Clues by Sam Mar 17, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained
Medium·Solved
A1
👩🔧
Anna
mech
B1
👨🌾
Berat
farmer
C1
👨🔧
Chad
mech
D1
🕵️♀️
Donna
sleuth
A2
👩💼
Emily
clerk
B2
👩🌾
Freya
farmer
C2
🕵️♂️
Gabe
sleuth
D2
👩⚕️
Hilda
doctor
A3
👨💻
Isaac
coder
B3
👩⚕️
Joy
doctor
C3
👨💻
Mark
coder
D3
💂♂️
Noah
guard
A4
💂♂️
Patrick
guard
B4
👩🍳
Ruth
cook
C4
👩🍳
Sofia
cook
D4
👨💼
Terry
clerk
A5
👩🎨
Uma
painter
B5
👨🎨
Vince
painter
C5
👨🍳
Wally
cook
D5
🕵️♀️
Xena
sleuth
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 10Criminal 10Unknown 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 · 10
[ B1 ] [ C1 ] [ D1 ] [ B2 ] [ C2 ] [ A3 ] [ C3 ] [ B4 ] [ B5 ] [ D5 ]
Criminal · 10
[ A1 ] [ A2 ] [ D2 ] [ B3 ] [ D3 ] [ A4 ] [ C4 ] [ D4 ] [ A5 ] [ 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 · Anna
"Only 1 of the 3 innocents neighboring Patrick is in row 5"
B1 · Berat
"Terry is one of 3 criminals above Xena"
C1 · Chad
"I just found out about the corner tags!"
D1 · Donna
"I like long-pressing since hitting the corners can be hard"
A2 · Emily
"Corner tags are cheating. You should keep it all in your head!"
B2 · Freya
"Only one column has exactly 3 innocents"
C2 · Gabe
"There is only one innocent in column A"
D2 · Hilda
"There are more innocents in row 1 than row 3"
A3 · Isaac
"Uma is one of Vince's 4 criminal neighbors"
B3 · Joy
"I don't recommend long-pressing the lower half of a card"
C3 · Mark
"There's an equal number of innocents in rows 2 and 5"
D3 · Noah
"Great. Soon they'll reveal how to find names and jobs quickly!"
A4 · Patrick
"Corner tags are the worst! Don't use them!"
B4 · Ruth
"You get even more tag colors by long-pressing on the top half of a card"
C4 · Sofia
"There's an odd number of criminals below Berat"
D4 · Terry
"There are exactly 3 criminals in column D"
A5 · Uma
"Donna and Hilda have 2 innocent neighbors in common"
B5 · Vince
"Both criminals below Chad are connected"
C5 · Wally
"Yeah, the second corner tag will just distract you"
D5 · Xena
"Each row has at least one innocent"
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: Isaac’s clue says that Uma is one of Vince’s four criminal neighbors, which directly identifies Uma as a criminal. Therefore, we can determine that A5 (Uma) is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Uma is one of Vince's 4 criminal neighbors" — Isaac (A3)
C1 · Chad → INNOCENT, C2 · Gabe → INNOCENT
Because: Donna is at D1 and Hilda is at D2, so the only people who are neighbors of both of them are Chad at C1 and Gabe at C2. Uma’s clue says that Donna and Hilda have exactly 2 innocent neighbors in common, and there are exactly two common neighbors available. That means both Chad and Gabe must be innocent to satisfy the clue. Therefore, we can determine that C1 Chad is INNOCENT and C2 Gabe is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Donna and Hilda have 2 innocent neighbors in common" — Uma (A5)
A2 · Emily → CRIMINAL, A4 · Patrick → CRIMINAL, A1 · Anna → CRIMINAL
Because: Column A contains Anna at A1, Emily at A2, Isaac at A3, Patrick at A4, and Uma at A5. Gabe’s clue says there is only one innocent in column A, meaning exactly one of those five people can be innocent. Since Isaac at A3 is already confirmed innocent, he must be that one innocent in column A, so everyone else in column A must not be innocent. Therefore, we can determine that A2 Emily is CRIMINAL, A4 Patrick is CRIMINAL, and A1 Anna is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"There is only one innocent in column A" — Gabe (C2)
B5 · Vince → INNOCENT
Because: Patrick is at A4, so his neighboring squares are A3, B3, B4, A5, and B5, and the only neighbors he has in row 5 are Uma at A5 and Vince at B5. Anna’s clue says that Patrick has exactly three innocent neighbors in total, and exactly one of those three is in row 5. Since Uma is already known to be a criminal, the only way Patrick can have an innocent neighbor in row 5 is for Vince to be innocent. Therefore, we can determine that B5 Vince is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 3 innocents neighboring Patrick is in row 5" — Anna (A1)
C4 · Sofia → CRIMINAL
Because: The clue talks about the people below Chad in column C, which are Gabe at C2, Mark at C3, Sofia at C4, and Wally at C5. It says there are exactly two criminals among those people, and those two criminals are connected, meaning with only two people they must be directly adjacent up-and-down. The only adjacent pairs available among C3, C4, and C5 are (C3 with C4) or (C4 with C5), so any connected pair of two criminals must include Sofia at C4. Therefore, we can determine that C4 Sofia is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Both criminals below Chad are connected" — Vince (B5)
B2 · Freya → INNOCENT
Because: Patrick is at A4, and his neighbors are A3 Isaac, B3 Joy, B4 Ruth, A5 Uma, and B5 Vince. Anna’s clue says Patrick has exactly three innocent neighbors, and we already know Isaac and Vince are innocents, so exactly one of Joy or Ruth must be innocent and the other must be a criminal. Sofia’s clue says the number of criminals below Berat in column B (Freya at B2, Joy at B3, Ruth at B4, and Vince at B5) is odd; since Vince is innocent and exactly one of Joy or Ruth is a criminal, that count is 1 plus whatever Freya is. For the total to stay odd, Freya cannot be a criminal, so she must be innocent. Therefore, we can determine that B2 Freya is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 3 innocents neighboring Patrick is in row 5" — Anna (A1)
"There's an odd number of criminals below Berat" — Sofia (C4)
B1 · Berat → INNOCENT
Because: In column C, Chad (C1) and Gabe (C2) are already innocent, and Sofia (C4) is already a criminal. Vince’s clue says there are exactly two criminals below Chad, so besides Sofia there must be exactly one more criminal among Mark (C3) and Wally (C5), which means the other one is innocent. That makes column C have exactly three innocents in total, so by Freya’s clue it must be the only column with exactly three innocents. Around Patrick (A4), the neighbors include Joy (B3) and Ruth (B4), and Anna’s clue says Patrick has exactly three innocent neighbors; since Isaac (A3) and Vince (B5) are already innocent and Uma (A5) is criminal, exactly one of Joy and Ruth is innocent. With Freya (B2) and Vince (B5) already innocent, column B would have exactly three innocents precisely when Berat (B1) is not innocent, and that is not allowed because column C is the only column that can have exactly three innocents. Therefore, we can determine that B1 · Berat is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 3 innocents neighboring Patrick is in row 5" — Anna (A1)
"Both criminals below Chad are connected" — Vince (B5)
"Only one column has exactly 3 innocents" — Freya (B2)
D4 · Terry → CRIMINAL
Because: Berat’s clue says “Terry is one of 3 criminals above Xena,” which directly includes Terry in the group of criminals. Since everyone’s clues are true, Terry must be a criminal. Therefore, we can determine that D4 Terry is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Terry is one of 3 criminals above Xena" — Berat (B1)
D5 · Xena → INNOCENT
Because: Xena is at D5, so the people above her in column D are Donna at D1, Hilda at D2, Noah at D3, and Terry at D4. Berat’s clue says that Terry is one of exactly 3 criminals above Xena, so among those four people above Xena there must be exactly 3 criminals. Terry’s clue says there are exactly 3 criminals in the entire D column, so if all 3 of them are already above Xena, Xena cannot be a criminal. Therefore, we can determine that D5 Xena is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Terry is one of 3 criminals above Xena" — Berat (B1)
"There are exactly 3 criminals in column D" — Terry (D4)
B4 · Ruth → INNOCENT
Because: Row 4 contains Patrick at A4, Ruth at B4, Sofia at C4, and Terry at D4. Xena’s clue says that each row has at least one innocent person. In row 4, Patrick, Sofia, and Terry are already known to be criminals, so the only way for row 4 to include an innocent is for Ruth to be innocent. Therefore, we can determine that B4 Ruth is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Each row has at least one innocent" — Xena (D5)
C5 · Wally → CRIMINAL
Because: Vince is at B5, so his neighbors are A4 (Patrick), B4 (Ruth), C4 (Sofia), A5 (Uma), and C5 (Wally). Isaac’s clue says that Uma is one of Vince’s 4 criminal neighbors, which means Vince has exactly four criminal neighbors in total. We already know Patrick, Sofia, and Uma are criminals, and we know Ruth is innocent, so the only remaining neighbor who can make the total reach four criminals is Wally at C5. Therefore, we can determine that C5 Wally is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Uma is one of Vince's 4 criminal neighbors" — Isaac (A3)
B3 · Joy → CRIMINAL
Because: Patrick is at A4, so his neighbors are A3 Isaac, B3 Joy, B4 Ruth, A5 Uma, and B5 Vince. Anna’s clue says that among Patrick’s neighbors there are exactly three innocents, and only one of those three is in row 5. Isaac, Ruth, and Vince are already known innocents, and Vince is the only one of them in row 5, so they must be the three innocent neighbors the clue refers to. That leaves Joy as not part of the three innocents, so Joy cannot be innocent here. Therefore, we can determine that B3 Joy is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 3 innocents neighboring Patrick is in row 5" — Anna (A1)
C3 · Mark → INNOCENT
Because: Chad is at C1, so the people “below Chad” are the other spots in column C: C2 Gabe, C3 Mark, C4 Sofia, and C5 Wally. Vince’s clue says “both criminals below Chad,” which means there are exactly two criminals among those four people. Since Sofia at C4 and Wally at C5 are already known to be criminals, they must be the only two criminals below Chad, and the clue’s “connected” part is consistent because C4 and C5 touch orthogonally. That leaves no room for Mark at C3 to be a criminal. Therefore, we can determine that C3 Mark is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Both criminals below Chad are connected" — Vince (B5)
D2 · Hilda → CRIMINAL
Because: Row 5 has two innocents, because Vince at B5 and Xena at D5 are innocent while Uma at A5 and Wally at C5 are criminal. Mark’s clue says rows 2 and 5 have the same number of innocents, so row 2 must also have exactly two innocents. In row 2 we already have two innocents, Freya at B2 and Gabe at C2, so Hilda at D2 cannot be innocent without making three. Therefore, we can determine that D2 Hilda is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"There's an equal number of innocents in rows 2 and 5" — Mark (C3)
D1 · Donna → INNOCENT, D3 · Noah → CRIMINAL
Because: Row 1 currently has two known innocents (Berat at B1 and Chad at C1) and one unknown (Donna at D1), so row 1 can only have either 2 or 3 innocents. Row 3 currently has two known innocents (Isaac at A3 and Mark at C3) and one unknown (Noah at D3), so row 3 can only have either 2 or 3 innocents. Hilda’s clue says row 1 has more innocents than row 3, and the only way for that to be true with these possible counts is for row 1 to have 3 innocents and row 3 to have 2 innocents. That forces Donna to be INNOCENT and Noah to be CRIMINAL. Therefore, we can determine that D1 Donna is INNOCENT and D3 Noah is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"There are more innocents in row 1 than row 3" — Hilda (D2)