Clues by Sam Apr 13, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained
Easy·Solved
A1
👮♀️
Amy
cop
B1
🕵️♀️
Barb
sleuth
C1
💂♀️
Claire
guard
D1
👷♀️
Emily
builder
A2
👮♀️
Freya
cop
B2
👨💼
Henry
clerk
C2
👩💼
Janet
clerk
D2
👷♀️
Katie
builder
A3
🕵️♂️
Larry
sleuth
B3
💂♂️
Mark
guard
C3
👨🌾
Noah
farmer
D3
👷♂️
Ollie
builder
A4
🕵️♂️
Phil
sleuth
B4
👩🎨
Quita
painter
C4
👨🎨
Ryan
painter
D4
👨🎨
Steve
painter
A5
👮♀️
Vera
cop
B5
👩🌾
Wanda
farmer
C5
👨🌾
Xavi
farmer
D5
👨💼
Ziad
clerk
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 15Criminal 5Unknown 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 · 15
[ A1 ] [ D1 ] [ A2 ] [ B2 ] [ C2 ] [ D2 ] [ A3 ] [ D3 ] [ A4 ] [ B4 ] [ C4 ] [ D4 ] [ A5 ] [ B5 ] [ D5 ]
Criminal · 5
[ B1 ] [ C1 ] [ B3 ] [ C3 ] [ 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 · Amy
"There is only one criminal below Barb"
B1 · Barb
"Come on, cut him some slack! We've all made mistakes."
C1 · Claire
"I knew it... Xavi, didn't I tell you we should leave him out?"
D1 · Emily
"There are more innocents in row 2 than row 5"
A2 · Freya
"Only one row has exactly 3 innocents"
B2 · Henry
"Exactly 2 of the 3 criminals neighboring Ryan are in column C"
C2 · Janet
"There are exactly 3 criminals in my column"
D2 · Katie
"3 criminals in column C have an innocent directly to the right of them"
A3 · Larry
"2 persons in row 5 have an innocent directly to the left of them"
B3 · Mark
"Well, I guess we've all snitched once or twice..."
C3 · Noah
"Exactly 2 innocents in row 4 are neighboring Ollie"
D3 · Ollie
"There's an odd number of innocents neighboring Noah"
A4 · Phil
"I'm actually amazed we had only one criminal snitch today!"
B4 · Quita
"If I was a criminal, I'm sure I'd be just like Noah"
C4 · Ryan
"Noah is always oversharing. It's just the way he is."
D4 · Steve
"Larry is innocent"
A5 · Vera
"Both criminals in row 1 are connected"
B5 · Wanda
"There are exactly 2 innocents in between Claire and Xavi"
C5 · Xavi
"We won't tell them anything! Right, Noah? Noah?"
D5 · Ziad
"Noah's only crime might be that he can't keep a secret"
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)
C3 · Noah → CRIMINAL, C5 · Xavi → CRIMINAL
Because: Ryan is at C4, so his neighbors in column C are only the two people directly above and below him: Noah at C3 and Xavi at C5. Henry’s clue says that among the three criminals neighboring Ryan, exactly two are in column C. Since there are exactly two column C neighbors of Ryan, those two must be the two column C criminals mentioned in the clue. Therefore, we can determine that C3 Noah is CRIMINAL and C5 Xavi is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of the 3 criminals neighboring Ryan are in column C" — Henry (B2)
C4 · Ryan → INNOCENT, D4 · Steve → INNOCENT
Because: Ollie is at D3, so the only people in row 4 who neighbor him are C4 Ryan (diagonally) and D4 Steve (directly below), because A4 Phil and B4 Quita are too far away to be neighbors of D3. Noah’s clue says that exactly 2 innocents in row 4 are neighboring Ollie. Since there are exactly two row 4 neighbors of Ollie, both of them must be the two innocents mentioned in the clue. Therefore, we can determine that C4 Ryan is INNOCENT and D4 Steve is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 innocents in row 4 are neighboring Ollie" — Noah (C3)
A3 · Larry → INNOCENT
Because: The relevant people here are Steve at D4 and Larry at A3. Steve’s clue directly states “Larry is innocent,” and everyone always tells the truth. Therefore, we can determine that A3 Larry is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Larry is innocent" — Steve (D4)
A5 · Vera → INNOCENT, B5 · Wanda → INNOCENT
Because: In row 5, the only people who can have someone directly to their left are B5, C5, and D5, because A5 has no space to its left. Larry’s clue says exactly two people in row 5 have an innocent directly to the left of them. D5 would only count if C5 were innocent, but C5 (Xavi) is already known to be a criminal, so D5 cannot be one of the two. That forces the two qualifying people to be B5 and C5, which means A5 must be innocent (so B5 has an innocent on its left) and B5 must be innocent (so C5 has an innocent on its left). Therefore, we can determine that A5 (Vera) is INNOCENT and B5 (Wanda) is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"2 persons in row 5 have an innocent directly to the left of them" — Larry (A3)
C2 · Janet → INNOCENT
Because: Claire is at C1 and Xavi is at C5, so the people in between them in column C are Janet at C2, Noah at C3, and Ryan at C4. Wanda’s clue says there are exactly 2 innocents among those three in-between people. We already know Noah is a criminal and Ryan is innocent, so Janet must be the second innocent to make the total of 2 innocents in between. Therefore, we can determine that C2 Janet is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"There are exactly 2 innocents in between Claire and Xavi" — Wanda (B5)
C1 · Claire → CRIMINAL
Because: Janet is in C2, so “my column” means column C: Claire at C1, Janet at C2, Noah at C3, Ryan at C4, and Xavi at C5. Her clue says there are exactly 3 criminals in column C. We already know Noah (C3) and Xavi (C5) are criminals, while Janet (C2) and Ryan (C4) are innocents, so there are currently exactly 2 criminals accounted for in that column. The only remaining person in column C is Claire at C1, so she must be the third criminal. Therefore, we can determine that C1 Claire is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"There are exactly 3 criminals in my column" — Janet (C2)
A1 · Amy → INNOCENT
Because: In row 1 the people are Amy at A1, Barb at B1, Claire at C1, and Emily at D1, and we already know Claire at C1 is a criminal. Vera’s clue says “Both criminals in row 1 are connected,” which means there are exactly two criminals in row 1 and those two must touch through left-right adjacency. Since the second criminal must be directly adjacent to Claire at C1, it can only be Barb at B1 or Emily at D1, not Amy at A1 because A1 is not adjacent to C1. Therefore, we can determine that A1 Amy is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Both criminals in row 1 are connected" — Vera (A5)
D3 · Ollie → INNOCENT, D5 · Ziad → INNOCENT
Because: Ryan is at C4, and his neighbors include C3 (Noah), C5 (Xavi), B3 (Mark), B4 (Quita), D3 (Ollie), and D5 (Ziad), among others. Henry says that there are exactly three criminals neighboring Ryan, and exactly two of those three are in column C; since both C3 and C5 are already criminals, they fill those two column C criminal spots, so the third criminal neighbor of Ryan must be outside column C and must be exactly one person among B3, B4, D3, and D5. Amy says there is only one criminal below Barb in column B, and since B2 (Henry) and B5 (Wanda) are innocent, that means exactly one of B3 (Mark) and B4 (Quita) is a criminal. Because the “one criminal neighbor of Ryan outside column C” must be exactly one among B3, B4, D3, and D5, and we already know exactly one of B3 or B4 is that criminal, D3 and D5 cannot be criminals. Therefore, we can determine that D3 (Ollie) is INNOCENT and D5 (Ziad) is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of the 3 criminals neighboring Ryan are in column C" — Henry (B2)
"There is only one criminal below Barb" — Amy (A1)
D2 · Katie → INNOCENT
Because: Ryan is at C4, and his neighbors are B3 Mark, C3 Noah, D3 Ollie, B4 Quita, D4 Steve, B5 Wanda, C5 Xavi, and D5 Ziad. Henry’s clue says Ryan has exactly three criminal neighbors, and exactly two of those three are in column C; since Noah at C3 and Xavi at C5 are already criminals, they must be the two criminals in column C, so the third criminal neighbor of Ryan must be either Mark at B3 or Quita at B4 (and not both). Noah is at C3, and Ollie’s clue says the number of innocents neighboring Noah is odd; among Noah’s neighbors, Henry, Janet, Ollie, Ryan, and Steve are already innocent, giving five innocents so far, and Mark and Quita together contribute exactly one innocent because exactly one of them is the third criminal. To keep the total number of Noah’s neighboring innocents odd, Katie at D2 must also be innocent, bringing the unknown-neighbor innocents from 1 up to 2 and the overall innocent count from 5 up to 7. Therefore, we can determine that D2 Katie is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of the 3 criminals neighboring Ryan are in column C" — Henry (B2)
"There's an odd number of innocents neighboring Noah" — Ollie (D3)
D1 · Emily → INNOCENT
Because: In column C, the criminals are Claire at C1, Noah at C3, and Xavi at C5, so there are exactly three criminals in that column. Katie’s clue says that three criminals in column C have an innocent directly to their right, meaning the people at D1, D3, and D5 must be innocent. We already know Ollie at D3 and Ziad at D5 are innocent, so Claire at C1 also has to have an innocent directly to her right at D1. Therefore, we can determine that D1 Emily is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"3 criminals in column C have an innocent directly to the right of them" — Katie (D2)
B1 · Barb → CRIMINAL
Because: In row 1 we have Amy at A1 who is already INNOCENT, Barb at B1 unknown, Claire at C1 who is already CRIMINAL, and Emily at D1 who is already INNOCENT. Vera’s clue says “Both criminals in row 1 are connected,” which tells us there are exactly two criminals in row 1, and they must form one orthogonally connected group. Since Claire at C1 is already one of those criminals, the only remaining place for the second criminal in row 1 is Barb at B1. Barb at B1 is also directly next to Claire at C1, so the two criminals are indeed connected. Therefore, we can determine that B1 Barb is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Both criminals in row 1 are connected" — Vera (A5)
A2 · Freya → INNOCENT
Because: Row 5 already has three innocents: Vera at A5, Wanda at B5, and Ziad at D5, with only Xavi at C5 being a criminal. Row 2 currently has three confirmed innocents as well: Henry at B2, Janet at C2, and Katie at D2, while Freya at A2 is the only unknown in that row. Emily’s clue says row 2 has more innocents than row 5, so row 2 cannot stay at three innocents when row 5 already has three. That forces Freya to be an innocent to make row 2 have four innocents. Therefore, we can determine that A2 (Freya) is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"There are more innocents in row 2 than row 5" — Emily (D1)
B3 · Mark → CRIMINAL
Because: Row 5 already has exactly three innocents, because Vera, Wanda, and Ziad are innocent while Xavi is criminal. Freya’s clue says that only one row on the whole board has exactly three innocents, so no other row is allowed to end up with three innocents. In row 3, Larry and Ollie are innocent and Noah is criminal, so the row will have exactly three innocents if and only if Mark is innocent. Since row 5 is already the unique “three-innocent” row, Mark cannot be innocent. Therefore, we can determine that B3 Mark is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Only one row has exactly 3 innocents" — Freya (A2)
B4 · Quita → INNOCENT
Because: Ryan is at C4, so his neighbors are B3 Mark, C3 Noah, D3 Ollie, B4 Quita, D4 Steve, B5 Wanda, C5 Xavi, and D5 Ziad. Henry’s clue says that Ryan has exactly three criminal neighbors in total, and exactly two of those three are in column C. We already have three known criminals among Ryan’s neighbors: Mark at B3, Noah at C3, and Xavi at C5, with exactly two of them (Noah and Xavi) in column C. Since that already fills all three criminal-neighbor slots, Quita cannot also be a criminal. Therefore, we can determine that B4 Quita is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of the 3 criminals neighboring Ryan are in column C" — Henry (B2)
A4 · Phil → INNOCENT
Because: Look at how many innocents are in each row with the current information. Row 5 already has exactly three innocents (Vera, Wanda, and Ziad), and that cannot change. Freya’s clue says that only one row in the whole board has exactly three innocents, so no other row is allowed to end up with three innocents. In row 4, Quita, Ryan, and Steve are already innocent, so the only way row 4 would have exactly three innocents is if Phil at A4 were criminal; that is forbidden by the clue, so Phil must be innocent. Therefore, we can determine that A4 Phil is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Only one row has exactly 3 innocents" — Freya (A2)