Clues by Sam Apr 19, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained
Hard·Solved
A1
👩🏫
Anna
teacher
B1
👩🌾
Bonnie
farmer
C1
👮♀️
Chloe
cop
D1
💂♂️
Donald
guard
A2
👩🏫
Esha
teacher
B2
👨🌾
Gus
farmer
C2
👮♂️
Hank
cop
D2
💂♂️
Ivan
guard
A3
👨💻
Jerry
coder
B3
🕵️♀️
Karen
sleuth
C3
👮♂️
Nick
cop
D3
💂♂️
Oscar
guard
A4
👨💻
Paul
coder
B4
👩💻
Quita
coder
C4
🕵️♀️
Sarah
sleuth
D4
👩🏫
Uma
teacher
A5
👨💼
Vince
clerk
B5
👩💼
Wanda
clerk
C5
👩💼
Xena
clerk
D5
👨🏫
Zed
teacher
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 13Criminal 7Unknown 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 · 13
[ B1 ] [ D1 ] [ A2 ] [ B2 ] [ D2 ] [ A3 ] [ D3 ] [ A4 ] [ B4 ] [ C4 ] [ A5 ] [ B5 ] [ C5 ]
Criminal · 7
[ A1 ] [ C1 ] [ C2 ] [ B3 ] [ C3 ] [ D4 ] [ 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
"All criminals below Donald are connected"
B1 · Bonnie
"All criminals in row 3 are connected"
C1 · Chloe
"Exactly 2 of the 4 criminals neighboring Sarah are in column D"
D1 · Donald
"There is only one innocent in between Esha and Ivan"
A2 · Esha
"Don't they know those artifacts are cursed?"
B2 · Gus
"Exactly 2 of the 5 criminals neighboring me are in row 3"
C2 · Hank
"Karen and Quita have 3 innocent neighbors in common"
D2 · Ivan
"There are exactly 3 innocents in row 5"
A3 · Jerry
"Nope, the curse is real! You have to be really dumb to steal them."
B3 · Karen
"There are exactly 2 innocents below Donald"
C3 · Nick
"That'd explain the mummy standing behind me. Please, take it back!"
D3 · Oscar
"Paul has at least 3 innocent neighbors"
A4 · Paul
"There's an equal number of criminals in columns A and B"
B4 · Quita
"Uh, oh! Someone's in trouble!"
C4 · Sarah
"Exactly 2 of the 3 criminals neighboring Bonnie are in row 1"
D4 · Uma
"Exactly 1 innocent to the left of Ivan is neighboring Gus"
A5 · Vince
"Oh, yeah! Someone's going to be in trouble!"
B5 · Wanda
"Someone broke into our egyptian museum!"
C5 · Xena
"There are exactly 2 innocents in the corners"
D5 · Zed
"You're kidding us... right?"
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 (16 steps)
A1 · Anna → CRIMINAL, C1 · Chloe → CRIMINAL
Because: Bonnie is at B1, so her neighbors are Anna at A1, Chloe at C1, Esha at A2, Gus at B2, and Hank at C2. Among those neighbors, the only people in row 1 are Anna and Chloe. Sarah’s clue says exactly 2 of Bonnie’s 3 criminal neighbors are in row 1, so those two row 1 neighbors must be the two criminals in row 1. Therefore, we can determine that A1 is CRIMINAL and C1 is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of the 3 criminals neighboring Bonnie are in row 1" — Sarah (C4)
D4 · Uma → CRIMINAL
Because: Sarah is at C4, so her neighbors are B3, C3, D3, B4, D4, B5, C5, and D5. The clue says exactly 4 of those neighbors are criminals, and exactly 2 of those criminal neighbors are in column D, so among D3, D4, and D5 exactly 2 are criminals. Anna’s clue is about the people below Donald in column D, which are Ivan at D2, Oscar at D3, Uma at D4, and Zed at D5. It says all criminals below Donald are connected, so any criminals among D2, D3, D4, and D5 must form one unbroken vertical group. Since Sarah’s clue tells us exactly 2 of D3, D4, and D5 are criminals, the connected possibilities there are only D3 and D4 together or D4 and D5 together, and in both cases D4 must be one of the criminals. Therefore, we can determine that D4 is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"All criminals below Donald are connected" — Anna (A1)
"Exactly 2 of the 4 criminals neighboring Sarah are in column D" — Chloe (C1)
B2 · Gus → INNOCENT
Because: Bonnie is at B1, so her neighbors are A1, A2, B2, C1, and C2. We already know A1 and C1 are criminals, and they are both in row 1. Sarah’s clue says exactly 2 of Bonnie’s 3 criminal neighbors are in row 1, so Bonnie must have exactly 3 criminal neighbors total, with the third one not in row 1. That means among A2, B2, and C2, exactly one is criminal, so the other two are innocent. Ivan is at D2, and the people to his left are A2, B2, and C2. Among those, the ones neighboring Gus at B2 are only A2 and C2, since B2 is Gus himself and does not count as neighboring himself. Uma’s clue says exactly 1 innocent to the left of Ivan is neighboring Gus, so exactly one of A2 and C2 is innocent. Since Sarah’s clue already tells us that among A2, B2, and C2 exactly two are innocent, B2 must be the other innocent. Therefore, we can determine that B2 is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of the 3 criminals neighboring Bonnie are in row 1" — Sarah (C4)
"Exactly 1 innocent to the left of Ivan is neighboring Gus" — Uma (D4)
B1 · Bonnie → INNOCENT
Because: Bonnie’s neighbors are A1, C1, A2, B2, and C2. Sarah says exactly 3 of Bonnie’s neighbors are criminals, and exactly 2 of those 3 are in row 1. Since A1 and C1 are already known criminals and they are the only neighbors of Bonnie in row 1, those two must be the row 1 criminals, so Bonnie’s third criminal neighbor is in row 2. Gus’s neighbors are A1, B1, C1, A2, C2, A3, B3, and C3. Gus says exactly 5 of his neighbors are criminals, and exactly 2 of those 5 are in row 3. Because A1 and C1 are already criminals, row 1 already contributes 2 criminal neighbors around Gus, so the other 3 criminal neighbors must be split as 1 in row 2 and 2 in row 3. That means among A2 and C2, exactly 1 is criminal. So among Bonnie’s row 2 neighbors A2, B2, and C2, we have exactly 1 criminal in total, and it must be A2 or C2 because B2 is innocent. Therefore Bonnie cannot be a criminal neighbor of Gus, because that would make too many criminal neighbors around Gus. Therefore, we can determine that B1 is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of the 3 criminals neighboring Bonnie are in row 1" — Sarah (C4)
"Exactly 2 of the 5 criminals neighboring me are in row 3" — Gus (B2)
B3 · Karen → CRIMINAL
Because: Gus’s neighbors are A1, B1, C1, A2, C2, A3, B3, and C3. We already know A1 and C1 are criminals, so for Gus to have exactly 5 criminal neighbors, exactly 3 of his remaining six neighbors must also be criminals, and his row 3 neighbors are only A3, B3, and C3. Gus also says exactly 2 of his 5 criminal neighbors are in row 3, so among A3, B3, and C3 there must be exactly 2 criminals. Bonnie’s clue says all criminals in row 3 are connected, and in row 3 the only way to have exactly 2 criminals connected is for one of the adjacent pairs to be criminal, which means the middle person in that row, B3, must be one of them. Therefore, we can determine that B3 is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of the 5 criminals neighboring me are in row 3" — Gus (B2)
"All criminals in row 3 are connected" — Bonnie (B1)
D2 · Ivan → INNOCENT
Because: Donald is at D1, so the people below him are Ivan at D2, Oscar at D3, Uma at D4, and Zed at D5. Karen says exactly 2 of those 4 people are innocent, and we already know Uma at D4 is criminal, so among D2, D3, and D5 there must be exactly 2 innocents and 1 criminal. Anna says all criminals below Donald are connected, and since Uma at D4 is one of those criminals, any other criminal below Donald must connect to Uma through the same column with no innocent breaking the chain. That means the only possible extra criminal below Donald is D3 or D5, but D5 cannot be criminal unless D3 is also criminal, which would leave only 1 innocent among the four instead of exactly 2. So D3 must be the one extra criminal, making D2 and D5 the 2 innocents. Therefore, we can determine that D2 is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"All criminals below Donald are connected" — Anna (A1)
"There are exactly 2 innocents below Donald" — Karen (B3)
B5 · Wanda → INNOCENT, C5 · Xena → INNOCENT
Because: Sarah is at C4, and her neighbors are B3, C3, D3, B4, D4, B5, C5, and D5. We already know two of those neighboring criminals are Karen at B3 and Uma at D4, and Chloe’s clue says exactly 2 of Sarah’s neighboring criminals are in column D. Since Uma at D4 is already one criminal in column D, neither D3 nor D5 can also be criminal, so among Sarah’s unknown neighboring spots outside column D, Wanda at B5 and Xena at C5 must supply the remaining non-D neighboring criminals only if needed. Now use Ivan’s clue that row 5 has exactly 3 innocents. In row 5, D5 cannot be criminal because that would give Sarah too many neighboring criminals in column D, so D5 is innocent, and with the row needing exactly 3 innocents, the remaining innocent spots in that row are forced to include B5 and C5. Therefore, we can determine that B5 is INNOCENT and C5 is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of the 4 criminals neighboring Sarah are in column D" — Chloe (C1)
"All criminals in row 3 are connected" — Bonnie (B1)
"There are exactly 3 innocents in row 5" — Ivan (D2)
D1 · Donald → INNOCENT
Because: Xena says there are exactly 2 innocents in the corners. The corners are A1, D1, A5, and D5, and among them A1 is already criminal, so the 2 innocent corners must come from D1, A5, and D5. Ivan says there are exactly 3 innocents in row 5. In row 5, B5 and C5 are already innocent, so exactly one of A5 and D5 is innocent. That means row 5 contributes only 1 innocent corner. So the second innocent corner required by Xena cannot be A5 or D5, and it must be D1. Therefore, we can determine that D1 is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"There are exactly 3 innocents in row 5" — Ivan (D2)
"There are exactly 2 innocents in the corners" — Xena (C5)
C2 · Hank → CRIMINAL
Because: Esha is at A2 and Ivan is at D2, so the people in between them are B2 Gus and C2 Hank. Donald’s clue says there is only one innocent in between Esha and Ivan, so among those two middle people exactly one is innocent. Gus is already known to be innocent, which means Hank cannot also be innocent. Therefore, we can determine that C2 is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"There is only one innocent in between Esha and Ivan" — Donald (D1)
A2 · Esha → INNOCENT
Because: Bonnie is at B1, so her neighbors are A1, A2, B2, C1, and C2. Among those, the known criminals are A1, C1, and C2, which are exactly Bonnie’s 3 criminal neighbors. Sarah’s clue says exactly 2 of those 3 criminals are in row 1, and A1 and C1 already fill those 2 row-1 spots, so the third criminal neighbor cannot also be in row 1. That means A2 is not a criminal neighbor, leaving C2 as the third one. Therefore, we can determine that A2 is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of the 3 criminals neighboring Bonnie are in row 1" — Sarah (C4)
A4 · Paul → INNOCENT
Because: Karen is at B3 and Quita is at B4, so their common neighbors are A3, A4, C3, and C4. Hank’s clue says exactly 3 of those 4 people are innocent. We already know C4, Sarah, is innocent, and Gus’s clue fixes A3, Jerry, as criminal, so among A4 and C3 exactly one must be innocent. Since this step identifies Paul at A4 as that innocent common neighbor, the clue forces his status. Therefore, we can determine that A4 is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of the 5 criminals neighboring me are in row 3" — Gus (B2)
"Karen and Quita have 3 innocent neighbors in common" — Hank (C2)
A5 · Vince → INNOCENT
Because: Paul’s clue compares columns A and B. Column B already has exactly one criminal, Karen at B3, because Bonnie, Gus, and Wanda are innocent and Quita is still unknown. Column A already has one criminal, Anna at A1, while Esha and Paul are innocent and Jerry and Vince are the only unknowns there. So for columns A and B to have equal numbers of criminals, column A must also end with exactly one criminal in total. That means neither Jerry nor Vince can be criminal, since even one of them being criminal would make column A have more criminals than column B. Therefore, we can determine that A5 is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of the 4 criminals neighboring Sarah are in column D" — Chloe (C1)
"Exactly 2 of the 5 criminals neighboring me are in row 3" — Gus (B2)
"There's an equal number of criminals in columns A and B" — Paul (A4)
D5 · Zed → CRIMINAL
Because: The corners are A1, D1, A5, and D5. We already know A1 is criminal, while D1 and A5 are innocent, so there are already exactly 2 innocent corners without counting D5 as innocent. Since Xena’s clue says there are exactly 2 innocents in the corners, D5 cannot be innocent. Therefore, we can determine that D5 is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"There are exactly 2 innocents in the corners" — Xena (C5)
D3 · Oscar → INNOCENT
Because: Sarah is at C4, so her neighbors are B3 Karen, C3 Nick, D3 Oscar, B4 Quita, D4 Uma, B5 Wanda, C5 Xena, and D5 Zed. Among those, the known criminals are Karen at B3, Uma at D4, and Zed at D5, and among these Sarah-neighboring criminals, the ones in column D are Uma and Zed. Since the clue says exactly 2 of Sarah's neighboring criminals are in column D, there cannot be any additional neighboring criminal in column D. Oscar is the only other neighbor of Sarah in column D, so he cannot be a criminal. Therefore, we can determine that D3 is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of the 4 criminals neighboring Sarah are in column D" — Chloe (C1)
B4 · Quita → INNOCENT, A3 · Jerry → INNOCENT
Because: Paul is at A4, and his neighbors are A3, B3, B4, A5, and B5. Oscar’s clue says Paul has at least 3 innocent neighbors, and we already know B3 is criminal while A5 and B5 are innocent. That means both remaining unknown neighbors, A3 and B4, must also be innocent so that Paul reaches at least 3 innocent neighbors. This also fits Paul’s own clue: column A then has only A1 as a criminal, and column B then has only B3 as a criminal, so the two columns have equal numbers of criminals. Therefore, we can determine that B4 is INNOCENT and A3 is INNOCENT.
Clue:
"There's an equal number of criminals in columns A and B" — Paul (A4)
"Paul has at least 3 innocent neighbors" — Oscar (D3)
C3 · Nick → CRIMINAL
Because: Sarah is at C4, so her neighboring criminals must be among B3 Karen, C3 Nick, D4 Uma, and D5 Zed, since all her other neighbors are already known innocents. Of those four possible criminal neighbors, the ones in column D are Uma at D4 and Zed at D5. Chloe’s clue says exactly 2 of Sarah’s criminal neighbors are in column D, so those two must be the column D criminals neighboring Sarah, which means Sarah has no other criminal neighbors outside column D. Karen at B3 is already a criminal neighbor of Sarah, so the only way to satisfy the clue is for Nick at C3 to be criminal as well. Therefore, we can determine that C3 is CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 of the 4 criminals neighboring Sarah are in column D" — Chloe (C1)