Clues by Sam May 13, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained
A1
👮♀️
cop
B1
👩⚕️
doctor
C1
👩✈️
pilot
D1
👨✈️
pilot
A2
🕵️♂️
sleuth
B2
👨⚕️
doctor
C2
👷♂️
builder
D2
👨✈️
pilot
A3
💂♂️
guard
B3
💂♂️
guard
C3
💂♀️
guard
D3
👨⚕️
doctor
A4
🕵️♂️
sleuth
B4
👮♀️
cop
C4
👷♀️
builder
D4
👩🍳
cook
A5
👩🍳
cook
B5
🕵️♀️
sleuth
C5
👮♂️
cop
D5
👩🍳
cook
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 13, 2026 — a Medium solved in 17 steps
Today's Clues by Sam puzzle is rated Medium and resolves with 7 criminals on a 20-cell, 4-column × 5-row grid. The criminals are Amy (A1), Carol (C1), Frank (B2), Noah (D3), Penny (B4), Stella (D4) and Zoe (D5); the remaining 13 suspects are innocent.
The deduction chain, in plain English
01.C4 · Quita → INNOCENT, C5 · Xavi → INNOCENT
Laura’s clue says exactly 2 cooks have an innocent directly to the left. We still need 2 such cases for that clue, and the only direct-left neighbors that still matter for it are Quita at C4 and Xavi at C5. So those two left neighbors have to be the innocents that satisfy the clue. That makes Quita and Xavi innocent.
02.A1 · Amy → CRIMINAL
Xavi’s clue says that Amy is one of the exactly two criminals to the left of Donald. So Amy is explicitly included in that criminal group, not just somewhere among the people on Donald’s left. That makes Amy criminal.
03.D1 · Donald → INNOCENT
Amy’s clue says the people to her right contain an odd number of criminals. Since there are no known criminals to Amy’s right yet, Barb, Carol, and Donald together must contribute an odd number of criminals. Xavi’s clue says Amy is one of exactly 2 criminals to Donald’s left. Amy is already one of them, so among Barb and Carol there must be exactly 1 more criminal. That means Barb and Carol already supply the needed odd count on Amy’s right. Donald cannot also be a criminal, because then the total there would no longer match that odd requirement. So Donald must be innocent.
04.B3 · Kevin → INNOCENT
Xavi’s clue says there are exactly 2 criminals to the left of Donald. Amy is already one of them, so among Barb and Carol there is exactly 1 criminal. Donald’s clue says exactly 1 of Gary’s 3 criminal neighbors is also Frank’s neighbor. In the overlap of Gary’s neighbors and Frank’s neighbors, the relevant people are Barb, Carol, Kevin, and Laura, and Laura is innocent. Since Barb and Carol already account for the single criminal allowed in that overlap, there is no room for Kevin to be a criminal there. So Kevin must be innocent.
05.D3 · Noah → CRIMINAL
Column C has exactly 4 innocents, and Laura, Quita, and Xavi are already three of them, so among Carol and Gary there is exactly 1 innocent. Hank’s neighbors must contain exactly 3 innocents, and Donald and Laura are already two of those. That means Hank’s remaining neighboring innocents must come from Carol, Gary, and Noah, but only 1 innocent is available from Carol and Gary altogether. So Noah cannot be innocent. That makes Noah criminal.
06.A3 · Jason → INNOCENT
Amy is one of exactly 2 criminals to the left of Donald, and the only people there besides Amy are Barb and Carol. So exactly one of Barb and Carol is a criminal, which means row 1 has exactly 2 criminals in total. Noah says row 1 has more criminals than row 3. Row 3 already has 1 known criminal, Noah himself. If Jason were also a criminal, then row 3 would also have 2 criminals, which would not be fewer than row 1's 2. That clashes with Noah's clue, so Jason cannot be a criminal. So Jason must be innocent.
07.A2 · Ethan → INNOCENT
Hank must have exactly 3 innocent neighbors, and among Hank's neighbors the only people who could add to the 2 already known innocents are Carol and Gary, so exactly 1 of Carol and Gary is innocent. Jason's clue says Barb and Frank have exactly 2 innocent neighbors in common, and that shared group is Amy, Carol, Ethan, and Gary. Amy is criminal, and Carol plus Gary contribute exactly 1 innocent total, so the second innocent in that shared group has to be the only remaining person there, Ethan. So Ethan must be innocent.
08.C2 · Gary → INNOCENT
To the left of Donald there are exactly 2 criminals, and Amy is one of them. In Frank's neighborhood, Amy, Barb, and Carol are all included, and Frank's neighborhood also has exactly 2 criminals total. That means Frank's neighborhood must get both of its criminals from Amy, Barb, and Carol. The only other person in Frank's neighborhood outside that trio is Gary, so Gary cannot be a criminal. So Gary must be innocent.
09.C1 · Carol → CRIMINAL
Kevin’s clue says Hank has exactly 3 innocent neighbors. Hank’s neighbors already include 3 known innocents, and the only unknown neighbor left there is Carol. Since all 3 innocent spots are already accounted for, Carol cannot be innocent. So Carol must be criminal.
10.B1 · Barb → INNOCENT
Xavi's clue says Amy is one of exactly 2 criminals to the left of Donald. The people to the left of Donald are Amy, Barb, and Carol, and Amy and Carol are already the 2 known criminals there. If Barb were also a criminal, there would be 3 criminals to the left of Donald, which conflicts with the clue. So Barb must be innocent.
11.D4 · Stella → CRIMINAL
Carol's clue says exactly 1 of Quita's 4 criminal neighbors is also a neighbor of Zoe. Among the people who are both neighbors of Quita and neighbors of Zoe, C5 Xavi is innocent and D4 Stella is the only unknown person there. So that shared group still needs 1 criminal, and Stella is the only person who can fill it. That makes Stella criminal.
12.B4 · Penny → CRIMINAL
Quita has exactly four criminal neighbors, and Noah and Stella are already two of them. Among the three unknown neighbors, only one can be innocent, because those three must supply the remaining two criminals. Carol’s clue says exactly one of Quita’s criminal neighbors is also Zoe’s neighbor. In the overlap with Zoe’s neighbors, Stella is already that one criminal, so the remaining innocent among Quita’s unknown neighbors has to be one of the non-overlap neighbors, Wanda or Zoe, not Penny. That means Penny cannot be the innocent one among those three unknown neighbors. So Penny must be criminal.
13.A5 · Uma → INNOCENT
Penny’s clue says rows 2 and 5 must have the same number of innocents. Right now row 2 already has 2 known innocents, while row 5 has only 1 known innocent. If Uma were a criminal, then row 5 would still need its matching innocents to come from Wanda or Zoe, while Frank, Hank, Wanda, and Zoe also have to satisfy Carol’s and Donald’s neighbor-count clues at the same time. That combination does not fit all three clues together. So Uma must be innocent.
14.A4 · Olsi → INNOCENT, D2 · Hank → INNOCENT
Uma’s clue says there are exactly 9 innocents on the edges, so the edge cells contain exactly 5 criminals. Carol’s clue fixes Quita’s neighbors at exactly 4 criminals, and the only possible extra criminal there is among Wanda and Zoe, so that neighboring edge group already accounts for all 5 edge criminals. The only edge people outside that group are Hank and Olsi, so they cannot be criminals. That makes Olsi and Hank innocent.
15.B2 · Frank → CRIMINAL
Gary’s neighbors contain exactly 3 criminals, and exactly 1 of those criminals is also a neighbor of Frank. Among the people who are both Gary’s neighbors and Frank’s neighbors, only Carol is a criminal, so the other 2 criminals among Gary’s neighbors must come from Gary’s neighbors who are not neighbors of Frank. Those people are Donald, Frank, Hank, and Noah. Donald and Hank are innocent, and Noah is already a criminal, so that group still needs 1 more criminal. The only person there who can fill that remaining criminal spot is Frank. So Frank must be criminal.
16.D5 · Zoe → CRIMINAL
Hank's clue says column D contains exactly 2 innocents. In column D, those 2 innocents are already accounted for: Donald and Hank. That leaves Zoe as the only unknown person in that column, so Zoe cannot also be innocent. So Zoe must be criminal.
17.B5 · Wanda → INNOCENT
Quita’s neighbors contain exactly 4 criminals in total. Carol’s clue says exactly 1 of those criminals is also a neighbor of Zoe, and in that shared group Stella is the only criminal there. So the other 3 criminals among Quita’s neighbors must all come from the people who are not neighbors of Zoe: Kevin, Laura, Noah, Penny, Wanda, and Zoe. But in that remainder, Noah, Penny, and Zoe are already the 3 known criminals. That leaves no room for Wanda to be a criminal. So Wanda must be innocent.