Clues by Sam Mar 31, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained
Medium·Solved
A1
🕵️♀️
Amy
sleuth
B1
👨💻
Barnie
coder
C1
🕵️♂️
Carl
sleuth
D1
👩💼
Donna
clerk
A2
👩🎤
Flora
singer
B2
👨🎨
Gary
painter
C2
🕵️♀️
Hope
sleuth
D2
👨⚖️
Igor
judge
A3
👨🎤
Kumar
singer
B3
💂♂️
Logan
guard
C3
👨💼
Mark
clerk
D3
👩💼
Nancy
clerk
A4
👨🎤
Ollie
singer
B4
👩⚖️
Paula
judge
C4
👨🎨
Steve
painter
D4
👩💻
Tina
coder
A5
👩✈️
Uma
pilot
B5
💂♂️
Vince
guard
C5
👩✈️
Wanda
pilot
D5
👩✈️
Zoe
pilot
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 14Criminal 6Unknown 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 · 14
[ A1 ] [ A2 ] [ B2 ] [ C2 ] [ D2 ] [ A3 ] [ B3 ] [ C3 ] [ B4 ] [ D4 ] [ A5 ] [ B5 ] [ C5 ] [ D5 ]
Criminal · 6
[ B1 ] [ C1 ] [ D1 ] [ D3 ] [ A4 ] [ C4 ]
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
"Each column has at least 3 innocents"
B1 · Barnie
"Exactly 1 innocent in row 4 is neighboring Uma"
C1 · Carl
"Don't look at me! I'm using a standing desk."
D1 · Donna
"There is only one innocent in row 1"
A2 · Flora
"Row 3 is the only row with exactly 3 innocents"
B2 · Gary
"Hey! Where's my chair?"
C2 · Hope
"Exactly 2 innocents in column B are neighboring Logan"
D2 · Igor
"There's an equal number of criminals in rows 2 and 5"
A3 · Kumar
"I was sitting on a decision but that was stolen too!"
B3 · Logan
"There are more innocents in column A than column D"
C3 · Mark
"There are exactly 3 innocents above Uma"
D3 · Nancy
"Sorry... I just really like sitting!"
A4 · Ollie
"Sorry, I only steal desks. Chairs are not my forte."
B4 · Paula
"Both innocents above Wanda are connected"
C4 · Steve
"Exactly 2 of Logan's 6 innocent neighbors also neighbor Nancy"
D4 · Tina
"I'm glad I didn't sit this one out!"
A5 · Uma
"Flora is innocent"
B5 · Vince
"The park bench is gone as well!"
C5 · Wanda
"There's an odd number of criminals in column A"
D5 · Zoe
"Logan is one of Mark's 6 innocent neighbors"
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)
B4 · Paula → INNOCENT, B2 · Gary → INNOCENT
Because: The clue talks only about people in column B who are neighbors of Logan at B3. In column B, the only neighbors Logan has are the two directly adjacent people: Gary at B2 and Paula at B4, since Barnie at B1 and Vince at B5 are two squares away and not neighbors. The clue says exactly two of those column B neighbors are innocents, so both Gary and Paula must be innocents. Therefore, we can determine that B4 Paula is INNOCENT and B2 Gary is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 innocents in column B are neighboring Logan" — Hope (C2)
C4 · Steve → CRIMINAL
Because: Wanda is at C5, so the people above Wanda are Carl at C1, Hope at C2, Mark at C3, and Steve at C4. Paula’s clue says there are exactly two innocents among those four, and those two innocents must be connected by orthogonal adjacency, which in a single column means they must be directly next to each other. Since Hope at C2 is already an innocent, the only way for the two innocents to be connected is for the other innocent to be either Carl at C1 or Mark at C3, because those are the only squares directly adjacent to C2. That makes it impossible for Steve at C4 to be one of the innocents above Wanda. Therefore, we can determine that C4 Steve is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Both innocents above Wanda are connected" — Paula (B4)
C3 · Mark → INNOCENT
Because: Logan is at B3, and Nancy is at D3, so the only people who neighbor both of them are C2 Hope, C3 Mark, and C4 Steve. Steve is already known to be a criminal, so he cannot be one of “Logan’s innocent neighbors” mentioned in the clue, while Hope is already known to be innocent and does count. The clue says exactly 2 of Logan’s innocent neighbors also neighbor Nancy, so the second one must be Mark. Therefore, we can determine that C3 Mark is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of Logan's 6 innocent neighbors also neighbor Nancy" — Steve (C4)
C1 · Carl → CRIMINAL
Because: Above Wanda at C5 are the four people in column C: Carl at C1, Hope at C2, Mark at C3, and Steve at C4. Paula’s clue says there are exactly two innocents among those people (“both innocents above Wanda”), and we already know Hope and Mark are innocents while Steve is a criminal. That uses up the two innocent slots, so Carl cannot also be an innocent. Therefore, we can determine that C1 Carl is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Both innocents above Wanda are connected" — Paula (B4)
A1 · Amy → INNOCENT
Because: Logan is at B3, and the only people who are neighbors of both Logan and Nancy (at D3) are C2 Hope, C3 Mark, and C4 Steve. Steve’s clue says exactly 2 of Logan’s 6 innocent neighbors also neighbor Nancy, and since Steve is not innocent, those two must be Hope and Mark, so Logan must have exactly 6 innocent neighbors in total. Logan already has four known innocent neighbors (Gary at B2, Paula at B4, Hope at C2, and Mark at C3), and with Steve at C4 being criminal, that forces exactly two of A2 Flora, A3 Kumar, and A4 Ollie to be innocent and the remaining one to be criminal. Mark’s clue says there are exactly 3 innocents above Uma at A5, meaning among A1 Amy, A2 Flora, A3 Kumar, and A4 Ollie there is exactly one criminal; since we already know that one criminal is among A2–A4, Amy at A1 cannot be that criminal. Therefore, we can determine that A1 Amy is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of Logan's 6 innocent neighbors also neighbor Nancy" — Steve (C4)
"There are exactly 3 innocents above Uma" — Mark (C3)
C5 · Wanda → INNOCENT
Because: In column C, we already know Carl at C1 and Steve at C4 are criminals, while Hope at C2 and Mark at C3 are innocents. Amy’s clue says each column must have at least 3 innocents, so column C needs at least three innocent people among its five positions. Since column C currently has exactly two confirmed innocents and only one remaining unknown spot in that column, the only way to reach at least three innocents is for Wanda at C5 to be innocent. Therefore, we can determine that C5 Wanda is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Each column has at least 3 innocents" — Amy (A1)
A5 · Uma → INNOCENT
Because: Logan is at B3, and his eight neighbors are A2, B2, C2, A3, C3, A4, B4, and C4. Steve’s clue says Logan has exactly six innocent neighbors, and since B2, C2, C3, and B4 are already innocent while C4 is already criminal, exactly one of A2, A3, and A4 must be criminal and the other two must be innocent. That means column A currently contains exactly one criminal among A2–A4, and A1 is already innocent. Wanda’s clue says column A has an odd number of criminals, so A5 cannot be criminal (that would make the total 2), and must be innocent to keep the total at 1. Therefore, we can determine that A5 (Uma) is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of Logan's 6 innocent neighbors also neighbor Nancy" — Steve (C4)
"There's an odd number of criminals in column A" — Wanda (C5)
A2 · Flora → INNOCENT
Because: Uma at A5 directly states in her clue that “Flora is innocent,” and all clues are always true. This pins down Flora’s status without needing any other relationships or counts. Therefore, we can determine that A2 Flora is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Flora is innocent" — Uma (A5)
D2 · Igor → INNOCENT
Because: Row 2 currently has three confirmed innocents already: Flora at A2, Gary at B2, and Hope at C2, with only Igor at D2 still unknown. Flora’s clue says that row 3 is the only row with exactly three innocents, so no other row is allowed to have exactly three innocents. That means row 2 cannot stay at exactly three innocents, so Igor cannot be a criminal; he must be the fourth innocent in row 2. Therefore, we can determine that D2 Igor is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Row 3 is the only row with exactly 3 innocents" — Flora (A2)
B5 · Vince → INNOCENT, D5 · Zoe → INNOCENT
Because: Row 2 contains Flora, Gary, Hope, and Igor, and all four of them are already known to be innocent, so row 2 has zero criminals. Igor’s clue says rows 2 and 5 have an equal number of criminals, so row 5 must also have zero criminals. In row 5, Uma and Wanda are already innocent, so the only way for the row to still have zero criminals is for the remaining two people in that row, Vince at B5 and Zoe at D5, to be innocent as well. Therefore, we can determine that B5 Vince is INNOCENT and D5 Zoe is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"There's an equal number of criminals in rows 2 and 5" — Igor (D2)
B3 · Logan → INNOCENT
Because: Mark is at C3, and Logan at B3 is a neighbor of Mark because he is directly to Mark’s left. Zoe’s clue says that Logan is one of Mark’s 6 innocent neighbors, which directly identifies Logan as innocent. Therefore, we can determine that B3 Logan is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Logan is one of Mark's 6 innocent neighbors" — Zoe (D5)
D1 · Donna → CRIMINAL
Because: Around Logan at B3, the clue from Steve says Logan has 6 innocent neighbors; since five of Logan’s neighbors (Flora, Gary, Hope, Mark, and Paula) are already known innocents and Steve himself is a criminal neighbor, this forces exactly one of Kumar (A3) or Ollie (A4) to be innocent, so column A has exactly 4 innocents in total. Logan’s own clue then says column A has more innocents than column D, so column D must have at most 3 innocents. But column D already has two confirmed innocents (Igor at D2 and Zoe at D5), so among Donna (D1), Nancy (D3), and Tina (D4), at most one can be innocent; meanwhile Zoe’s clue says Mark has 6 innocent neighbors, and since Mark already has five known innocent neighbors and Steve is a criminal neighbor, exactly one of Nancy or Tina must be innocent, meaning Donna cannot be the one innocent among those three. Therefore, we can determine that D1 Donna is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of Logan's 6 innocent neighbors also neighbor Nancy" — Steve (C4)
"Logan is one of Mark's 6 innocent neighbors" — Zoe (D5)
"There are more innocents in column A than column D" — Logan (B3)
B1 · Barnie → CRIMINAL
Because: Row 1 contains Amy at A1, Barnie at B1, Carl at C1, and Donna at D1. Donna’s clue says there is only one innocent in row 1, and we already know Amy is innocent. That means Barnie, Carl, and Donna cannot be innocent, so Barnie must be criminal. Therefore, we can determine that B1 Barnie is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"There is only one innocent in row 1" — Donna (D1)
A4 · Ollie → CRIMINAL
Because: Uma is at A5, so the only people in row 4 who neighbor her are A4 (directly above) and B4 (diagonally above-right). Barnie’s clue says that exactly 1 innocent in row 4 is neighboring Uma, meaning among those row-4 neighbors of Uma there is exactly one innocent. Since B4 (Paula) is already known to be INNOCENT, A4 cannot also be INNOCENT or the clue would have two innocents neighboring Uma from row 4. Therefore, we can determine that A4 (Ollie) is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Exactly 1 innocent in row 4 is neighboring Uma" — Barnie (B1)
A3 · Kumar → INNOCENT
Because: Logan is at B3, and his eight neighbors are Flora, Gary, Hope, Kumar, Mark, Ollie, Paula, and Steve. Steve’s clue refers to “Logan’s 6 innocent neighbors”, so among those eight neighbors exactly six must be innocent. We already know that Flora, Gary, Hope, Mark, and Paula are innocent, while Ollie and Steve are criminals, so the only way for Logan to have six innocent neighbors is for Kumar to be innocent as well. Therefore, we can determine that A3 Kumar is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of Logan's 6 innocent neighbors also neighbor Nancy" — Steve (C4)
D3 · Nancy → CRIMINAL
Because: Row 3 contains Kumar, Logan, Mark, and Nancy. We already know that Kumar, Logan, and Mark are innocents, so row 3 currently has exactly 3 innocents before counting Nancy. Flora’s clue says row 3 is the only row with exactly 3 innocents, so Nancy cannot also be innocent or row 3 would have 4 innocents instead. Therefore, we can determine that D3 Nancy is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Row 3 is the only row with exactly 3 innocents" — Flora (A2)
D4 · Tina → INNOCENT
Because: Look at column D: D1 Donna is a criminal, D2 Igor is innocent, D3 Nancy is a criminal, D4 Tina is unknown, and D5 Zoe is innocent. Amy’s clue says each column has at least 3 innocents. Column D currently has only two innocents (Igor and Zoe), so the only way for column D to reach at least three innocents is for Tina at D4 to be innocent. Therefore, we can determine that D4 Tina is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Each column has at least 3 innocents" — Amy (A1)