Clues by Sam Mar 18, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained
Tricky·Solved
A1
🕵️♀️
Alice
sleuth
B1
👨🍳
Chuck
cook
C1
👩🏫
Evie
teacher
D1
👨🏫
Frank
teacher
A2
👷♂️
Gus
builder
B2
👨🍳
Henry
cook
C2
👨🍳
Igor
cook
D2
👨🏫
Jason
teacher
A3
💂♂️
Kevin
guard
B3
🕵️♀️
Mary
sleuth
C3
💂♂️
Nick
guard
D3
👷♂️
Paul
builder
A4
👮♀️
Ruby
cop
B4
👮♀️
Susan
cop
C4
👷♀️
Tina
builder
D4
👩🌾
Uma
farmer
A5
👮♂️
Vince
cop
B5
💂♀️
Wanda
guard
C5
🕵️♀️
Xena
sleuth
D5
👩🌾
Zara
farmer
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 16Criminal 4Unknown 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 · 16
[ A1 ] [ B1 ] [ C1 ] [ D1 ] [ A2 ] [ B2 ] [ C2 ] [ D2 ] [ B3 ] [ C3 ] [ A4 ] [ B4 ] [ D4 ] [ A5 ] [ B5 ] [ D5 ]
Criminal · 4
[ A3 ] [ D3 ] [ C4 ] [ 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 · Alice
"An odd number of innocents on the edges neighbor Susan"
B1 · Chuck
"Only one column has exactly 5 innocents"
C1 · Evie
"There's an odd number of criminals below Alice"
D1 · Frank
"There are exactly 2 innocents below Jason"
A2 · Gus
"Mary and Nick have an equal number of criminal neighbors"
B2 · Henry
"Exactly 2 of the 3 criminals on the edges are Tina's neighbors"
C2 · Igor
"All innocents in column B are connected"
D2 · Jason
"I'm sure you'll have a great time in prison together, Xena!"
A3 · Kevin
"Does being alone here mean I also get a private cell?"
B3 · Mary
"There's an odd number of innocents below Frank"
C3 · Nick
"Both criminals below Evie are connected"
D3 · Paul
"No way, Kevin! I'm coming with you!"
A4 · Ruby
"There's an equal number of criminals in rows 4 and 5"
B4 · Susan
"Alice has at least 2 innocent neighbors"
C4 · Tina
"Susan is one of Nick's 6 innocent neighbors"
D4 · Uma
"Hey, Zara. How did we get so disconnected from other innocents?"
A5 · Vince
"There are exactly 2 innocents to the left of Paul"
B5 · Wanda
"There are more innocents in column B than column D"
C5 · Xena
"Connected to a snitch. Great. Just my luck."
D5 · Zara
"There are exactly 4 innocents in column D"
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)
C4 · Tina → CRIMINAL, C5 · Xena → CRIMINAL, C2 · Igor → INNOCENT
Because: Below Evie at C1 are Igor at C2, Nick at C3, Tina at C4, and Xena at C5. Nick’s clue says there are exactly two criminals among the people below Evie, and those two criminals must be connected through up/down/left/right adjacency. Since Nick at C3 is already known to be innocent, the only way for two criminals in column C to be connected is for them to be the adjacent pair at C4 and C5, because any pair involving C2 would be separated by the innocent at C3 and could not form a continuous connected chain. That forces Tina at C4 and Xena at C5 to be the two criminals below Evie, and it also forces Igor at C2 to be innocent because there are only two criminals total in that group. Therefore, we can determine that C4 Tina is CRIMINAL, C5 Xena is CRIMINAL, and C2 Igor is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Both criminals below Evie are connected" — Nick (C3)
B4 · Susan → INNOCENT
Because: Tina’s clue says that Susan is one of Nick’s 6 innocent neighbors, which directly states Susan’s status as innocent. Therefore, we can determine that B4 Susan is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Susan is one of Nick's 6 innocent neighbors" — Tina (C4)
B3 · Mary → INNOCENT
Because: Nick is at C3, and his neighbors include Henry at B2, Mary at B3, Susan at B4, and Tina at C4. Tina says that Susan is one of Nick’s 6 innocent neighbors, and since Nick has 8 neighbors here, that means exactly 6 of them are innocent and only 2 are criminals; with Tina already a criminal neighbor, there can be only one more criminal among Nick’s other seven neighbors. So Henry and Mary cannot both be criminals, meaning at least one of them is innocent. Igor’s clue says all innocents in column B are connected, and since Susan at B4 is already an innocent, any innocent in B2 would need Mary at B3 to also be innocent to keep the column-B innocents connected through B3. Therefore, whether the guaranteed innocent between Henry and Mary is Henry (which forces Mary to connect to Susan) or Mary herself, Mary must be innocent. Therefore, we can determine that B3 Mary is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Susan is one of Nick's 6 innocent neighbors" — Tina (C4)
"All innocents in column B are connected" — Igor (C2)
B2 · Henry → INNOCENT
Because: Alice at A1 has only three neighbors: Gus at A2, Chuck at B1, and Henry at B2. Susan’s clue says Alice has at least 2 innocent neighbors, so if Henry were not innocent then both Gus and Chuck would have to be innocent to reach two. That would make Chuck an innocent in column B while Mary at B3 and Susan at B4 are already innocents, but with Henry at B2 not innocent, the innocents in column B would be split because B2 sits between B1 and B3 and breaks orthogonal connection. Igor’s clue says all innocents in column B are connected, so Henry cannot be not-innocent here. Therefore, we can determine that B2 (Henry) is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Alice has at least 2 innocent neighbors" — Susan (B4)
"All innocents in column B are connected" — Igor (C2)
D5 · Zara → INNOCENT
Because: Nick is at C3, so his eight neighbors are B2, C2, D2, B3, D3, B4, C4, and D4. Tina’s clue says that Susan is one of Nick’s 6 innocent neighbors, which means Nick has exactly six innocent neighbors in total; among those eight neighbor spots, there must be exactly two criminals. We already know Tina at C4 is a criminal neighbor of Nick, so among the three remaining unknown neighbors of Nick in column D (D2 Jason, D3 Paul, and D4 Uma), exactly one must be criminal and the other two must be innocent. Mary’s clue says there is an odd number of innocents below Frank, meaning among D2, D3, D4, and D5 there must be 1 or 3 innocents, and since D2–D4 already contain exactly two innocents, D5 must be innocent to make the total 3. Therefore, we can determine that D5 Zara is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Susan is one of Nick's 6 innocent neighbors" — Tina (C4)
"There's an odd number of innocents below Frank" — Mary (B3)
D1 · Frank → INNOCENT
Because: Nick is at C3, so his eight neighbors are Henry (B2), Igor (C2), Jason (D2), Mary (B3), Paul (D3), Susan (B4), Tina (C4), and Uma (D4). Tina’s clue says Susan is one of Nick’s 6 innocent neighbors, and we already know Henry, Igor, Mary, and Susan are innocent while Tina is criminal, so among Jason, Paul, and Uma there must be exactly 2 innocents and 1 criminal to bring Nick’s innocent-neighbor total to 6. Zara’s clue says there are exactly 4 innocents in column D; since Zara (D5) is already innocent, that means among Frank (D1), Jason (D2), Paul (D3), and Uma (D4) there is exactly 1 criminal. If Frank were the criminal in column D, then Jason, Paul, and Uma would all have to be innocent, but Tina’s clue already forces exactly one of Jason, Paul, and Uma to be criminal, so Frank cannot be the criminal. Therefore, we can determine that D1 Frank is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Susan is one of Nick's 6 innocent neighbors" — Tina (C4)
"There are exactly 4 innocents in column D" — Zara (D5)
D2 · Jason → INNOCENT
Because: The people who neighbor Nick at C3 include Henry at B2, Igor at C2, Mary at B3, Susan at B4, Tina at C4, and the three unknowns Jason at D2, Paul at D3, and Uma at D4. Tina’s clue says Susan is one of Nick’s 6 innocent neighbors, so Nick must have exactly 6 innocent neighbors in total; since Tina (C4) is already a criminal neighbor, only one of the remaining neighbors can also be criminal. That means among the three unknown neighbors Jason, Paul, and Uma, exactly two are innocent and exactly one is criminal. Frank’s clue says there are exactly 2 innocents below Jason in column D, and since Zara at D5 is already innocent, exactly one of Paul (D3) and Uma (D4) is innocent and the other is criminal. With Paul and Uma split 1 innocent and 1 criminal, Jason must be the second innocent among the trio Jason, Paul, and Uma. Therefore, we can determine that D2 Jason is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Susan is one of Nick's 6 innocent neighbors" — Tina (C4)
"There are exactly 2 innocents below Jason" — Frank (D1)
B5 · Wanda → INNOCENT
Because: Nick is at C3, and his neighbors are Henry, Igor, Jason, Mary, Paul, Susan, Tina, and Uma. Tina’s clue says Susan is one of Nick’s 6 innocent neighbors, and we already see five innocents among those neighbors (Henry, Igor, Jason, Mary, and Susan) while Tina herself is a criminal, so exactly one of Paul or Uma must be the second criminal neighbor. Henry’s clue says there are exactly 3 criminals on the edges, and exactly 2 of those edge-criminals are Tina’s neighbors; since Xena is already an edge-criminal neighbor of Tina, only one of the other edge positions next to Tina can be an edge-criminal. But Paul and Uma are both edge positions next to Tina, and one of them must be criminal, so Wanda cannot also be an edge-criminal neighbor without making three edge-criminal neighbors of Tina. Therefore, we can determine that B5 Wanda is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Susan is one of Nick's 6 innocent neighbors" — Tina (C4)
"Exactly 2 of the 3 criminals on the edges are Tina's neighbors" — Henry (B2)
B1 · Chuck → INNOCENT
Because: Nick is at C3, and his eight neighbors are Henry (B2), Igor (C2), Jason (D2), Mary (B3), Paul (D3), Susan (B4), Tina (C4), and Uma (D4). Tina’s clue says Susan is one of Nick’s 6 innocent neighbors, and since Tina is already a criminal while Henry, Igor, Jason, Mary, and Susan are already innocents, Nick must have exactly one more innocent neighbor among Paul and Uma (so one of them is innocent and the other is criminal). Wanda’s clue says column B has more innocents than column D, but if Chuck at B1 were not innocent then column B would have only the four known innocents, which would force both Paul and Uma in column D to be criminals so that column D stays at its three known innocents. That is impossible because Tina’s clue requires at least one of Paul or Uma to be innocent, so Chuck must be the extra innocent in column B. Therefore, we can determine that B1 Chuck is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Susan is one of Nick's 6 innocent neighbors" — Tina (C4)
"There are more innocents in column B than column D" — Wanda (B5)
C1 · Evie → INNOCENT
Because: Evie at C1 is on the edge. Henry’s clue says there are exactly three criminals on the edges, and exactly two of those three are neighbors of Tina at C4. We already know Tina and Xena at C5 are edge criminals, and Xena is a neighbor of Tina, so the third edge criminal must be someone who is also a neighbor of Tina. That third edge criminal therefore has to be either Paul at D3 or Uma at D4 (the only edge neighbors of Tina who are still unknown), which means Evie cannot be one of the three edge criminals. Therefore, we can determine that C1 Evie is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of the 3 criminals on the edges are Tina's neighbors" — Henry (B2)
"Only one column has exactly 5 innocents" — Chuck (B1)
A1 · Alice → INNOCENT
Because: Tina is at C4, and her edge neighbors are B5 Wanda, C5 Xena, D5 Zara, D3 Paul, and D4 Uma. Henry’s clue says there are exactly three criminals on the edges, and exactly two of those three are Tina’s neighbors, so there is exactly one edge criminal who is not a neighbor of Tina. Since Wanda and Zara are already innocent and Xena is already a criminal, the only way to have exactly two edge criminals among Tina’s neighbors is that exactly one of Paul or Uma is a criminal, and then the remaining third edge criminal must be somewhere else on the edge that is not next to Tina. Evie’s clue says there is an odd number of criminals below Alice, meaning at least one of A2 Gus, A3 Kevin, A4 Ruby, or A5 Vince is a criminal. All four of those people are on the edge and none of them are neighbors of Tina, so that guarantees the one “edge criminal not neighboring Tina” is below Alice. That leaves no room for Alice herself (A1), who is also on the edge and not Tina’s neighbor, to be a criminal. Therefore, we can determine that A1 Alice is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of the 3 criminals on the edges are Tina's neighbors" — Henry (B2)
"There's an odd number of criminals below Alice" — Evie (C1)
A2 · Gus → INNOCENT
Because: Susan’s edge neighbors are Kevin at A3, Ruby at A4, Vince at A5, Wanda at B5, and Xena at C5. Alice says an odd number of those edge neighbors are innocent; since Wanda is already innocent and Xena is already criminal, this forces an even number of {Kevin, Ruby, Vince} to be innocent, so exactly one of them is a criminal. Henry says there are exactly three edge criminals total, and exactly two of those edge criminals are Tina’s neighbors; because Xena is an edge criminal and is Tina’s neighbor, the remaining two edge criminals must split into one more Tina-neighbor and exactly one non-neighbor of Tina. Kevin, Ruby, and Vince are all not neighbors of Tina, so the single criminal among them must be the one and only edge criminal who is not Tina’s neighbor, leaving no room for any other edge non-neighbor (like Gus at A2) to be criminal. Therefore, we can determine that A2 Gus is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of the 3 criminals on the edges are Tina's neighbors" — Henry (B2)
"An odd number of innocents on the edges neighbor Susan" — Alice (A1)
A5 · Vince → INNOCENT
Because: Tina at C4 has several neighbors, and among the edge positions that touch her, only D3 (Paul), D4 (Uma), and C5 (Xena) are possible edge criminals. Henry’s clue says there are exactly three edge criminals in total, and exactly two of those three are Tina’s neighbors; since Xena at C5 is already an edge criminal neighbor of Tina, exactly one of Paul or Uma must be criminal, and the third edge criminal must be one of Kevin (A3), Ruby (A4), or Vince (A5). Gus’s clue says Mary and Nick have the same number of criminal neighbors; Mary’s only possible criminal neighbors besides Tina are Kevin and Ruby, while Nick’s only possible criminal neighbors besides Tina are Paul and Uma, so “Mary’s extra criminals” (Kevin/Ruby) must match “Nick’s extra criminals” (Paul/Uma). Because exactly one of Paul or Uma is criminal, exactly one of Kevin or Ruby must be criminal too, which means the third edge criminal cannot be Vince. Therefore, we can determine that A5 Vince is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of the 3 criminals on the edges are Tina's neighbors" — Henry (B2)
"Mary and Nick have an equal number of criminal neighbors" — Gus (A2)
A3 · Kevin → CRIMINAL
Because: Paul is at D3, so “to the left of Paul” means the three people in row 3 at A3 Kevin, B3 Mary, and C3 Nick. Vince’s clue says there are exactly 2 innocents among those three people. Since Mary and Nick are already known to be INNOCENT, they already account for those exactly 2 innocents, so Kevin cannot also be innocent. Therefore, we can determine that A3 Kevin is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"There are exactly 2 innocents to the left of Paul" — Vince (A5)
A4 · Ruby → INNOCENT
Because: The edge positions already include two known criminals: Kevin at A3 and Xena at C5, so Henry’s clue means there must be exactly one more criminal somewhere on the edge among the remaining unknown edge people A4 Ruby, D3 Paul, and D4 Uma. Tina at C4 is neighbors with Xena, and she is also neighbors with D3 and D4, but she is not neighbors with Kevin at A3 or with Ruby at A4. The clue says exactly 2 of the 3 edge criminals are Tina’s neighbors, and since Kevin is an edge criminal who is not Tina’s neighbor while Xena is one who is, the third edge criminal must be a neighbor of Tina, so it must be Paul or Uma, not Ruby. Therefore, we can determine that A4 Ruby is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of the 3 criminals on the edges are Tina's neighbors" — Henry (B2)
D4 · Uma → INNOCENT
Because: Rows 4 and 5 are the two rows mentioned in Ruby’s clue. Row 5 already has exactly one criminal, because only Xena at C5 is marked criminal and the other three in that row are innocent. Since Ruby says rows 4 and 5 have an equal number of criminals, row 4 must also have exactly one criminal. Row 4 already has Tina at C4 as a criminal, so Uma at D4 cannot also be a criminal and must be innocent. Therefore, we can determine that D4 Uma is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"There's an equal number of criminals in rows 4 and 5" — Ruby (A4)
D3 · Paul → CRIMINAL
Because: Nick is at C3, so his neighbors are Henry (B2), Igor (C2), Jason (D2), Mary (B3), Paul (D3), Susan (B4), Tina (C4), and Uma (D4). Tina’s clue says that Nick has exactly 6 innocent neighbors, and Susan is among those 6. We already know six of Nick’s neighbors are innocent: Henry, Igor, Jason, Mary, Susan, and Uma, and we also know Tina is criminal. Since Nick can have only 6 innocent neighbors in total, Paul cannot be innocent and must be the remaining criminal neighbor besides Tina. Therefore, we can determine that D3 Paul is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Susan is one of Nick's 6 innocent neighbors" — Tina (C4)