Clues by Sam Apr 17, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained
Hard·Solved
A1
💂♀️
Amy
guard
B1
👩⚕️
Claire
doctor
C1
👩⚕️
Diane
doctor
D1
👨⚕️
Eric
doctor
A2
💂♂️
Frank
guard
B2
🕵️♀️
Hilda
sleuth
C2
👮♂️
Ike
cop
D2
👮♂️
Jose
cop
A3
💂♂️
Kyle
guard
B3
👷♀️
Linda
builder
C3
👮♀️
Mary
cop
D3
🕵️♂️
Noah
sleuth
A4
👨🍳
Paul
cook
B4
👩🍳
Quita
cook
C4
👩✈️
Ruth
pilot
D4
👩✈️
Sarah
pilot
A5
👩🔧
Tina
mech
B5
👨🔧
Vince
mech
C5
👨✈️
Will
pilot
D5
👷♂️
Zach
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 12Criminal 8Unknown 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 · 12
[ A1 ] [ A2 ] [ C2 ] [ D2 ] [ A3 ] [ C3 ] [ A4 ] [ C4 ] [ D4 ] [ B5 ] [ C5 ] [ D5 ]
Criminal · 8
[ B1 ] [ C1 ] [ D1 ] [ B2 ] [ B3 ] [ D3 ] [ B4 ] [ 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 · Amy
"Noah, you just walked to me and took it."
B1 · Claire
"Only 1 of the 2 criminals neighboring me is in column C"
C1 · Diane
"We can't be creative every day, you know!"
D1 · Eric
"There is only one innocent in row 1"
A2 · Frank
"There's an odd number of criminals on the edges"
B2 · Hilda
"Oh, alright. Take back your stupid moneys."
C2 · Ike
"I hope they steal something more exciting tomorrow!"
D2 · Jose
"So unimaginative! Stealing others money..."
A3 · Kyle
"Only 1 of the 3 criminals neighboring Diane is Linda's neighbor"
B3 · Linda
"Only 1 of the 2 criminals in column D is Diane's neighbor"
C3 · Mary
"Only one of the 3 doctors has exactly 2 criminal neighbors"
D3 · Noah
"It's not what you steal but how you steal it!"
A4 · Paul
"There's an odd number of innocents neighboring Hilda"
B4 · Quita
"Only 1 of us 2 cooks has an innocent directly below them"
C4 · Ruth
"Only 1 of the 3 cops has an innocent directly to the right of them"
D4 · Sarah
"Will is one of Ruth's 5 innocent neighbors"
A5 · Tina
"Only 1 of the 4 criminals neighboring Mary is in column D"
B5 · Vince
"Exactly 2 of Paul's 3 criminal neighbors also neighbor Kyle"
C5 · Will
"Hey! Where did my money go?"
D5 · Zach
"My money is also gone! How boring!"
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 · Quita → CRIMINAL, B3 · Linda → CRIMINAL
Because: Paul is at A4, and his neighbors are Kyle (A3), Linda (B3), Quita (B4), Tina (A5), and Vince (B5). Kyle is at A3, and the only people who are neighbors of both Paul and Kyle are Linda (B3) and Quita (B4). Vince’s clue says that exactly 2 of Paul’s 3 criminal neighbors also neighbor Kyle, so those two shared neighbors must be the ones counted. That forces both Linda and Quita to be criminals, because there are no other candidates who neighbor both Paul and Kyle. Therefore, we can determine that B4 Quita is CRIMINAL and B3 Linda is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of Paul's 3 criminal neighbors also neighbor Kyle" — Vince (B5)
A5 · Tina → CRIMINAL
Because: The two cooks are Paul at A4 and Quita at B4, so the people directly below them are Tina at A5 and Vince at B5. Quita’s clue says that only one of these two cooks has an innocent directly below them, and Vince is already known to be innocent, so Quita is the one who has an innocent directly below. That means Paul cannot have an innocent directly below him, so Tina cannot be innocent. Therefore, we can determine that A5 Tina is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Only 1 of us 2 cooks has an innocent directly below them" — Quita (B4)
A3 · Kyle → INNOCENT
Because: Paul is at A4, and his neighbors are Kyle at A3, Linda at B3, Quita at B4, Tina at A5, and Vince at B5. Vince’s clue refers to “Paul’s 3 criminal neighbors,” which means Paul has exactly three criminal neighbors in total. We already know that Linda, Quita, and Tina are criminals, so those must be the three, and Kyle cannot also be a criminal neighbor of Paul. Therefore, we can determine that A3 Kyle is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of Paul's 3 criminal neighbors also neighbor Kyle" — Vince (B5)
C4 · Ruth → INNOCENT
Because: Mary is at C3, and Tina says that exactly four of Mary’s neighbors are criminals, with exactly one of those four in column D. Since Linda at B3 and Quita at B4 are already known criminals and both neighbor Mary (and neither is in column D), the remaining two criminal neighbors of Mary must be split so that exactly one is in column D and the other is not, which means that among Hilda (B2), Ike (C2), and Ruth (C4), exactly one is a criminal. Kyle also says that Diane at C1 has exactly three criminal neighbors, and exactly one of those criminals is also Linda’s neighbor; among Diane’s neighbors, the only ones who are also Linda’s neighbors are Hilda and Ike, so exactly one of Hilda and Ike is a criminal. Because exactly one of Hilda/Ike is criminal, and Mary’s clue allows only one criminal total among Hilda, Ike, and Ruth, Ruth cannot be a criminal. Therefore, we can determine that C4 Ruth is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 4 criminals neighboring Mary is in column D" — Tina (A5)
"Only 1 of the 3 criminals neighboring Diane is Linda's neighbor" — Kyle (A3)
D4 · Sarah → INNOCENT
Because: Mary is at C3, so the people in column D who neighbor her are Jose at D2, Noah at D3, and Sarah at D4. Ruth’s clue says only 1 of the 3 cops has an innocent directly to the right; Jose at D2 cannot be that cop because he has nobody directly to his right, so exactly one of these must be true: Jose is innocent (making Ike at C2 have an innocent to his right) or Noah is innocent (making Mary at C3 have an innocent to her right). That means Jose and Noah cannot both be innocent, so at least one of them is a criminal. Tina’s clue says that among Mary’s neighboring criminals, only 1 is in column D, so once Jose or Noah accounts for that one column D criminal neighbor, Sarah cannot also be a criminal neighbor in column D. Therefore, we can determine that D4 Sarah is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 4 criminals neighboring Mary is in column D" — Tina (A5)
"Only 1 of the 3 cops has an innocent directly to the right of them" — Ruth (C4)
C5 · Will → INNOCENT
Because: Sarah’s clue explicitly says that Will is one of Ruth’s innocent neighbors, which directly includes Will among the innocents. Therefore, we can determine that C5 Will is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Will is one of Ruth's 5 innocent neighbors" — Sarah (D4)
B1 · Claire → CRIMINAL
Because: Diane is at C1, so her neighbors are Claire at B1, Hilda at B2, Ike at C2, Eric at D1, and Jose at D2. Kyle’s clue says Diane has exactly three neighboring criminals, and exactly one of those three is also a neighbor of Linda; among Diane’s neighbors, the only ones who are also Linda’s neighbors are Hilda (B2) and Ike (C2), so exactly one of Hilda and Ike is a criminal. Linda’s clue says there are exactly two criminals in column D and exactly one of them is Diane’s neighbor; the only column D neighbors Diane has are Eric (D1) and Jose (D2), so exactly one of Eric and Jose is a criminal. That accounts for exactly two of Diane’s three neighboring criminals (one of Hilda/Ike and one of Eric/Jose), so the third must be Claire at B1. Therefore, we can determine that B1 · Claire is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 3 criminals neighboring Diane is Linda's neighbor" — Kyle (A3)
"Only 1 of the 2 criminals in column D is Diane's neighbor" — Linda (B3)
C3 · Mary → INNOCENT
Because: Ruth is at C4, and her neighbors are Linda at B3, Mary at C3, Noah at D3, Quita at B4, Sarah at D4, Vince at B5, Will at C5, and Zach at D5. Sarah’s clue says Will is one of Ruth’s 5 innocent neighbors, and since Sarah, Vince, and Will are already known innocent while Linda and Quita are already known criminals, that forces exactly two of the three remaining neighbors (Mary, Noah, Zach) to be innocent. Linda’s clue says column D has exactly two criminals and only one of those two is Diane’s neighbor; since Diane at C1 only neighbors D1 and D2 within column D, that means exactly one criminal is in D1 or D2, and the other criminal must be in D3 or D5, so exactly one of Noah or Zach is a criminal. With exactly one of (Noah, Zach) being criminal, the “two innocents among (Mary, Noah, Zach)” requirement can only be satisfied if Mary is innocent. Therefore, we can determine that C3 Mary is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Will is one of Ruth's 5 innocent neighbors" — Sarah (D4)
"Only 1 of the 2 criminals in column D is Diane's neighbor" — Linda (B3)
D2 · Jose → INNOCENT
Because: Claire at B1 says “Only 1 of the 2 criminals neighboring me is in column C,” which fixes that she has exactly two criminal neighbors total, and among her column C neighbors C1 and C2, exactly one is a criminal. That means between C1 and C2 there is exactly one criminal. Claire is a doctor, so she is already a doctor who has exactly 2 criminal neighbors; Mary’s clue says only one doctor has exactly 2 criminal neighbors, so the other doctors, including Eric at D1, cannot have exactly 2 criminal neighbors. Eric’s only neighbors are C1, C2, and D2, so if Jose at D2 were a criminal, Eric would have exactly two criminal neighbors (Jose plus the one criminal among C1 and C2), which is not allowed. Therefore, we can determine that D2 Jose is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 2 criminals neighboring me is in column C" — Claire (B1)
"Only one of the 3 doctors has exactly 2 criminal neighbors" — Mary (C3)
D3 · Noah → CRIMINAL
Because: Mary is at C3, so her neighbors are B2 Hilda, C2 Ike, D2 Jose, B3 Linda, D3 Noah, B4 Quita, C4 Ruth, and D4 Sarah. Tina’s clue says that among the four criminals in this neighbor group, exactly one of those criminals is in column D. The only column D neighbors of Mary are Jose at D2, Noah at D3, and Sarah at D4, and we already know Jose and Sarah are innocent. That means the one criminal in column D must be Noah. Therefore, we can determine that D3 Noah is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 4 criminals neighboring Mary is in column D" — Tina (A5)
D1 · Eric → CRIMINAL
Because: Diane is at C1, and her neighbors are Claire at B1, Eric at D1, Hilda at B2, Ike at C2, and Jose at D2. Kyle’s clue says Diane has exactly three criminal neighbors, and exactly one of those three criminals is also a neighbor of Linda at B3. Among Diane’s neighbors, the only ones who are neighbors of Linda are Hilda and Ike, while Claire (already a criminal) is not a neighbor of Linda, and Jose is innocent. So exactly one of Hilda or Ike is a criminal, and since Diane must have three criminal neighbors total, Eric must be the remaining criminal neighbor to reach that count. Therefore, we can determine that D1 Eric is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 3 criminals neighboring Diane is Linda's neighbor" — Kyle (A3)
D5 · Zach → INNOCENT
Because: Ruth is at C4, so her neighbors are the eight surrounding people: Linda at B3, Mary at C3, Noah at D3, Quita at B4, Sarah at D4, Vince at B5, Will at C5, and Zach at D5. Sarah’s clue says that Ruth has exactly 5 innocent neighbors, and that Will is one of them. We already know four of Ruth’s neighbors are innocent: Mary, Sarah, Vince, and Will, while Linda, Noah, and Quita are already confirmed criminals. That means the only way for Ruth to have 5 innocent neighbors is for Zach to be the remaining innocent neighbor. Therefore, we can determine that D5 Zach is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Will is one of Ruth's 5 innocent neighbors" — Sarah (D4)
A2 · Frank → INNOCENT
Because: Claire at B1 neighbors Amy at A1, Diane at C1, Frank at A2, Hilda at B2, and Ike at C2. Eric says there is only one innocent in row 1, and since Claire and Eric are already criminals, exactly one of Amy (A1) and Diane (C1) must be a criminal. Tina says Mary has exactly four criminal neighbors and only one of those is in column D; because Linda (B3), Quita (B4), and Noah (D3) are already criminal neighbors of Mary and Noah is the only possible column D one, the fourth criminal neighbor must be either Hilda (B2) or Ike (C2), meaning exactly one of them is a criminal. That already makes exactly two criminals among Claire’s neighbors without using Frank, so Frank cannot be a criminal because Claire says she has only two criminal neighbors. Therefore, we can determine that A2 Frank is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 4 criminals neighboring Mary is in column D" — Tina (A5)
"Only 1 of the 2 criminals neighboring me is in column C" — Claire (B1)
"There is only one innocent in row 1" — Eric (D1)
A4 · Paul → INNOCENT
Because: The only undecided people on the edge are A1 (Amy), C1 (Diane), and A4 (Paul). Eric says there is only one innocent in row 1, and since B1 and D1 are already criminals, that forces exactly one of A1 and C1 to be a criminal and the other to be the single innocent in that row. Frank says the total number of criminals on the edges is odd; we already have four known edge criminals (B1, D1, D3, and A5), so among A1, C1, and A4 there must be an odd number of criminals. Because A1 and C1 already contribute exactly one criminal (an odd amount), A4 cannot also be a criminal or the edge total would become even. Therefore, we can determine that A4 Paul is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"There is only one innocent in row 1" — Eric (D1)
"There's an odd number of criminals on the edges" — Frank (A2)
A1 · Amy → INNOCENT, B2 · Hilda → CRIMINAL
Because: Claire is at B1, and her neighbors are Amy at A1, Frank at A2, Hilda at B2, Diane at C1, and Ike at C2. Claire says she has exactly two criminal neighbors, and exactly one of those two is in column C, so exactly one of Diane and Ike is a criminal, and the other criminal neighbor must be either Amy or Hilda (since Frank is already known innocent). Paul’s clue is about Hilda’s neighbors: around Hilda, the known innocents are Frank, Kyle, and Mary (3 total), and the unknown neighbors are Amy, Diane, and Ike. For the total number of innocents neighboring Hilda to be odd, the number of innocents among Amy, Diane, and Ike must be even; but Diane and Ike contribute exactly one innocent because Claire’s clue forces exactly one of them to be criminal, so Amy must also be innocent to make that unknown-innocent count even. With Amy innocent and exactly one of Amy and Hilda being the non-column-C criminal neighbor of Claire, Hilda must be the criminal. Therefore, we can determine that A1 Amy is INNOCENT and B2 Hilda is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 2 criminals neighboring me is in column C" — Claire (B1)
"There's an odd number of innocents neighboring Hilda" — Paul (A4)
C2 · Ike → INNOCENT
Because: Mary is at C3, so her eight neighbors are B2 Hilda, C2 Ike, D2 Jose, B3 Linda, D3 Noah, B4 Quita, C4 Ruth, and D4 Sarah. Tina’s clue says that among Mary’s neighbors there are exactly 4 criminals in total, and only 1 of those 4 is in column D. We already have four known criminals among Mary’s neighbors: Hilda (B2), Linda (B3), Noah (D3), and Quita (B4), and Noah is the only one of these in column D, matching the “only 1 in column D” part. Since that already accounts for all 4 criminal neighbors, Ike at C2 cannot also be a criminal neighbor, so he must be innocent. Therefore, we can determine that C2 Ike is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 4 criminals neighboring Mary is in column D" — Tina (A5)
C1 · Diane → CRIMINAL
Because: Claire is at B1, so her neighbors are A1 Amy, A2 Frank, B2 Hilda, C1 Diane, and C2 Ike. Her clue says she has exactly two criminal neighbors in total, and exactly one of those two is in column C. We already know Hilda at B2 is a criminal neighbor of Claire, but Hilda is in column B, so the other criminal neighbor must be the one in column C. Among Claire’s neighbors, the only person in column C who could be that criminal is Diane at C1, because Ike at C2 is already known to be innocent. Therefore, we can determine that C1 Diane is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 2 criminals neighboring me is in column C" — Claire (B1)