Clues by Sam May 20, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained
A1
👷♂️
builder
B1
👨🍳
cook
C1
👩🌾
farmer
D1
👨💼
clerk
A2
👷♀️
builder
B2
👮♀️
cop
C2
👨🌾
farmer
D2
👩🎤
singer
A3
👨🍳
cook
B3
👮♀️
cop
C3
👨🍳
cook
D3
👮♀️
cop
A4
💂♀️
guard
B4
👨💼
clerk
C4
🕵️♂️
sleuth
D4
👩🔧
mech
A5
🕵️♀️
sleuth
B5
💂♀️
guard
C5
💂♂️
guard
D5
🤡
clown
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 — 5 criminals.
Clues by Sam answer for May 20, 2026 — a Tricky solved in 17 steps
Today's Clues by Sam puzzle is rated Tricky and resolves with 5 criminals on a 20-cell, 4-column × 5-row grid. The criminals are Freya (B2), Gus (C2), Tina (D4), Uma (A5) and Wally (C5); the remaining 15 suspects are innocent.
The deduction chain, in plain English
01.C3 · Kumar → INNOCENT, B3 · Joyce → INNOCENT
Uma’s clue says there are no criminals in the overlap between the people to the left of Nala and the people who neighbor Gus. That overlap is exactly Joyce and Kumar, and there are already 0 known criminals in that group. So neither of the remaining people in that group can be a criminal. That makes Joyce and Kumar innocent.
02.C5 · Wally → CRIMINAL
Joyce’s clue says there are exactly two innocents below Carol, and those two innocents must be orthogonally connected. Kumar is already one of those innocents, so the other innocent has to be directly connected to Kumar. That limits the second innocent to Gus or Sam, since Wally is not next to Kumar in that column. So Wally must be criminal.
03.B4 · Phil → INNOCENT, B5 · Vicky → INNOCENT
Kumar's clue says Sam has exactly 6 innocent neighbors, and exactly 2 of those innocents are below David. So Sam must have exactly 4 innocent neighbors who are not below David. Among Sam's neighbors who are not below David, Joyce and Kumar are already innocent, Wally is criminal, and the only unknown people there are Phil and Vicky. That means the two remaining innocent spots in that group have to be Phil and Vicky. So Phil and Vicky must be innocent.
04.D3 · Nala → INNOCENT
Vicky’s clue says that Nala is one of the exactly three innocents below David. Since Nala is named as part of that innocent group, her identity is given directly by the clue. So Nala must be innocent.
05.A3 · Ike → INNOCENT
Wally’s clue says row 4 is the only row with exactly one criminal. In row 3, there are currently no known criminals, and Ike is the only person there whose identity is not yet known. If Ike were a criminal, then row 3 would end up with exactly one criminal as well, which would contradict the clue. So Ike must be innocent.
06.C1 · Carol → INNOCENT
Below Carol there are Gus, Kumar, Sam, and Wally, and Joyce’s clue says the two innocents in that group must be connected. Ike’s clue also says every column has at least 3 innocents, including column C. If Carol were a criminal, then the remaining people named in these clues would have to make both of those facts true at the same time, but they cannot. So Carol cannot be a criminal. That makes Carol innocent.
07.D2 · Hazel → INNOCENT
Kumar’s clue fixes how many innocents are below David among the relevant people, and Vicky’s clue says there are exactly 3 innocents below David, including Nala. Among the people below David, the only ones who are also in Sam’s neighboring group are Nala, Tina, and Xavi, so the only person below David outside that smaller group is Hazel. That remaining spot has to provide the needed difference in the innocent count below David. So Hazel must be innocent.
08.D1 · David → INNOCENT
These clues only leave C2 Gus, C4 Sam, D4 Tina, and D5 Xavi to supply the missing identities around the affected groups. Joyce’s clue fixes the innocents below Carol as exactly two connected people among C2 Gus, C3 Kumar, C4 Sam, and C5 Wally, while Kumar’s clue says Sam’s neighbors contain exactly six innocents, with exactly two of those innocents below David among D3 Nala, D4 Tina, and D5 Xavi. Phil’s clue also requires column C to have more criminals than column D, with column C currently showing 1 known criminal and column D showing 0. If David were criminal, then C2 Gus, C4 Sam, D4 Tina, and D5 Xavi would have to satisfy all of those requirements at the same time, and they cannot. So David cannot be criminal. That makes David innocent.
09.A2 · Esha → INNOCENT
David’s clue says exactly 2 corner people have an innocent directly below them. One such case is already known, so there must be 1 more. The only remaining direct-below person that can still change this clue is Esha, so she has to be innocent to provide that second case. So Esha must be innocent.
10.A4 · Olive → INNOCENT
Row 4 has exactly one criminal. In that row, there are no known criminals yet, so that one criminal still has to be found. Esha’s clue says there is only one criminal to the right of Olive, and in this step that means exactly one criminal among Sam and Tina. Olive is in row 4 but not part of that group to Olive’s right. So the single criminal required in row 4 is already accounted for among Sam and Tina, and Olive cannot also be criminal. That makes Olive innocent.
11.A1 · Alex → INNOCENT
Below Carol, the clue says there are exactly two innocents there and those two must be connected. That group is Gus, Kumar, Sam, and Wally, with Kumar already innocent and Wally already criminal, so Gus and Sam are the people that still have to fit that requirement. Olive’s clue also says exactly one column has exactly 2 criminals. If Alex were criminal, then with Ben, Freya, Gus, Sam, Tina, and Xavi still needing to satisfy both clues at the same time, those requirements clash and cannot all be met. So Alex must be innocent.
12.B1 · Ben → INNOCENT
Wally’s clue says row 4 is the only row with exactly one criminal. In row 1, there are currently no known criminals, and Ben is the only person there whose identity is not yet known. If Ben were a criminal, then row 1 would end up with exactly one criminal too, which would contradict the clue. So Ben must be innocent.
13.B2 · Freya → CRIMINAL
Alex’s clue says each column has at least one criminal. In column B, Ben, Joyce, Phil, and Vicky are already known innocents, so column B already has 4 innocents. That means no remaining person in column B can also be innocent, because the column still needs a criminal. So Freya must be criminal.
14.C2 · Gus → CRIMINAL
Wally’s clue says row 4 is the only row with exactly one criminal, so no other row can finish with exactly one criminal. Row 2 already has one known criminal, Freya. Gus is the only person left in row 2 whose identity is not yet known, so if Gus were innocent, row 2 would remain at exactly one criminal, which the clue forbids. So Gus must be criminal.
15.C4 · Sam → INNOCENT
Below Carol are Gus, Kumar, Sam, and Wally. Joyce’s clue says both innocents below Carol are connected, so there must be exactly two innocents in that group and they must touch orthogonally. In that group, Gus and Wally are already criminals and Kumar is already innocent. If Sam were also a criminal, then Kumar would be the only innocent below Carol, which clashes with the clue that there are both innocents below Carol. So Sam must be innocent.
16.D4 · Tina → CRIMINAL
Wally’s clue says row 4 is the only row with exactly one criminal. In row 4, Olive, Phil, and Sam are already innocent, so the only person there who could supply that one criminal is Tina. If Tina were innocent, row 4 would have no criminals at all, which clashes with the clue that row 4 has exactly one criminal. So Tina must be criminal.
17.D5 · Xavi → INNOCENT
Kumar's clue says Sam has exactly 6 innocent neighbors, and exactly 2 of those innocents are below David. Among Sam's neighbors who are below David, Nala is already innocent, Tina is criminal, and Xavi is the only unknown person there. Since that below-David group still needs one more innocent to reach the required total of 2 innocent people, Xavi has to supply it. So Xavi must be innocent.