Clues by Sam Apr 28, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained

01.B2 · Ivan → INNOCENT, B3 · Nancy → INNOCENT

Salil's clue says the people strictly between Betty and Salil contain exactly 2 innocents. Right now there are no known innocents in that group, and the only people there are Ivan and Nancy. Since those two spots still have to supply all 2 innocents required by the clue, both of them have to be innocent. So Ivan and Nancy must be innocent.

02.C3 · Pam → CRIMINAL, C2 · Karen → CRIMINAL

Ivan's clue says exactly 2 of his 4 criminal neighbors are between Emily and Xavi. Among Ivan's neighbors, the only people in that between group are Karen and Pam. That between group still needs 2 criminals, and Karen and Pam are the only unknown people there. So Karen and Pam must be criminal.

03.B1 · Betty → INNOCENT, B5 · Wally → INNOCENT

Karen’s clue says exactly 2 corner people have an innocent directly to the right of them. Those 2 cases still have to be supplied by the unresolved direct-right neighbors for this clue, and the only such people are Betty and Wally. So both of those right-hand neighbors have to be innocent to make the clue’s total reach 2. That makes Betty and Wally innocent.

04.A2 · Hal → INNOCENT, D2 · Layla → INNOCENT

Wally’s clue says row 2 is the only row with exactly 3 innocents, so row 2 itself has to reach exactly 3 innocents. In row 2, Ivan is already innocent and Karen is already criminal, leaving only Hal and Layla to fill the two unknown spots in that row. If Hal and Layla were both criminal, the remaining people in rows 1, 3, 4, and 5 would have to satisfy the clue’s requirements, but that cannot be done. So Hal and Layla cannot both be criminal. That makes Hal and Layla innocent.

05.A3 · Martin → CRIMINAL

Hal’s clue says Martin is one of the exactly 2 criminals in column A. Since Martin is explicitly named as one of those criminals, his identity is fixed by the clue itself. So Martin must be criminal.

06.D1 · Floyd → CRIMINAL

Ivan’s clue fixes his neighborhood very tightly: it has exactly 4 criminals, and exactly 2 of those criminals are between Emily and Xavi. Those two are already Karen and Pam, so among Ivan’s neighbors the other 2 criminals must come from the people not between Emily and Xavi. Wally’s clue says row 2 is the only row with exactly 3 innocents. If Floyd were innocent, then the remaining unknown people named here would have to satisfy that restriction at the same time as Ivan’s fixed criminal counts, and they cannot do both. So Floyd must be criminal.

07.D4 · Uma → CRIMINAL

Floyd’s clue says that the two innocents in row 4 are connected. Salil at B4 is already one of those innocents, so the other innocent in row 4 has to be next to Salil. That means the second innocent can only be Ronald at A4 or Terry at C4, and Uma at D4 is not next to Salil in that row. So Uma at D4 must be criminal.

08.D3 · Quita → CRIMINAL

Ivan’s clue already fixes the two criminals among his neighbors who are between Emily and Xavi as Karen and Pam, and his neighborhood must contain exactly four criminals in total. Uma’s clue says row 1 has more innocents than row 3, and right now both rows have 1 known innocent. If Quita were innocent, then row 3 would rise to 2 innocents. The only other people left to affect these clues are Amy and Emily, but making them fit both Ivan’s exact criminal count and Uma’s row comparison cannot be done at the same time. So Quita cannot be innocent. So Quita must be criminal.

09.C4 · Terry → CRIMINAL

10.A4 · Ronald → INNOCENT

Floyd's clue says the two innocents in row 4 must be connected. In row 4, Salil is already innocent, while Terry and Uma are criminals, so Ronald is the only person who could be the second innocent there. If Ronald were criminal, then row 4 would have only one innocent instead of both innocents in that row, so the clue could not be true. So Ronald at A4 must be innocent.

11.D5 · Zoe → CRIMINAL

The corners must contain an odd number of criminals. There is already 1 known criminal in the corners, so Amy, Vince, and Zoe must add an even number of criminals. Column A has exactly 2 criminals, and Martin is already one of them, so among Amy and Vince there must be exactly 1 more criminal. That gives the corners 1 criminal from Amy and Vince, so Zoe has to be the additional criminal that keeps the total number of corner criminals odd. So Zoe must be criminal.

12.C5 · Xavi → CRIMINAL

Zoe’s clue says there are exactly no innocents among the people who are neighbors of both Wally and Zoe. That shared group is Terry and Xavi, and it already contains 0 known innocents because Terry is criminal. So the only remaining unknown person in that shared group cannot be innocent. That makes Xavi criminal.

13.A5 · Vince → INNOCENT

Ronald's clue says rows 4 and 5 have the same number of innocents. Row 4 already has 2 innocents, while row 5 currently has only 1 innocent. If Vince were criminal, row 5 would stay at 1 innocent, so it could not match row 4. So Vince must be innocent.

14.A1 · Amy → CRIMINAL

Hal’s clue says Martin is one of exactly 2 criminals in column A. In that column, Martin is already the only known criminal, while Hal, Ronald, and Vince are innocent, so Amy is the only person there who could be the second criminal. If Amy were innocent, column A would have only Martin as a criminal, which breaks Hal’s clue. So Amy must be criminal.

15.C1 · Emily → INNOCENT

Ivan says he has exactly 4 criminal neighbors, and exactly 2 of those criminals are between Emily and Xavi. Those 2 are already Karen and Pam. That leaves exactly 2 criminal neighbors outside that between-group, and Amy and Martin already fill those 2 spots. So Emily cannot be a criminal, and Emily must be innocent.