Clues by Sam Apr 23, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained
Tricky·Solved
A1
👨🍳
Alex
cook
B1
👩🌾
Bonnie
farmer
C1
👨🌾
Donald
farmer
D1
👨🍳
Gabe
cook
A2
👨🍳
Hal
cook
B2
👨🌾
Ike
farmer
C2
👮♂️
Kumar
cop
D2
👩💼
Linda
clerk
A3
🕵️♀️
Mary
sleuth
B3
👷♂️
Noah
builder
C3
👮♀️
Olga
cop
D3
👩💼
Pam
clerk
A4
🕵️♀️
Quita
sleuth
B4
🕵️♀️
Ruby
sleuth
C4
👮♂️
Terry
cop
D4
👷♀️
Uma
builder
A5
💂♂️
Vince
guard
B5
💂♀️
Wanda
guard
C5
💂♂️
Xavi
guard
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 10Criminal 10Unknown 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 · 10
[ A1 ] [ C2 ] [ D2 ] [ C3 ] [ D3 ] [ C4 ] [ A5 ] [ B5 ] [ C5 ] [ D5 ]
Criminal · 10
[ B1 ] [ C1 ] [ D1 ] [ A2 ] [ B2 ] [ A3 ] [ B3 ] [ A4 ] [ B4 ] [ D4 ]
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 · Alex
"Mt. Everest! Nothing's bigger than that, right?"
B1 · Bonnie
"You can keep guessing, but you'll never get it"
C1 · Donald
"Our plan is much more clever than that!"
D1 · Gabe
"There's an odd number of innocents above Vince"
A2 · Hal
"Pretty good ideas though. Maybe next week."
B2 · Ike
"There are more innocents in column C than column D"
C2 · Kumar
"I heard the criminals are stealing Big Ben!"
D2 · Linda
"Exactly 2 innocents in row 5 are neighboring Uma"
A3 · Mary
"Only one of the 3 cooks is innocent"
B3 · Noah
"Only 1 of the 7 criminals on the edges is in column B"
C3 · Olga
"There are more innocent clerks than innocent cooks"
D3 · Pam
"There are exactly 2 innocents in row 2"
A4 · Quita
"Column B is the only column with exactly one innocent"
B4 · Ruby
"Olga has exactly 4 innocent neighbors"
C4 · Terry
"I saw the criminals visiting the Eiffel Tower!"
D4 · Uma
"All wrong. It's bigger!"
A5 · Vince
"Noah is one of Ike's 5 criminal neighbors"
B5 · Wanda
"I bet they're stealing the pyramids!"
C5 · Xavi
"Only 1 of the 3 criminals neighboring Bonnie is a cook"
D5 · Zara
"There's an odd number of innocents above Quita"
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)
C5 · Xavi → INNOCENT, D5 · Zara → INNOCENT
Because: Linda’s clue says there are exactly 2 innocents in the group that is both in row 5 and neighboring Uma. That shared group contains only Xavi and Zara, and no one there is already known innocent. Since the group still needs 2 innocents and Xavi and Zara are the only people left in it, both of them have to be those 2 innocents. So Xavi and Zara must be INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Exactly 2 innocents in row 5 are neighboring Uma" — Linda (D2)
A3 · Mary → CRIMINAL
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 3 criminals neighboring Bonnie is a cook" — Xavi (C5)
"There's an odd number of innocents above Quita" — Zara (D5)
D1 · Gabe → CRIMINAL
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 3 criminals neighboring Bonnie is a cook" — Xavi (C5)
"Only one of the 3 cooks is innocent" — Mary (A3)
A4 · Quita → CRIMINAL
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 3 criminals neighboring Bonnie is a cook" — Xavi (C5)
"There's an odd number of innocents above Vince" — Gabe (D1)
A5 · Vince → INNOCENT
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 3 criminals neighboring Bonnie is a cook" — Xavi (C5)
"Column B is the only column with exactly one innocent" — Quita (A4)
B3 · Noah → CRIMINAL
Because: Vince’s clue says that Noah is one of Ike’s exactly 5 criminal neighbors. That directly places Noah among the criminal neighbors named by the clue. So Noah must be CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"Noah is one of Ike's 5 criminal neighbors" — Vince (A5)
B4 · Ruby → CRIMINAL, B2 · Ike → CRIMINAL
Because: Column B is Bonnie, Ike, Noah, Ruby, and Wanda, and the clue says this column has exactly 1 innocent in total. Bonnie and Wanda are the edge-cell people in column B, and from Noah's clue exactly 1 of those two is criminal, so exactly 1 of them is innocent. That already uses up the only innocent allowed in column B, so nobody else in column B can be innocent. So Ike and Ruby must be criminal.
Clue:
"Column B is the only column with exactly one innocent" — Quita (A4)
"Only 1 of the 7 criminals on the edges is in column B" — Noah (B3)
C4 · Terry → INNOCENT, C2 · Kumar → INNOCENT
Because: Olga’s clue says her neighbors contain exactly 4 innocents, and among her still-unknown neighbors there is therefore exactly 1 criminal. In that group, the only people who can still be that one criminal are Pam and Uma. That means Kumar and Terry cannot be the criminal in Olga’s unknown-neighbor group. So Kumar and Terry must be INNOCENT.
Clue:
"There are more innocents in column C than column D" — Ike (B2)
"Olga has exactly 4 innocent neighbors" — Ruby (B4)
C1 · Donald → CRIMINAL
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 3 criminals neighboring Bonnie is a cook" — Xavi (C5)
C3 · Olga → INNOCENT
Because: Column C already has 3 known innocents, while column D has 2, and Ike’s clue says column C has more innocents than column D. Ruby’s clue says Olga’s neighbors contain exactly 4 innocents, and those neighbors already include 3 known innocents, with only Pam and Uma still unknown among them. The only unknown people these two clues can still affect are Olga, Pam, and Uma, and together those limits already determine Olga’s status. So Olga must be innocent.
Clue:
"There are more innocents in column C than column D" — Ike (B2)
"Olga has exactly 4 innocent neighbors" — Ruby (B4)
B1 · Bonnie → CRIMINAL
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 3 criminals neighboring Bonnie is a cook" — Xavi (C5)
"Noah is one of Ike's 5 criminal neighbors" — Vince (A5)
B5 · Wanda → INNOCENT
Because: Quita’s clue says column B is the only column with exactly one innocent, so column B itself must contain exactly one innocent person. In column B, Bonnie, Ike, Noah, and Ruby are already criminals, and Wanda is the only unknown person left there. That means the one innocent in column B has to be Wanda. So B5 Wanda must be INNOCENT.
Clue:
"Column B is the only column with exactly one innocent" — Quita (A4)
D3 · Pam → INNOCENT
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 3 criminals neighboring Bonnie is a cook" — Xavi (C5)
"There are more innocent clerks than innocent cooks" — Olga (C3)
D4 · Uma → CRIMINAL
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 3 criminals neighboring Bonnie is a cook" — Xavi (C5)
"Only 1 of the 7 criminals on the edges is in column B" — Noah (B3)
A2 · Hal → CRIMINAL
Because: Pam’s clue says row 2 contains exactly 2 innocents. Row 2 already has those 2 known innocents, Kumar at C2 and Linda at D2. The only unknown person left in that row is Hal at A2, so Hal cannot be innocent. So Hal must be CRIMINAL.
Clue:
"There are exactly 2 innocents in row 2" — Pam (D3)
A1 · Alex → INNOCENT
Clue:
"Only 1 of the 3 criminals neighboring Bonnie is a cook" — Xavi (C5)