Clues by Sam Mar 26, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained
Tricky·Solved
A1
🕵️♂️
Barnie
sleuth
B1
👨🚒
Chris
firefighter
C1
🕵️♀️
Dana
sleuth
D1
👩🍳
Emma
cook
A2
💂♂️
Floyd
guard
B2
💂♂️
Henry
guard
C2
🕵️♂️
Isaac
sleuth
D2
👩🍳
Karen
cook
A3
👷♀️
Laura
builder
B3
💂♀️
Maria
guard
C3
👩🌾
Nancy
farmer
D3
👨🎨
Ollie
painter
A4
👷♂️
Phil
builder
B4
👮♂️
Raul
cop
C4
👨🌾
Salil
farmer
D4
👩🎨
Tina
painter
A5
👩🌾
Uma
farmer
B5
👮♂️
Vince
cop
C5
👮♀️
Wanda
cop
D5
👩🎨
Xena
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 9Criminal 11Unknown 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 · 9
[ A1 ] [ B1 ] [ D1 ] [ C3 ] [ B4 ] [ D4 ] [ B5 ] [ C5 ] [ D5 ]
Criminal · 11
[ C1 ] [ A2 ] [ B2 ] [ C2 ] [ D2 ] [ A3 ] [ B3 ] [ D3 ] [ A4 ] [ C4 ] [ A5 ]
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 · Barnie
"Exactly 2 of the 5 criminals neighboring Raul are in row 4"
B1 · Chris
"False alarm again?"
C1 · Dana
"2 of Phil's neighbors on the edges are criminal"
D1 · Emma
"I thought my kitchen was on fire! I'm glad it was just you."
A2 · Floyd
"C'mon! Chill down, won't you?"
B2 · Henry
"Not cool.<br/>Not cool."
C2 · Isaac
"There are as many innocent cooks as there are innocent sleuths"
D2 · Karen
"I wish it was my kitchen and not you..."
A3 · Laura
"Do I smell smoke?"
B3 · Maria
"Flaming through it like that can be dangerous!"
C3 · Nancy
"You're on a hot streak!"
D3 · Ollie
"Only 1 of the 5 criminals neighboring Isaac is above Wanda"
A4 · Phil
"Row 4 is the only row with exactly 2 criminals"
B4 · Raul
"There is only one innocent above Maria"
C4 · Salil
"There's an odd number of criminals in the corners"
D4 · Tina
"Exactly 1 innocent in row 3 is neighboring Raul"
A5 · Uma
"I think I saw flames"
B5 · Vince
"Ah, it's you! You're on fire!"
C5 · Wanda
"Vince is one of 7 innocents on the edges"
D5 · Xena
"Only 1 of the 3 criminals neighboring Dana is above Tina"
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)
A4 · Phil → CRIMINAL, C4 · Salil → CRIMINAL
Because: Raul is at B4, so his only neighbors in row 4 are Phil at A4 and Salil at C4. Barnie’s clue says that among Raul’s neighboring criminals, exactly 2 are in row 4. Since there are only two neighbors of Raul in row 4, both of them must be included in that count of 2. Therefore, we can determine that A4 Phil is CRIMINAL and C4 Salil is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of the 5 criminals neighboring Raul are in row 4" — Barnie (A1)
B4 · Raul → INNOCENT, D4 · Tina → INNOCENT
Because: Row 4 contains Phil at A4 and Salil at C4, and both of them are already known to be criminals. Phil’s clue says that row 4 has exactly 2 criminals, and it is the only row with that exact total. Since row 4 already has its two criminals, the remaining two people in that row, Raul at B4 and Tina at D4, cannot be criminals. Therefore, we can determine that B4 Raul is INNOCENT and D4 Tina is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Row 4 is the only row with exactly 2 criminals" — Phil (A4)
D3 · Ollie → CRIMINAL
Because: Raul is at B4, and the only people in row 3 who neighbor Raul are A3, B3, and C3 (since neighbors include diagonals, but D3 is too far away). Tina’s clue says exactly one innocent in row 3 is neighboring Raul, so among A3, B3, and C3 there is exactly one innocent and therefore the other two are criminals. If D3 were innocent, then row 3 would have exactly those two criminals, meaning row 3 would have exactly 2 criminals. Phil’s clue says row 4 is the only row with exactly 2 criminals, so row 3 cannot have exactly 2 criminals, forcing D3 to be a criminal. Therefore, we can determine that D3 is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Row 4 is the only row with exactly 2 criminals" — Phil (A4)
"Exactly 1 innocent in row 3 is neighboring Raul" — Tina (D4)
D5 · Xena → INNOCENT
Because: Raul is at B4, so his neighbors are A3, B3, C3, A4, C4, A5, B5, and C5. Barnie’s clue says Raul has 5 criminal neighbors, and exactly 2 of those are in row 4; the only row 4 neighbors Raul has are Phil at A4 and Salil at C4, so the remaining neighbors must contain exactly 3 more criminals. Tina’s clue says exactly 1 of A3, B3, and C3 is an innocent neighbor of Raul, so 2 of them are criminals, which means only 1 of A5, B5, and C5 can be criminal. That guarantees row 5 already has exactly 1 criminal among A5/B5/C5, so if Xena at D5 were criminal then row 5 would have exactly 2 criminals, but Phil’s clue says row 4 is the only row with exactly 2 criminals. Therefore, we can determine that D5 (Xena) is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of the 5 criminals neighboring Raul are in row 4" — Barnie (A1)
"Row 4 is the only row with exactly 2 criminals" — Phil (A4)
"Exactly 1 innocent in row 3 is neighboring Raul" — Tina (D4)
C2 · Isaac → CRIMINAL
Because: Dana is at C1, so her neighbors are Chris at B1, Emma at D1, Henry at B2, Isaac at C2, and Karen at D2. Xena’s clue says Dana has exactly three criminal neighbors, and that exactly one of those criminals is above Tina; the only neighbors of Dana who are above Tina are Emma and Karen, so exactly one of Emma or Karen is a criminal. That means the other two criminals among Dana’s neighbors must come from Chris, Henry, and Isaac. Raul’s clue says there is only one innocent above Maria, and the only people above Maria at B3 are Chris and Henry, so exactly one of Chris or Henry is a criminal; therefore Isaac must be the second criminal in that group. Therefore, we can determine that C2 Isaac is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"There is only one innocent above Maria" — Raul (B4)
"Only 1 of the 3 criminals neighboring Dana is above Tina" — Xena (D5)
C1 · Dana → CRIMINAL
Because: Dana is at C1, and her neighbors are Chris at B1, Emma at D1, Henry at B2, Isaac at C2, and Karen at D2. Xena’s clue says Dana has exactly three neighboring criminals, and exactly one of those three is above Tina; among Dana’s neighbors, the only people who are above Tina are Emma (D1) and Karen (D2), so exactly one of Emma and Karen is a criminal and the other is an innocent cook. Isaac’s clue says the number of innocent cooks equals the number of innocent sleuths; since there is exactly one innocent cook (either Emma or Karen), there must be exactly one innocent sleuth, and Barnie (A1) already fills that role. Therefore, we can determine that C1 Dana is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 3 criminals neighboring Dana is above Tina" — Xena (D5)
"There are as many innocent cooks as there are innocent sleuths" — Isaac (C2)
C3 · Nancy → INNOCENT
Because: Isaac is at C2, and the neighbors of Isaac are the eight surrounding spaces, including C1 (Dana) and C3 (Nancy). Ollie’s clue says that among the five criminals neighboring Isaac, only one of those criminals is above Wanda; since Wanda is at C5, the only neighbors of Isaac that are above Wanda are the ones in column C, namely Dana at C1 and Nancy at C3. Dana is already known to be a criminal, and Dana is above Wanda, so Dana must be the one and only criminal neighbor of Isaac who is above Wanda. That leaves Nancy unable to be a criminal neighbor above Wanda, so Nancy cannot be a criminal. Therefore, we can determine that C3 Nancy is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 5 criminals neighboring Isaac is above Wanda" — Ollie (D3)
A3 · Laura → CRIMINAL, B3 · Maria → CRIMINAL
Because: Raul is at B4, and the people in row 3 who neighbor him are A3 (diagonally), B3 (directly above), and C3 (diagonally). Tina’s clue says that among the row 3 people who neighbor Raul, exactly one of them is innocent. Since C3, Nancy, is already known to be innocent and she is one of those neighbors, A3 and B3 cannot also be innocent or the total would be more than one. Therefore, we can determine that A3 Laura is CRIMINAL and B3 Maria is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Exactly 1 innocent in row 3 is neighboring Raul" — Tina (D4)
C5 · Wanda → INNOCENT
Because: Raul at B4 has eight neighbors: Laura A3, Maria B3, Nancy C3, Phil A4, Salil C4, Uma A5, Vince B5, and Wanda C5. Barnie’s clue says Raul has exactly five criminal neighbors, and exactly two of those are in row 4; since the only row 4 neighbors are Phil and Salil and both are already criminals, the remaining six neighbors must contain exactly three criminals, so among Uma, Vince, and Wanda there must be exactly one criminal. Dana’s clue says exactly two of Phil’s edge-neighbors are criminals; Phil’s edge-neighbors are Laura A3, Uma A5, and Vince B5, and since Laura is already a criminal, exactly one of Uma or Vince is criminal. That means the single criminal among Uma, Vince, and Wanda is already accounted for by Uma or Vince, so Wanda cannot be criminal. Therefore, we can determine that C5 Wanda is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of the 5 criminals neighboring Raul are in row 4" — Barnie (A1)
"2 of Phil's neighbors on the edges are criminal" — Dana (C1)
B5 · Vince → INNOCENT
Because: Wanda’s clue says, “Vince is one of 7 innocents on the edges,” which directly states that Vince is an innocent. Therefore, we can determine that B5 Vince is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Vince is one of 7 innocents on the edges" — Wanda (C5)
A5 · Uma → CRIMINAL
Because: Raul is at B4, so his neighbors are A3 Laura, B3 Maria, C3 Nancy, A4 Phil, C4 Salil, A5 Uma, B5 Vince, and C5 Wanda. The clue says Raul has exactly 5 criminal neighbors in total, and exactly 2 of those criminals are in row 4. In row 4, the only neighbors of Raul are Phil at A4 and Salil at C4, and they are already criminals, so those are the exactly 2 row-4 criminal neighbors the clue refers to. That means there must be 3 more criminal neighbors of Raul outside row 4; Laura and Maria already supply 2 of them, so the only way to reach the required total of 5 is for Uma at A5 to be the remaining criminal neighbor. Therefore, we can determine that A5 Uma is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of the 5 criminals neighboring Raul are in row 4" — Barnie (A1)
D1 · Emma → INNOCENT
Because: The corner positions are A1, D1, A5, and D5. Right now A1 is INNOCENT, A5 is CRIMINAL, and D5 is INNOCENT, so there is currently exactly 1 criminal in the corners, with only D1 (Emma) still unknown. Salil’s clue says the total number of criminals in the corners is odd, and the only way to keep the corner total odd is for Emma not to add another criminal there. Therefore, we can determine that D1 Emma is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"There's an odd number of criminals in the corners" — Salil (C4)
B1 · Chris → INNOCENT
Because: In row 4, Phil and Salil are criminals while Raul and Tina are innocents, so row 4 already has exactly 2 criminals. Phil’s clue says row 4 is the only row that has exactly 2 criminals, so no other row is allowed to end up with exactly 2 criminals. In row 1, Dana is a criminal and Barnie and Emma are innocents, so if Chris were a criminal then row 1 would also have exactly 2 criminals, which the clue forbids. Therefore, we can determine that B1 Chris is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Row 4 is the only row with exactly 2 criminals" — Phil (A4)
B2 · Henry → CRIMINAL
Because: Maria is at B3, so the people above her are the two positions in column B: Chris at B1 and Henry at B2. Raul’s clue says there is only one innocent among those people above Maria. Since Chris at B1 is already known to be innocent, Henry at B2 cannot also be innocent without making two innocents above Maria. Therefore, we can determine that B2 Henry is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"There is only one innocent above Maria" — Raul (B4)
D2 · Karen → CRIMINAL
Because: Isaac is at C2, so his neighbors are the eight people around him: B1 Chris, C1 Dana, D1 Emma, B2 Henry, D2 Karen, B3 Maria, C3 Nancy, and D3 Ollie. Among these, we already know four criminals: Dana, Henry, Maria, and Ollie, while Karen is the only neighbor whose status is still unknown. Ollie’s clue says there are five criminals neighboring Isaac, so Karen must be the fifth one. This also fits the rest of the clue, because the only one of those neighboring criminals who is above Wanda (in Wanda’s column C) is Dana at C1. Therefore, we can determine that D2 Karen is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 5 criminals neighboring Isaac is above Wanda" — Ollie (D3)
A2 · Floyd → CRIMINAL
Because: Wanda’s clue says that there are exactly 7 innocents on the edges, and Vince is one of them. On the edge squares, we already have seven people confirmed innocent: A1 Barnie, B1 Chris, D1 Emma, D4 Tina, B5 Vince, C5 Wanda, and D5 Xena. Since that already fills all 7 edge-innocent spots, the only remaining unknown edge person, A2 Floyd, cannot be innocent and must be criminal. Therefore, we can determine that A2 Floyd is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Vince is one of 7 innocents on the edges" — Wanda (C5)