Clues by Sam Apr 11, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained
Hard·Solved
A1
👮♀️
Anna
cop
B1
👮♀️
Celia
cop
C1
👨🍳
Frank
cook
D1
💂♂️
Gabe
guard
A2
👮♂️
Hank
cop
B2
👨🏫
Isaac
teacher
C2
👨🏫
Jason
teacher
D2
👩🏫
Linda
teacher
A3
🕵️♂️
Martin
sleuth
B3
👩🎤
Nicole
singer
C3
👩🎤
Olga
singer
D3
💂♂️
Phil
guard
A4
💂♀️
Quita
guard
B4
👨🎤
Ryan
singer
C4
👷♀️
Sofia
builder
D4
👷♀️
Tina
builder
A5
🕵️♂️
Vince
sleuth
B5
🕵️♀️
Wanda
sleuth
C5
👨🍳
Xavi
cook
D5
👷♀️
Zara
builder
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 5Criminal 15Unknown 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 · 5
[ D1 ] [ A3 ] [ D3 ] [ A5 ] [ B5 ]
Criminal · 15
[ A1 ] [ B1 ] [ C1 ] [ A2 ] [ B2 ] [ C2 ] [ D2 ] [ B3 ] [ C3 ] [ A4 ] [ B4 ] [ C4 ] [ D4 ] [ C5 ] [ D5 ]
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 criminals in column D is Frank's neighbor"
B1 · Celia
"There's an odd number of criminals above Vince"
C1 · Frank
"I'm not evil! I'm a gentleman thief."
D1 · Gabe
"Exactly 2 of Nicole's 7 criminal neighbors also neighbor Frank"
A2 · Hank
"I never considered myself particularly evil..."
B2 · Isaac
"Column B is the only column with exactly 4 criminals"
C2 · Jason
"There is only one innocent below Isaac"
D2 · Linda
"When not robbing banks, I help kittens down from trees"
A3 · Martin
"So you aren't all super evil? Are you sure?"
B3 · Nicole
"An odd number of innocents on the edges neighbor Isaac"
C3 · Olga
"I did it all for love!"
D3 · Phil
"Wanda, I think these are just regular criminals."
A4 · Quita
"Sofia is one of Ryan's 5 criminal neighbors"
B4 · Ryan
"An odd number of innocents in row 3 neighbor me"
C4 · Sofia
"One innocent in column A has an innocent directly to the right of them"
D4 · Tina
"I knit sweaters for penguings. After robbing museums, of course."
A5 · Vince
"There is only one innocent above Quita"
B5 · Wanda
"So many evil criminals here today!"
C5 · Xavi
"2 persons in column D have an innocent directly above them"
D5 · Zara
"2 persons in row 4 have a criminal directly above them"
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 (18 steps)
B2 · Isaac → CRIMINAL, C2 · Jason → CRIMINAL
Because: Nicole is at B3, and her only neighbors who also neighbor Frank at C1 are Isaac at B2 and Jason at C2. Gabe’s clue says that exactly 2 of Nicole’s criminal neighbors also neighbor Frank, so the two overlapping people must both be criminals to make that total equal to 2. Therefore, we can determine that B2 Isaac is CRIMINAL and C2 Jason is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of Nicole's 7 criminal neighbors also neighbor Frank" — Gabe (D1)
B1 · Celia → CRIMINAL
Because: In column B we have Celia at B1, Isaac at B2, and Nicole, Ryan, and Wanda at B3 to B5. Isaac says column B is the only column with exactly 4 criminals, so column B must contain exactly one innocent in total. Jason says there is only one innocent below Isaac, meaning among B3, B4, and B5 there is exactly one innocent. Since column B can have only one innocent altogether and that one innocent is already forced to be somewhere below Isaac, Celia at B1 cannot be innocent and must be criminal. Therefore, we can determine that B1 Celia is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Column B is the only column with exactly 4 criminals" — Isaac (B2)
"There is only one innocent below Isaac" — Jason (C2)
A5 · Vince → INNOCENT
Because: Vince is at A5, so “above Vince” means the four people in column A at A1, A2, A3, and A4. From Gabe’s clue about Nicole, Nicole has 7 criminal neighbors, which means among the six neighbors A2, A3, A4, B4, C3, and C4 there is exactly one innocent, so at least two of A2, A3, and A4 must be criminals. Celia’s clue says there is an odd number of criminals above Vince, and with A2–A4 already contributing at least two criminals, the only possible odd total among the four spaces A1–A4 is exactly three criminals. Isaac’s clue says column B is the only column with exactly 4 criminals, so column A cannot have exactly 4 criminals; since column A already has exactly 3 criminals above Vince, Vince cannot be a criminal or column A would total exactly 4 criminals. Therefore, we can determine that A5 Vince is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of Nicole's 7 criminal neighbors also neighbor Frank" — Gabe (D1)
"Column B is the only column with exactly 4 criminals" — Isaac (B2)
"There's an odd number of criminals above Vince" — Celia (B1)
A4 · Quita → CRIMINAL
Because: Above Quita in column A are Anna at A1, Hank at A2, and Martin at A3, and Vince says there is only one innocent among those three. That means exactly two of Anna, Hank, and Martin are criminals. Celia says there is an odd number of criminals above Vince, and the people above Vince at A5 are Anna, Hank, Martin, and Quita. Since Anna, Hank, and Martin already contribute exactly two criminals, Quita must be a criminal to make the total number of criminals above Vince equal to three, which is odd. Therefore, we can determine that A4 Quita is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"There's an odd number of criminals above Vince" — Celia (B1)
"There is only one innocent above Quita" — Vince (A5)
C4 · Sofia → CRIMINAL
Because: Quita’s clue explicitly says that Sofia is one of Ryan’s criminal neighbors, which directly states that Sofia is a criminal. Therefore, we can determine that C4 Sofia is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Sofia is one of Ryan's 5 criminal neighbors" — Quita (A4)
B4 · Ryan → CRIMINAL
Because: In column B, we already know Celia at B1 and Isaac at B2 are criminals, and Isaac’s clue says column B has exactly 4 criminals in total. That means among Nicole (B3), Ryan (B4), and Wanda (B5), exactly two are criminals and exactly one is innocent. Sofia’s clue says there is an innocent in column A who has an innocent directly to their right, and because B1 and B2 are criminals and A4 is a criminal, the only rows where this can happen are row 3 (A3 with B3) or row 5 (A5 Vince with B5). So it is impossible for both B3 and B5 to be criminals, because then neither row 3 nor row 5 could have an innocent-to-the-right pair. Therefore the only way Ryan could have been the single innocent in B3–B5 (which would require both B3 and B5 to be criminals) is ruled out, so Ryan must be one of the two criminals. Therefore, we can determine that B4 Ryan is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Column B is the only column with exactly 4 criminals" — Isaac (B2)
"One innocent in column A has an innocent directly to the right of them" — Sofia (C4)
B5 · Wanda → INNOCENT
Because: Nicole is at B3, and her only column A neighbor in row 3 is Martin at A3, while Vince at A5 is already known to be innocent. Gabe’s clue says Nicole has exactly 7 criminal neighbors, and since Isaac, Jason, Quita, Ryan, and Sofia are already criminals, that forces exactly one of Hank, Martin, and Olga to be innocent, so if Martin were innocent then Olga would have to be criminal. Ryan’s clue counts the innocents among Martin, Nicole, and Olga (the three row 3 people who neighbor Ryan), and with Martin innocent and Olga criminal, Nicole would have to be criminal to keep that count odd, so Martin and Nicole cannot both be innocent. Sofia’s clue says exactly one innocent in column A has an innocent directly to their right; the only column A squares that could possibly do that are A3 with B3 and A5 with B5 (since B1 and B2 are criminals and B4 is Ryan the criminal), and we just established A3 and B3 cannot both be innocent, so the only way to satisfy the clue is for Vince at A5 to have an innocent directly to his right, meaning Wanda at B5 is innocent. Therefore, we can determine that B5 Wanda is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of Nicole's 7 criminal neighbors also neighbor Frank" — Gabe (D1)
"An odd number of innocents in row 3 neighbor me" — Ryan (B4)
"One innocent in column A has an innocent directly to the right of them" — Sofia (C4)
B3 · Nicole → CRIMINAL
Because: In column B, the people are Celia at B1, Isaac at B2, Nicole at B3, Ryan at B4, and Wanda at B5. Isaac’s clue says column B has exactly 4 criminals, and we already know Celia, Isaac, and Ryan are criminals while Wanda is innocent. That means the only way for column B to total 4 criminals is for Nicole to be the fourth criminal. Therefore, we can determine that B3 Nicole is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Column B is the only column with exactly 4 criminals" — Isaac (B2)
A2 · Hank → CRIMINAL
Because: Nicole at B3 has eight neighbors, and the clue from Gabe refers to “Nicole’s 7 criminal neighbors,” so exactly seven of those eight neighbors are criminals. Five of those neighbors are already known criminals (Isaac, Jason, Quita, Ryan, and Sofia), so among the remaining three neighbors Hank at A2, Martin at A3, and Olga at C3, exactly two must be criminals. Ryan at B4 says an odd number of innocents in row 3 neighbor him; the row 3 neighbors of Ryan are Martin, Nicole, and Olga, and since Nicole is already a criminal, that odd number of innocents must come from Martin and Olga, meaning exactly one of them is innocent and the other is criminal. That means Martin and Olga together contribute exactly one criminal, so to reach the required two criminals among Hank, Martin, and Olga, Hank must be the other criminal. Therefore, we can determine that A2 Hank is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of Nicole's 7 criminal neighbors also neighbor Frank" — Gabe (D1)
"An odd number of innocents in row 3 neighbor me" — Ryan (B4)
C5 · Xavi → CRIMINAL
Because: Nicole is at B3, and her only neighbors who also neighbor Frank at C1 are Isaac at B2 and Jason at C2. Since both Isaac and Jason are already criminals, Gabe’s clue can only be true if Nicole has exactly 7 criminal neighbors total, which means exactly one of the remaining two neighbors, Martin at A3 or Olga at C3, is also a criminal. Ryan is at B4, and among his neighbors the only ones not already fixed are Martin, Olga, and Xavi at C5; Quita’s clue says Ryan has exactly 5 criminal neighbors, so exactly two of Martin, Olga, and Xavi must be criminals because the other two neighbors in that group, Vince and Wanda, are innocents. With exactly one of Martin or Olga being a criminal, the second required criminal among those three must be Xavi. Therefore, we can determine that C5 Xavi is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of Nicole's 7 criminal neighbors also neighbor Frank" — Gabe (D1)
"Sofia is one of Ryan's 5 criminal neighbors" — Quita (A4)
C1 · Frank → CRIMINAL
Because: The edge neighbors of Isaac are A1 Anna, B1 Celia, C1 Frank, A2 Hank, and A3 Martin, and Nicole’s clue says the number of innocents among those five people is odd. Celia and Hank are already known criminals, so the odd-or-even result depends only on Anna, Martin, and Frank. Vince’s clue says there is only one innocent above Quita, and since Hank (A2) is a criminal, that forces exactly one of Anna (A1) and Martin (A3) to be innocent, meaning Anna and Martin contribute exactly one innocent in total. Since that is already an odd number, Frank must contribute zero innocents to keep the total odd, so Frank cannot be innocent. Therefore, we can determine that C1 Frank is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"There is only one innocent above Quita" — Vince (A5)
"An odd number of innocents on the edges neighbor Isaac" — Nicole (B3)
C3 · Olga → CRIMINAL
Because: In column B, Celia at B1, Isaac at B2, Nicole at B3, and Ryan at B4 are criminals, while Wanda at B5 is innocent, so column B has exactly 4 criminals. Isaac’s clue says column B is the only column with exactly 4 criminals, meaning no other column can end up with exactly 4 criminals. In column C, Frank at C1, Jason at C2, Sofia at C4, and Xavi at C5 are already criminals, so if Olga at C3 were innocent then column C would also have exactly 4 criminals, which the clue forbids. Therefore, we can determine that C3 Olga is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Column B is the only column with exactly 4 criminals" — Isaac (B2)
A3 · Martin → INNOCENT
Because: Ryan is at B4, so his neighbors are A3 Martin, B3 Nicole, C3 Olga, A4 Quita, C4 Sofia, A5 Vince, B5 Wanda, and C5 Xavi. Quita’s clue says that Sofia is one of Ryan’s 5 criminal neighbors, which means Ryan has exactly five criminal neighbors in total and Sofia is included. Among those neighbors, Nicole, Olga, Quita, Sofia, and Xavi are already criminals, while Vince and Wanda are innocents, so the only remaining neighbor who could change the count is Martin at A3. Since the clue fixes the total at five criminals and we already have five, Martin cannot be a criminal and must be innocent. Therefore, we can determine that A3 Martin is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Sofia is one of Ryan's 5 criminal neighbors" — Quita (A4)
A1 · Anna → CRIMINAL
Because: Vince is at A5, so the people above Vince are the four positions in column A: A1 Anna, A2 Hank, A3 Martin, and A4 Quita. Celia’s clue says the number of criminals among those four people is odd. We already know Hank and Quita are criminals and Martin is innocent, so that is currently 2 criminals above Vince, which is even. To make the total odd, Anna must also be a criminal, bringing the count to 3. Therefore, we can determine that A1 Anna is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"There's an odd number of criminals above Vince" — Celia (B1)
D2 · Linda → CRIMINAL
Because: Frank is at C1, so the only people in column D who are his neighbors are D1 (directly to his right) and D2 (diagonally down-right). Anna’s clue says that column D contains exactly three criminals, and among those three criminals, exactly one is Frank’s neighbor. Since D1 is already known to be innocent, D1 cannot be that one neighboring criminal, so the neighboring criminal in column D must be D2. Therefore, we can determine that D2 Linda is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 3 criminals in column D is Frank's neighbor" — Anna (A1)
D5 · Zara → CRIMINAL
Because: In column D, Gabe at D1 is already innocent, so Linda at D2 definitely has an innocent directly above her. Xavi’s clue says there are exactly two people in column D with an innocent directly above them, so besides Linda, exactly one more of the remaining spots must have that property; the only way that can happen is that exactly one of Phil (which would make Tina at D4 have an innocent above) and Tina (which would make Zara at D5 have an innocent above) is innocent. Anna’s clue tells us there are exactly three criminals in column D, and since Gabe is innocent and Linda is a criminal, that means among Phil, Tina, and Zara there is exactly one innocent. Because that one innocent must be Phil or Tina, Zara cannot be the innocent among those three, so she must be a criminal. Therefore, we can determine that D5 Zara is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"2 persons in column D have an innocent directly above them" — Xavi (C5)
"Only 1 of the 3 criminals in column D is Frank's neighbor" — Anna (A1)
D3 · Phil → INNOCENT
Because: In row 4, the people are Quita at A4, Ryan at B4, Sofia at C4, and Tina at D4. Zara’s clue says that exactly 2 people in row 4 have a criminal directly above them, meaning in row 3 in the same column. Ryan at B4 has Nicole at B3 directly above, and Nicole is a criminal; Sofia at C4 has Olga at C3 directly above, and Olga is a criminal, so that already makes the required two. That means Tina at D4 cannot also have a criminal directly above her, so Phil at D3 cannot be a criminal. Therefore, we can determine that D3 Phil is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"2 persons in row 4 have a criminal directly above them" — Zara (D5)
D4 · Tina → CRIMINAL
Because: In column D, the people who could have an innocent directly above them are D2 (Linda, above is D1 Gabe who is innocent), D4 (Tina, above is D3 Phil who is innocent), and D5 (Zara, which depends on whether D4 Tina is innocent). Xavi’s clue says that exactly 2 people in column D have an innocent directly above them. We already have D2 and D4 meeting that condition, so D5 must not meet it, which means Tina cannot be innocent. Therefore, we can determine that D4 Tina is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"2 persons in column D have an innocent directly above them" — Xavi (C5)