine that B2 Hank is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Peter is one of Luigi's 3 innocent neighbors" — Ethan (D1)
B5 · Wanda → CRIMINAL
Because: In column B we have Bonnie at B1, Hank at B2, Luigi at B3, Peter at B4, and Wanda at B5. Peter’s clue says there are exactly 3 innocents in column B, and we already know Bonnie, Hank, and Peter are innocents, which makes 3 innocents accounted for in that column. That means no one else in column B can be innocent, so Wanda cannot be innocent. Therefore, we can determine that B5 Wanda is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"There are exactly 3 innocents in column B" — Peter (B4)