Clues by Sam May 27, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained
A1
👨🍳
cook
B1
👨🍳
cook
C1
👩🍳
cook
D1
👩🍳
cook
A2
👩💼
clerk
B2
👩🎨
painter
C2
👨✈️
pilot
D2
👩🎨
painter
A3
👷♂️
builder
B3
👨⚖️
judge
C3
👨✈️
pilot
D3
👨🏫
teacher
A4
👩⚖️
judge
B4
👩💻
coder
C4
👨✈️
pilot
D4
👷♂️
builder
A5
👩🍳
cook
B5
👨🍳
cook
C5
👩🍳
cook
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 — 10 criminals.
Clues by Sam answer for May 27, 2026 — a Medium solved in 17 steps
Today's Clues by Sam puzzle is rated Medium and resolves with 10 criminals on a 20-cell, 4-column × 5-row grid. The criminals are Berat (B1), Frida (A2), Habiba (B2), Ike (C2), Joy (D2), Mark (B3), Noah (C3), Ruth (B4), Steve (C4) and Thor (D4); the remaining 10 suspects are innocent.
The deduction chain, in plain English
01.A2 · Frida → CRIMINAL, B2 · Habiba → CRIMINAL
Uma’s clue says there are no innocents among the people who are both in row 2 and neighbors of Alex. That shared group is exactly Frida and Habiba, and there are already 0 known innocents in it. So Frida and Habiba cannot be innocent. Therefore Frida and Habiba must be criminal.
02.C2 · Ike → CRIMINAL, D2 · Joy → CRIMINAL
Habiba's clue says there are no innocents to her right, so the people to the right of her must contain exactly 0 innocents. That group already has all 0 innocents accounted for, and the only people there who are not yet identified are Ike and Joy. So neither of them can be innocent. That makes Ike and Joy criminal.
03.C4 · Steve → CRIMINAL
Thor has exactly 2 criminal neighbors. Of those 2, exactly 1 is a neighbor of Steve, and the only Thor-neighboring people who are also Steve's neighbors are Noah, Paul, Xola, and Zara. So the other 1 criminal neighbor of Thor must come from Thor's neighbors who are not neighbors of Steve. Among that group, the only person is Steve, so Steve at C4 must be criminal.
04.D4 · Thor → CRIMINAL
Steve’s clue says that Thor is a criminal. Since people always tell the truth, that directly fixes Thor’s identity. So Thor must be criminal.
05.C1 · Claire → INNOCENT
Thor's clue says Esha has exactly one innocent neighbor. Among Esha's neighbors, there are currently no known innocents, and the only neighbor there whose identity is still unknown is Claire. So that one required innocent neighbor has to be Claire. That makes Claire innocent.
06.D3 · Paul → INNOCENT
Claire’s clue says that Paul is one of Ike’s 3 innocent neighbors. That directly places Paul among Ike’s innocent neighbors, so Paul must be innocent. So Paul must be innocent.
07.B3 · Mark → CRIMINAL
Paul’s clue says that the two criminals in row 3 must be connected. In row 3, Paul is already innocent, so the only people who could be those two criminals are Kumar, Mark, and Noah. If Mark were innocent, then Kumar and Noah would have to be the two criminals, and that does not fit the clue’s requirement that the two criminals in that row be connected. So Mark at B3 must be criminal.
08.A1 · Alex → INNOCENT
Mark’s clue says Berat has exactly 2 innocent neighbors. Among Berat’s neighbors, 1 is already known to be innocent, and the only neighbor there whose identity is still unknown is Alex. So the one remaining innocent neighbor has to be Alex. That makes Alex innocent.
09.B1 · Berat → CRIMINAL
Row 3 has exactly two criminals, and they must be connected. In that row, the only connected pair is Kumar with Mark or Mark with Noah, so among Kumar, Mark, and Noah there is exactly one innocent. Habiba’s neighbors must contain an odd number of innocents. Among the neighbors outside that row-3 overlap, Alex and Claire are innocent while Frida and Ike are criminal, so that part contributes exactly two innocents; adding the exactly one innocent from Kumar, Mark, and Noah makes the total odd already. If Berat were also innocent, Habiba’s neighboring innocents would become even instead of odd. So Berat must be criminal.
10.C5 · Xola → INNOCENT
Berat’s clue says exactly one corner person has exactly 3 criminal neighbors. Alex already has exactly 3 criminal neighbors, while Esha has exactly 2. If Xola were criminal, then Zara would also have exactly 3 criminal neighbors, because Zara already has 2 known criminal neighbors and Xola is Zara’s only unknown neighbor in this clue. That would give two corner people, Alex and Zara, with exactly 3 criminal neighbors, which clashes with the clue that there is only one. So Xola must be innocent.
11.B4 · Ruth → CRIMINAL
Steve has exactly 4 criminal neighbors, and exactly 3 of those criminals also neighbor Noah. Among the people who are neighbors of both Steve and Noah, Mark and Thor are already known criminals, Paul is innocent, and the only unknown person left in that shared group is Ruth. Since that shared group still needs 1 more criminal to reach the required total of 3, Ruth must supply it. So Ruth must be criminal.
12.A4 · Quita → INNOCENT
Joy's clue says row 4 has exactly one innocent. In row 4, there are currently no known innocents, and the only person there whose identity is still unknown is Quita. Since row 4 still needs one innocent and Quita is the only person left who can fill that spot, Quita must be innocent.
13.D1 · Esha → INNOCENT
Paul’s clue says row 3 has exactly two criminals, and those two criminals must be connected. In row 3, Mark is already a criminal and Paul is already innocent, so Kumar and Noah are the people tied up in satisfying that row 3 requirement. Quita’s clue also says only one row can have exactly 2 innocents. If Esha were a criminal, then Kumar, Noah, Will, and Zara would have to satisfy both of those clues at the same time, and they cannot. So Esha cannot be a criminal. That makes Esha innocent.
14.C3 · Noah → CRIMINAL
Claire's clue says Paul is one of Ike's exactly 3 innocent neighbors. Among Ike's neighbors, the three already known innocents are Claire, Esha, and Paul. If Noah were also innocent, Ike would have 4 innocent neighbors instead of 3, which conflicts with the clue. So Noah must be criminal.
15.A3 · Kumar → INNOCENT
Paul’s clue says there are exactly two criminals in row 3, and those two are connected. In row 3, Mark and Noah are already the two known criminals, and Paul is innocent. If Kumar were also a criminal, row 3 would no longer have only those two criminals, which conflicts with the clue. So Kumar must be innocent.
16.D5 · Zara → INNOCENT
Thor’s neighbors contain exactly 2 criminals in total. Among Thor’s neighbors who are also neighbors of Steve, exactly 1 is criminal, and that shared group already includes Noah as a known criminal. Since Zara is the only unknown person left in that shared group, Zara cannot also be criminal. So Zara must be innocent.
17.B5 · Will → INNOCENT
Steve’s neighbors contain exactly 4 criminals in total. Xola’s clue says exactly 3 of those criminals also neighbor Noah, and in the shared group with Noah we already have those 3 criminals: Mark, Ruth, and Thor. That leaves the people among Steve’s neighbors who do not neighbor Noah as Noah, Will, Xola, and Zara, and that group already contains 1 known criminal, namely Noah. Since the one criminal outside the shared group is already accounted for, Will cannot be a criminal. So Will must be innocent.