Clues by Sam May 08, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained
A1
👨⚖️
judge
B1
👩🌾
farmer
C1
👩🎨
painter
D1
👨🎨
painter
A2
💂♂️
guard
B2
👨⚖️
judge
C2
👷♂️
builder
D2
👷♀️
builder
A3
💂♀️
guard
B3
👩⚖️
judge
C3
👷♀️
builder
D3
👨🌾
farmer
A4
👨🔧
mech
B4
👩🌾
farmer
C4
👩🏫
teacher
D4
👨⚕️
doctor
A5
💂♂️
guard
B5
👩🔧
mech
C5
👨🏫
teacher
D5
👩⚕️
doctor
Final Board State
This puzzle is fully solved.
All characters have been identified as innocent or criminal based on today's clues.
See how each clue leads to the final result
Skip the reasoning — 7 criminals.
Clues by Sam answer for May 08, 2026 — a Hard solved in 17 steps
Today's Clues by Sam puzzle is rated Hard and resolves with 7 criminals on a 20-cell, 4-column × 5-row grid. The criminals are Hal (B2), Ivan (C2), Layla (B3), Max (C3), Quita (B4), Salil (D4) and Uma (B5); the remaining 13 suspects are innocent.
The deduction chain, in plain English
01.A1 · Bruce → INNOCENT, B1 · Debra → INNOCENT
Peter’s clue says there are exactly 2 innocents in the overlap between row 1 and Gabe’s neighbors. That overlap contains only Bruce and Debra. Since that group still needs 2 innocents, and Bruce and Debra are the only people there, both of them have to be the two innocents. So Bruce and Debra must be innocent.
02.D3 · Noah → INNOCENT
Bruce’s clue says exactly one innocent in row 3 is neighboring Quita, and that row-3 group neighboring Quita is Karen, Layla, and Max. Debra’s clue says every row has at least two innocents, so row 3 must contain at least two innocents in total. If Noah were criminal, then row 3 would have to get its innocents from Karen, Layla, Max, and Noah could not help satisfy Debra’s row requirement. But Karen, Layla, and Max are exactly the shared group from Bruce’s clue, and that clue allows only one innocent among them, so that combination cannot meet both clues at once. So Noah must be innocent.
03.B3 · Layla → CRIMINAL
Noah's clue says Layla has exactly 4 criminal neighbors, and exactly 1 of those criminals is in row 3. Among Layla's row 3 neighbors, that means exactly one of Karen and Max is a criminal. Bruce's clue says exactly 1 innocent in row 3 is neighboring Quita. The row 3 people neighboring Quita are Karen, Layla, and Max, so among those three there are exactly 2 criminals. Since Karen and Max account for exactly 1 of those 2 criminals, the remaining person in that same group must supply the other criminal. So Layla must be criminal.
04.D2 · Joyce → INNOCENT
Row 2 must have at least 2 innocents, and Layla’s clue says exactly 1 innocent in row 2 is neighboring Debra. In row 2, the people who neighbor Debra are Gabe, Hal, and Ivan, so exactly one of those three is innocent. That means the second innocent required in row 2 cannot come from that group. If Joyce were criminal, row 2 could not satisfy both requirements at once. So Joyce at D2 must be innocent.
05.C1 · Ellie → INNOCENT
Hal has exactly 5 innocent neighbors, and among his 8 neighbors one is already known criminal and two are already known innocents. That means the remaining five neighbors contain exactly 2 criminals. Those five are Ellie, Gabe, Ivan, Karen, and Max. The 2 criminals in that group must be Gabe, Ivan, Karen, and Max, so Ellie cannot be one of them. So Ellie must be innocent.
06.B2 · Hal → CRIMINAL
Debra’s clue says there is exactly 1 innocent in the overlap of Debra’s neighbors and row 2, and that overlap is A2 Gabe, B2 Hal, and C2 Ivan. The one innocent in that group has to come from Gabe or Ivan. That means Hal cannot be the innocent person in that group. So Hal must be criminal.
07.C4 · Rose → INNOCENT
Hal says Quita has exactly 3 criminal neighbors, and exactly 1 of those criminals is in column C. So among Quita's neighbors in column C, there is exactly 1 criminal. That column-C neighbor group is C3 Max, C4 Rose, and C5 Vince. In this step, that 1 criminal is accounted for by Max or Vince, so Rose cannot be the criminal in that group. That makes Rose innocent.
08.B4 · Quita → CRIMINAL
Layla has exactly 4 criminal neighbors, and only 1 of those criminal neighbors is in row 3. Since Hal is already a criminal neighbor in row 3, the three criminal neighbors not in row 3 must come from A2 Gabe, C2 Ivan, and B4 Quita. Debra’s clue says row 4 has at least 2 innocents. In row 4, Peter and Rose are already innocent, so among Layla’s neighbors not in row 3, the only innocent still needed is accounted for by A2 Gabe or C2 Ivan, not by Quita. So Quita must be criminal.
09.D5 · Wanda → INNOCENT
Bruce’s clue fixes the row 3 neighbors of Quita so that among Karen, Layla, and Max, exactly one is innocent. Ellie’s clue says Tom, Uma, and Vince contain an odd number of criminals. Quita’s clue says row 3 has more criminals than row 5. If Wanda were criminal, then Karen, Max, Tom, Uma, and Vince would have to satisfy all three of those requirements at the same time, but they cannot. So Wanda cannot be criminal. That makes Wanda innocent.
10.D4 · Salil → CRIMINAL
Rose’s clue says exactly one criminal in column D has an innocent directly above them. In column D, the only people not yet identified are Frank at D1 and Salil at D4. If Salil were innocent, then Frank would be the only possible criminal left in column D. But that cannot satisfy Rose’s clue, because the clue requires exactly one criminal in column D with an innocent directly above them, and with Salil innocent that requirement cannot be met by the remaining people in column D. So Salil at D4 must be criminal.
11.D1 · Frank → INNOCENT
Debra’s clue says every row has at least 2 innocents, Ellie’s clue says Tom, Uma, and Vince contain an odd number of criminals, and Salil’s clue says exactly one row has exactly 1 criminal. These clues all have to be satisfied at the same time by Frank together with Gabe, Ivan, Karen, Max, Tom, Uma, and Vince. If Frank were criminal, then that same group would have to make rows 1 through 5 fit all three requirements at once, but they cannot. So Frank cannot be criminal. That makes Frank innocent.
12.C2 · Ivan → CRIMINAL
Hal’s clue says exactly 1 of Quita’s 3 criminal neighbors is in column C. Among Quita’s neighbors in column C, that group is C3 Max, C4 Rose, and C5 Vince, so there is exactly 1 criminal there. Frank’s clue says column C has exactly 3 innocents, so with Ellie and Rose already innocent, column C contains exactly 2 criminals. Column C is C1 Ellie, C2 Ivan, C3 Max, C4 Rose, and C5 Vince, and the only person in column C who is not one of Quita’s neighbors in column C is C2 Ivan. So the second criminal in column C has to be Ivan. That makes Ivan criminal.
13.A2 · Gabe → INNOCENT
Debra’s clue says every row has at least 2 innocents. In row 2, that means there can be at most 2 criminals. Row 2 already has 2 known criminals, Hal and Ivan, and the only person there whose status was not yet fixed is Gabe. So Gabe at A2 must be innocent.
14.A5 · Tom → INNOCENT
Uma and Vince are the exact group that is both neighboring Quita and to the right of Tom, and that group contains exactly 1 criminal. Tom, Uma, and Vince are also exactly the people to the left of Wanda, and that set must contain an odd number of criminals. Since Uma and Vince already contribute exactly 1 criminal to that left-of-Wanda set, the only remaining person there cannot add another criminal without making the total even. So Tom must be innocent.
15.C3 · Max → CRIMINAL
To the left of Wanda, the criminals must total an odd number, and among Tom, Uma, and Vince there are currently 0 known criminals, so Uma and Vince have to make that group odd. Rose’s neighbors also must contain an odd number of criminals, and that neighbor group already has 3 known criminals, with only Max, Uma, and Vince still unknown there. If Max were innocent, then Uma and Vince would have to satisfy both odd-count clues by themselves, but they cannot do that. So Max cannot be innocent. That makes Max criminal.
16.A3 · Karen → INNOCENT
Bruce's clue says exactly 1 innocent is in the overlap between Quita's neighbors and row 3. That shared group is Karen, Layla, and Max. Layla and Max are already criminals, so the group currently has no known innocent, and Karen is the only unknown person left there. So Karen must be innocent.
17.B5 · Uma → CRIMINAL, C5 · Vince → INNOCENT
Quita’s neighbors must contain exactly 3 criminals, and exactly 1 of those criminals is in column C. Among Quita’s neighbors, Max is already a known criminal in column C, and Layla is already a known criminal outside column C. That leaves Uma and Vince as the two people who would complete the total of 3 neighboring criminals. But if Uma were innocent and Vince were criminal, then the criminals among Quita’s neighbors who are in column C would be Max and Vince, which makes 2 in column C instead of exactly 1. So that pairing cannot fit Hal’s clue. That makes Uma criminal and Vince innocent.