Clues by Sam May 22, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained

01.B1 · Chris → INNOCENT, B5 · Will → INNOCENT

Jane’s clue says exactly two corner people have an innocent directly to the right. The two such cases that still matter for this clue are the corners whose right-hand neighbors are Chris at B1 and Will at B5. Since the clue needs two more cases, both of those right-hand neighbors have to be innocent. So Chris and Will must be innocent.

02.C3 · Martin → INNOCENT, A3 · Katie → CRIMINAL

Row 3 has exactly two innocents, and they must be connected. Also, to the right of Katie there are exactly two innocents, so those two innocents in row 3 must come from Linda, Martin, and Nala. If Katie were innocent and Martin were criminal, then the two innocents to the right of Katie would have to be Linda and Nala. But then row 3's two innocents would be Katie, Linda, and Nala is impossible, and the two innocents in row 3 would not match the required connected pair. So Martin must be innocent and Katie must be criminal.

03.B2 · Gabe → INNOCENT

Katie says Isaac and Martin have 3 innocent neighbors in common, and in that shared group Jane is already known to be innocent, leaving Gabe, Linda, and Nala as the other people in the group. The row 3 clue fixes the one criminal in that shared group as coming from Linda or Nala. So Gabe cannot be that criminal person. That makes Gabe innocent.

04.C2 · Isaac → CRIMINAL

Martin says he has exactly 4 criminal neighbors, and exactly 2 of those criminals are in row 4. So among Martin's neighbors who are not in row 4, there must be exactly 2 criminals. In that not-row-4 group, Gabe and Jane are already innocent, so the only people there who could fill the remaining non-row-4 spots are Isaac, Linda, and Nala. Will's clue means the two innocents in row 3 must be connected, so the one innocent among Linda and Nala has to come from those two, not from Isaac. That leaves Isaac as not innocent. So Isaac must be criminal.

05.C4 · Scott → CRIMINAL

Martin’s clue says exactly 2 of his neighboring criminals are in row 4, so among the row 4 neighbors B4 Quita, C4 Scott, and D4 Umar, exactly two are criminals. Gabe’s clue says all criminals in row 4 must be connected in one block. With those two facts, the only possible row 4 criminal blocks are B4 Quita with C4 Scott, A4 Olivia with B4 Quita with C4 Scott, or C4 Scott with D4 Umar. Every one of those connected blocks includes C4 Scott. So Scott must be criminal.

06.A2 · Freya → CRIMINAL

Scott’s clue says Katie’s neighbors contain exactly 2 criminals, and exactly 1 of those criminals is in row 2. Among Katie’s neighbors who are in row 2, the only people are Freya and Gabe. Gabe is already innocent, so that row-2 part still needs 1 criminal and Freya is the only person there who can fill it. So Freya must be criminal.

07.A4 · Olivia → INNOCENT

Katie has exactly two criminal neighbors, and one of them is already Freya in row 2. Scott’s clue says only one of Katie’s two criminal neighbors is in row 2, so the other criminal neighbor must be someone not in row 2. Among Katie’s neighbors not in row 2, the possible unknowns are Linda, Olivia, and Quita. Gabe’s clue says all criminals in row 4 are connected, and with Scott already a criminal in row 4, a criminal at Olivia would break that connection because Olivia is separated from Scott by Quita. So the extra criminal neighbor cannot be Olivia and must come from Linda or Quita instead. That makes Olivia innocent.

08.D5 · Zara → CRIMINAL, D1 · Emma → CRIMINAL

Freya says column D has exactly 3 criminals, and Jane is already known innocent, so column D has exactly 1 innocent among Emma, Nala, Umar, and Zara. From the other clue information here, that one innocent must be either Nala or Umar. That means Emma and Zara cannot be the innocent in column D. So Emma and Zara must be criminal.

09.A5 · Vince → INNOCENT

Katie’s clue says her neighbors contain exactly 2 criminals, and exactly 1 of those criminals is in row 2. Among Katie’s row 2 neighbors, Freya is already that 1 criminal, so the other criminal among Katie’s neighbors has to be outside row 2, which means it must be Linda or Quita. Olivia’s clue says her neighbors contain an odd number of innocents. Olivia’s neighbors already include 1 known innocent, and the unknown neighbors there are Linda, Quita, and Vince. If Vince were criminal, then Linda and Quita would still have to satisfy both clues at once, but they cannot do so. So Vince must be innocent.

10.A1 · Ben → INNOCENT

Column D must contain exactly 3 criminals, and Emma and Zara are already two of them. So among Nala and Umar, exactly one is a criminal. That means the edge cells outside column C must have exactly 5 criminals, and four of those are already Emma, Freya, Katie, and Zara, with exactly one more coming from Nala or Umar. The only other person in that larger group but not in column D is Ben, so that group has already filled all 5 criminal spots without him. Therefore Ben cannot be a criminal. So Ben must be innocent.

11.C5 · Xena → CRIMINAL

12.C1 · Denis → INNOCENT

Vince says there are exactly 6 criminals on the edge, and exactly 1 of those edge criminals is in column C. Among the edge people in column C, Xena is already a known criminal, so that one allowed criminal in that group is already accounted for. The only other edge person in column C is Denis, so Denis cannot be a criminal. So Denis must be innocent.

13.D3 · Nala → INNOCENT, D4 · Umar → CRIMINAL

In column D, Jane is already a known innocent, and she has Emma directly above her, who is a criminal. Xena's clue says there is exactly one innocent in column D with a criminal directly above them. If Nala were criminal and Umar were innocent, then Umar would also be an innocent in column D with a criminal directly above him, because Nala would be above Umar and criminal. That would give column D two such innocents, Jane and Umar, which contradicts the clue. So Nala must be innocent and Umar must be criminal.

14.B3 · Linda → CRIMINAL

Will’s clue says the two innocents in row 3 must be connected. In row 3, Martin and Nala are already the two known innocents, while Katie is criminal and Linda is the only person not yet identified. If Linda were innocent, row 3 would no longer have just those two innocents connected as the clue requires. That conflicts with Will’s clue. So Linda must be criminal.

15.B4 · Quita → INNOCENT

Martin’s clue says his neighbors contain exactly 4 criminals in total, and exactly 2 of those criminals are in row 4. Among Martin’s neighbors in row 4, Scott and Umar are already known criminals, so the row 4 part has already reached that exact total of 2. That means the only other row 4 neighbor there, Quita, cannot be a criminal. So Quita must be innocent.