Clues by Sam Apr 12, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained
Hard·Solved
A1
💂♂️
Austin
guard
B1
👨🎨
Brian
painter
C1
💂♀️
Ellie
guard
D1
👨🍳
Frank
cook
A2
👨🎨
Gus
painter
B2
👨🎨
Ivan
painter
C2
👮♂️
Kumar
cop
D2
👷♀️
Lucy
builder
A3
👩⚖️
Max
judge
B3
👨⚖️
Noah
judge
C3
👮♀️
Olga
cop
D3
👩🍳
Paula
cook
A4
💂♀️
Ruby
guard
B4
👨⚖️
Sam
judge
C4
🕵️♀️
Tina
sleuth
D4
🕵️♀️
Uma
sleuth
A5
👨🍳
Vince
cook
B5
💂♀️
Wanda
guard
C5
👷♀️
Xena
builder
D5
🕵️♂️
Zach
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 7Criminal 13Unknown 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 · 7
[ C2 ] [ D2 ] [ C3 ] [ D3 ] [ A4 ] [ B5 ] [ C5 ]
Criminal · 13
[ A1 ] [ B1 ] [ C1 ] [ D1 ] [ A2 ] [ B2 ] [ A3 ] [ B3 ] [ B4 ] [ C4 ] [ D4 ] [ A5 ] [ 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 · Austin
"You caught me off guard! He he... I made a joke. I'm a guard, you see."
B1 · Brian
"Wanda has exactly 3 criminal neighbors"
C1 · Ellie
"Only one person in a corner has exactly one innocent neighbor"
A2 · Gus
"Only 1 of the 3 sleuths has an innocent directly to the left of them"
B2 · Ivan
"Only 1 of the 4 criminals neighboring Sam is in row 4"
C2 · Kumar
"Only one person in row 2 has no innocent neighbors"
D2 · Lucy
"Oh, we're doing 'catch' puns today! I'm catching on!"
A3 · Max
"There are more innocent cooks than innocent sleuths"
B3 · Noah
"An odd number of innocents in column A neighbor Sam"
C3 · Olga
"Frank is one of 3 criminals in column D"
D3 · Paula
"I'm glad I caught your eye!"
A4 · Ruby
"These puns are catching on!"
B4 · Sam
"There's an odd number of innocents in row 4"
C4 · Tina
"Ah, finally it's over. Can I catch some sleep now?"
D4 · Uma
"There is only one innocent below Austin"
A5 · Vince
"Catch me if you can! Just kidding. You got me."
B5 · Wanda
"Time to catch some bad guys!"
C5 · Xena
"Quite the catch today! If you catch my drift..."
D5 · Zach
"Each column has at least 2 criminals"
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)
B1 · Brian → CRIMINAL, B2 · Ivan → CRIMINAL, B3 · Noah → CRIMINAL
Because: In row 2 the people are Gus (A2), Ivan (B2), Kumar (C2), and Lucy (D2), and the clue says that exactly one of these four has no innocent neighbors at all. Kumar is already confirmed INNOCENT, so Ivan and Lucy, who both touch Kumar, definitely do have an innocent neighbor and cannot be the “no innocent neighbors” person. That leaves only Gus and Kumar as possibilities for the single person in row 2 with no innocent neighbors, and the clue pins that role on Gus, which means every neighbor of Gus must be a criminal. Brian (B1), Ivan (B2), and Noah (B3) are all neighbors of Gus, so they must all be criminals. Therefore, we can determine that B1 Brian is CRIMINAL, B2 Ivan is CRIMINAL, and B3 Noah is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Only one person in row 2 has no innocent neighbors" — Kumar (C2)
B4 · Sam → CRIMINAL, B5 · Wanda → INNOCENT
Because: Sam is at B4 and Wanda is at B5. Ivan’s clue says Sam has exactly 4 criminal neighbors, and only 1 of those 4 is in row 4; since Sam’s only row 4 neighbors are Ruby (A4) and Tina (C4), exactly one of Ruby or Tina is criminal, and with Noah (B3) already a criminal neighbor of Sam, that means exactly two of Sam’s remaining neighbors (Max A3, Olga C3, Vince A5, Wanda B5, Xena C5) are criminals. Brian’s clue says Wanda has exactly 3 criminal neighbors, and Wanda’s neighbors are Ruby, Sam, Tina, Vince, and Xena; because exactly one of Ruby or Tina is criminal, Sam together with Vince and Xena must account for the other two criminals. Putting those two clues together forces this: the only way for Sam’s “two criminals among {Max, Olga, Vince, Wanda, Xena}” and Wanda’s “two criminals among {Sam, Vince, Xena}” to both be true is if Sam is criminal exactly when at least one of {Max, Olga, Wanda} is criminal. Kumar’s clue says only one person in row 2 has no innocent neighbors; Ivan (B2) and Lucy (D2) both touch Kumar (C2), so they do have an innocent neighbor, meaning the “no innocent neighbors” person is either Gus (A2) or Kumar (C2), which guarantees that at least one of Max (A3) or Olga (C3) must be criminal. So at least one of {Max, Olga, Wanda} is criminal, which forces Sam to be criminal, and then Wanda cannot be one of those criminals and must be innocent. Therefore, we can determine that B4 Sam is CRIMINAL and B5 Wanda is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Only one person in row 2 has no innocent neighbors" — Kumar (C2)
"Wanda has exactly 3 criminal neighbors" — Brian (B1)
"Only 1 of the 4 criminals neighboring Sam is in row 4" — Ivan (B2)
D4 · Uma → CRIMINAL
Because: Sam is at B4, so the only neighbors he has in row 4 are Ruby at A4 and Tina at C4. Ivan’s clue says Sam has exactly four criminal neighbors, and exactly one of those criminal neighbors is in row 4, so exactly one of Ruby and Tina is a criminal and the other is an innocent. Sam’s clue says there is an odd number of innocents in row 4; since Sam himself is a criminal, this means the number of innocents among Ruby, Tina, and Uma must be odd. Because Ruby and Tina already contribute exactly one innocent, Uma cannot also be innocent (that would make two innocents, which is even), so Uma must be a criminal. Therefore, we can determine that D4 Uma is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 4 criminals neighboring Sam is in row 4" — Ivan (B2)
"There's an odd number of innocents in row 4" — Sam (B4)
A2 · Gus → CRIMINAL
Because: Austin is at A1, so “below Austin” means the four people A2 Gus, A3 Max, A4 Ruby, and A5 Vince, and Uma’s clue says exactly one of those four is innocent. Sam is at B4, and the column A people who neighbor Sam are A3, A4, and A5; Noah’s clue says an odd number of those three are innocent, so at least one of A3–A5 must be innocent. Since there is only one innocent total among A2–A5 and that innocent must be in A3–A5, Gus at A2 cannot be that innocent. Therefore, we can determine that A2 Gus is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"There is only one innocent below Austin" — Uma (D4)
"An odd number of innocents in column A neighbor Sam" — Noah (B3)
C3 · Olga → INNOCENT
Because: Sam is at B4, and his neighbors are Max (A3), Noah (B3), Olga (C3), Ruby (A4), Tina (C4), Vince (A5), Wanda (B5), and Xena (C5). Ivan’s clue says there are exactly 4 criminals among these neighbors; since Noah is already a criminal and Wanda is already innocent, the remaining six neighbors must contain exactly 3 criminals. Uma’s clue says there is only one innocent below Austin, and since Gus at A2 is already a criminal, that forces Max, Ruby, and Vince to contain exactly two criminals; those three are all neighbors of Sam, so Tina, Xena, and Olga together must contain exactly one criminal. Gus’s clue forces Tina and Xena to have opposite statuses, so between Tina and Xena there is already exactly one criminal, leaving no room for Olga to be a criminal. Therefore, we can determine that C3 Olga is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 4 criminals neighboring Sam is in row 4" — Ivan (B2)
"There is only one innocent below Austin" — Uma (D4)
"Only 1 of the 3 sleuths has an innocent directly to the left of them" — Gus (A2)
D1 · Frank → CRIMINAL
Because: Olga’s clue explicitly says “Frank is one of 3 criminals in column D,” which directly states that Frank is a criminal. Therefore, we can determine that D1 Frank is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Frank is one of 3 criminals in column D" — Olga (C3)
A1 · Austin → CRIMINAL, A3 · Max → CRIMINAL
Because: Kumar’s clue says that in row 2, exactly one person has no innocent neighbors. In row 2, Ivan at B2 already has innocent neighbors because Kumar at C2 and Olga at C3 both touch B2, and Lucy at D2 also has innocent neighbors because it touches Kumar at C2 and Olga at C3. Kumar at C2 has an innocent neighbor as well, because it touches Olga at C3. That means the only row 2 person who can be the “no innocent neighbors” person is Gus at A2, so none of A2’s neighbors can be innocent; since A1 (Austin) and A3 (Max) are both neighbors of A2, they cannot be innocent. Therefore, we can determine that A1 Austin is CRIMINAL and A3 Max is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Only one person in row 2 has no innocent neighbors" — Kumar (C2)
D3 · Paula → INNOCENT
Because: In column D, we have Frank at D1 and Uma at D4 already confirmed as criminals. Olga’s clue says Frank is one of exactly three criminals in column D, so among Lucy (D2), Paula (D3), and Zach (D5), exactly one is a criminal and the other two are innocent. If Paula were that third criminal, then Zach would have to be innocent, and since Zach is a sleuth, that would guarantee at least one innocent sleuth; at the same time, with Frank and Paula both criminal cooks, the only possible innocent cook left would be Vince, so there could be at most one innocent cook. That would make it impossible for Max’s clue to be true that there are more innocent cooks than innocent sleuths, so Paula cannot be the third criminal in column D. Therefore, we can determine that D3 Paula is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Frank is one of 3 criminals in column D" — Olga (C3)
"There are more innocent cooks than innocent sleuths" — Max (A3)
D5 · Zach → CRIMINAL
Because: Sam is at B4, and his only neighbors in row 4 are Ruby at A4 and Tina at C4. Ivan’s clue says that among the four criminals neighboring Sam, only one is in row 4, so exactly one of Ruby and Tina is a criminal. Uma’s clue says there is only one innocent below Austin in column A; since Gus at A2 and Max at A3 are already criminals, exactly one of Ruby (A4) and Vince (A5) is innocent, meaning Ruby and Vince also have opposite statuses. Because Tina must be the opposite of Ruby, and Vince must also be the opposite of Ruby, Tina and Vince must have the same status. Max’s clue says there are more innocent cooks than innocent sleuths: Paula is already an innocent cook, and the only other cook who could add to that is Vince, while the sleuths who could be innocent are Tina and Zach (since Uma is a criminal). But Tina always matches Vince, so any time Vince increases the innocent-cook count by 1, Tina increases the innocent-sleuth count by 1 as well, leaving Zach as the only thing that could stop cooks from being strictly more than sleuths. So Zach cannot be innocent, and must be a criminal. Therefore, we can determine that D5 Zach is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 4 criminals neighboring Sam is in row 4" — Ivan (B2)
"There is only one innocent below Austin" — Uma (D4)
"There are more innocent cooks than innocent sleuths" — Max (A3)
D2 · Lucy → INNOCENT
Because: In column D we have Frank at D1, Lucy at D2, Paula at D3, Uma at D4, and Zach at D5. Olga’s clue says that Frank is one of exactly three criminals in column D. We already know Frank (D1), Uma (D4), and Zach (D5) are criminals, and we also know Paula (D3) is innocent, so the column already contains three criminals without Lucy. That means Lucy cannot be a criminal or the total would become four. Therefore, we can determine that D2 Lucy is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Frank is one of 3 criminals in column D" — Olga (C3)
C1 · Ellie → CRIMINAL
Because: The three sleuths are Tina at C4, Uma at D4, and Zach at D5, and the clue from Gus says exactly one of these sleuths has an innocent directly to their left. Tina’s direct left neighbor is Sam at B4, who is a criminal, so Tina is not the one with an innocent on the left; that means exactly one of Uma or Zach must have an innocent directly left of them, so exactly one of C4 and C5 is innocent and the other is criminal. Zach’s clue says each column has at least 2 criminals, and in column C we already know C2 and C3 are innocent, so the 2 criminals must come from C1, C4, and C5. Since C4 and C5 contain exactly one criminal between them, C1 must be a criminal to bring column C up to at least 2 criminals. Therefore, we can determine that C1 Ellie is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 3 sleuths has an innocent directly to the left of them" — Gus (A2)
"Each column has at least 2 criminals" — Zach (D5)
A4 · Ruby → INNOCENT
Because: The two unknowns that matter for these clues are C4 Tina and C5 Xena, because they are directly left of the sleuths on D4 Uma and D5 Zach. Gus’s clue says exactly one of the three sleuths has an innocent directly to their left; Tina herself cannot qualify because B4 Sam (directly left of Tina) is a criminal, so exactly one of these must be true: Tina is innocent (making Uma have an innocent on her left) or Xena is innocent (making Zach have an innocent on his left), which means exactly one of Tina and Xena is innocent. That immediately fixes D5 Zach’s corner-neighbor count: Zach’s only possible innocent neighbors are Tina and Xena (since D4 Uma is a criminal), so Zach has exactly one innocent neighbor. Ellie’s clue says only one corner person has exactly one innocent neighbor, so A5 Vince cannot also have exactly one innocent neighbor; but A5’s neighbors include B5 Wanda (innocent) and B4 Sam (criminal), so the only way for A5 to avoid having exactly one innocent neighbor is for A4 Ruby to be innocent, giving Vince two innocent neighbors instead of one. Therefore, we can determine that A4 Ruby is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 3 sleuths has an innocent directly to the left of them" — Gus (A2)
"Only one person in a corner has exactly one innocent neighbor" — Ellie (C1)
C4 · Tina → CRIMINAL
Because: Sam is at B4, so his neighbors are A3 Max, B3 Noah, C3 Olga, A4 Ruby, C4 Tina, A5 Vince, B5 Wanda, and C5 Xena. Ivan’s clue says that among Sam’s neighboring criminals, there are exactly four in total, and exactly one of those four is in row 4. The only neighbor Sam has in row 4 besides himself is Ruby at A4 and Tina at C4, and Ruby is already known to be innocent, so the one neighboring criminal in row 4 must be Tina. Therefore, we can determine that C4 Tina is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 4 criminals neighboring Sam is in row 4" — Ivan (B2)
A5 · Vince → CRIMINAL
Because: Austin is at A1, so the people below Austin are Gus at A2, Max at A3, Ruby at A4, and Vince at A5. Uma’s clue says that among those four people, there is only one innocent in total. We already know Ruby at A4 is innocent, and Gus and Max are criminals, so Ruby must be the one and only innocent below Austin. That means Vince at A5 cannot be innocent, so he must be criminal. Therefore, we can determine that A5 Vince is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"There is only one innocent below Austin" — Uma (D4)
C5 · Xena → INNOCENT
Because: Sam is at B4, and his neighbors are A3 Max, B3 Noah, C3 Olga, A4 Ruby, C4 Tina, A5 Vince, B5 Wanda, and C5 Xena. Ivan’s clue says that Sam has exactly four neighboring criminals in total, and exactly one of those four is in row 4. Among Sam’s neighbors, the already known criminals are Max, Noah, Tina, and Vince, which is exactly four, and only Tina is in row 4, so the clue’s count is already completely used up. That leaves no room for Xena to be a criminal neighbor of Sam. Therefore, we can determine that C5 Xena is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 4 criminals neighboring Sam is in row 4" — Ivan (B2)