Clues by Sam May 29, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained
A1
💂♀️
guard
B1
🕵️♂️
sleuth
C1
💂♂️
guard
D1
👮♂️
cop
A2
👨💼
clerk
B2
👨💼
clerk
C2
🕵️♀️
sleuth
D2
👮♂️
cop
A3
👩💼
clerk
B3
👨✈️
pilot
C3
👩💻
coder
D3
👩⚕️
doctor
A4
👩🍳
cook
B4
👩✈️
pilot
C4
👩⚕️
doctor
D4
👨⚕️
doctor
A5
👨🔧
mech
B5
👩✈️
pilot
C5
👩🔧
mech
D5
👩🔧
mech
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 — 15 criminals.
Clues by Sam answer for May 29, 2026 — a Tricky solved in 16 steps
Today's Clues by Sam puzzle is rated Tricky and resolves with 15 criminals on a 20-cell, 4-column × 5-row grid. The criminals are Derek (C1), Erwin (D1), Gus (A2), Hank (B2), Kevin (D2), Layla (A3), Martin (B3), Nancy (C3), Olivia (D3), Quita (B4), Ruby (C4), Terry (D4), Vince (A5), Wanda (B5) and Xola (C5); the remaining 5 suspects are innocent.
The deduction chain, in plain English
01.D2 · Kevin → CRIMINAL
Petra’s clue says there are exactly 2 criminals to the right of Gus, and exactly 1 of those criminals is Martin’s neighbor. Among the people to the right of Gus, the ones who are Martin’s neighbors are Hank and Joyce, so the other criminal must come from the people to the right of Gus who are not Martin’s neighbors. That non-neighbor group contains only Kevin, and it currently has no known criminal in it, so Kevin has to fill that required criminal spot. So Kevin must be criminal.
02.B4 · Quita → CRIMINAL, B3 · Martin → CRIMINAL
Kevin's clue says exactly 2 criminals are pilots neighboring Nancy. The only people in that group are Martin and Quita. Since that group still needs 2 criminals and Martin and Quita are the only people left in it, both of them have to fill those two criminal spots. So Quita and Martin must be criminal.
03.D3 · Olivia → CRIMINAL, C4 · Ruby → CRIMINAL, D4 · Terry → CRIMINAL
Quita says that an odd number of Nancy’s neighboring doctors are criminals. The doctors who neighbor Nancy are exactly Olivia, Ruby, and Terry. If Olivia, Ruby, and Terry were all innocent, then Nancy would have zero criminal neighboring doctors, and zero is not odd. That clashes with Quita’s clue. So Olivia, Ruby, and Terry must be criminal.
04.A2 · Gus → CRIMINAL
Petra’s clue says there are exactly 2 criminals to the right of Gus, and exactly 1 of those criminals is a neighbor of Martin. Among the people to Gus’s right, Kevin is already a criminal, while the only ones there who are Martin’s neighbors are Hank and Joyce. Ruby’s clue says row 1 is the only row with exactly 2 criminals, so rows 2, 3, 4, and 5 cannot end with exactly 2 criminals. If Gus were innocent, then Amy, Berat, Derek, Erwin, Hank, Joyce, Layla, Nancy, Vince, Wanda, Xola, and Zoe would have to satisfy both of those clues at the same time, and they cannot. So Gus must be criminal.
05.C3 · Nancy → CRIMINAL
Gus's clue says that Nancy is one of the exactly 3 criminals above Xola. That directly identifies Nancy's status from the clue itself. So Nancy must be criminal.
06.A1 · Amy → INNOCENT
Ruby’s clue makes row 1 the only row with exactly 2 criminals. Nancy’s clue says an odd number of the row 1 people who neighbor Joyce are innocent, and those people are exactly Berat, Derek, and Erwin. If Amy were criminal, then row 1 would need exactly one criminal among Berat, Derek, and Erwin in order for row 1 to have exactly 2 criminals. But with three people in that group, having exactly one criminal means exactly two innocents there, and two is not odd. That clashes with Nancy’s clue. So Amy must be innocent.
07.A3 · Layla → CRIMINAL
Amy’s clue says the people above Vince contain exactly 2 criminals. In that group, there is already 1 known criminal, Gus, and the only person there whose identity is still unknown is Layla. So the group still needs 1 more criminal, and Layla is the only person who can fill that spot. That makes Layla criminal.
08.A5 · Vince → CRIMINAL
Layla's clue says each column has at least 3 criminals, so in column A there can be at most 2 innocents. Column A already has 2 known innocents, Amy at A1 and Petra at A4. The only person left in column A whose status was not fixed is Vince at A5, so he cannot also be innocent. So Vince must be criminal.
09.C5 · Xola → CRIMINAL
Gus’s clue says Nancy is one of exactly 3 criminals above Xola. Above Xola are Derek, Joyce, Nancy, and Ruby, and Nancy and Ruby are already criminals there, so that group has to fit that exact count while Terry’s clue also requires that only one column has exactly 2 innocents. If Xola were innocent, the remaining unknown people involved here, Berat, Derek, Erwin, Hank, Joyce, Wanda, and Zoe, would have to make both of those clues true at the same time, and they cannot. So Xola cannot be innocent. That makes Xola criminal.
10.D1 · Erwin → CRIMINAL
Ruby’s clue says row 1 has exactly 2 criminals, and no other row can end with exactly 2. Olivia’s clue says exactly one corner person has no innocent neighbors. Zoe already has no innocent neighbors for sure, because she has none known and no unknown neighbors at all, while Vince already has an innocent neighbor. If Erwin were innocent, then the remaining people tied to these clues, namely Berat, Derek, Hank, Joyce, Wanda, and Zoe, would have to make both clues true at the same time, but they cannot do that. So Erwin must be criminal.
11.B5 · Wanda → CRIMINAL
Ruby’s clue says row 1 has exactly 2 criminals, and no other row can end with exactly 2 criminals. Xola’s clue says columns B and D must have the same number of innocents, and right now both columns have 0 known innocents. If Wanda were innocent, then Berat, Derek, Hank, Joyce, and Zoe would have to make both clues true at the same time, but that cannot be done. That rules out Wanda being innocent. So Wanda must be criminal.
12.D5 · Zoe → INNOCENT
Olivia’s clue says exactly one corner person has no innocent neighbors. Vince cannot be that person because he already has 1 known innocent neighbor, and if Zoe were criminal then Zoe would also be a corner with 0 innocent neighbors and no unknown neighbors that could change that. That would mean Amy and Erwin would have to avoid being corners with 0 innocent neighbors, while Xola’s clue still requires columns B and D to contain the same number of innocents. With Zoe criminal, column D would have no innocent available except none at all, while the remaining unknowns touched by these clues are Berat, Hank, Derek, and Joyce, and they cannot satisfy both clues at once. So Zoe must be innocent.
13.B2 · Hank → CRIMINAL
Joyce’s neighbor clue says her neighbors must contain an odd number of innocents. Right now there are no known innocents among those neighbors, and the only unknown neighbors are Berat, Derek, and Hank. If Hank were innocent, then Berat and Derek would still have to fit that odd-innocent requirement while also matching the row 1 requirement that row 1 is the only row with exactly 2 criminals. Those same remaining people cannot satisfy both clues at once. So Hank must be criminal.
14.C2 · Joyce → INNOCENT
To Gus's right, there are exactly two criminals in total. Among those people, exactly one criminal is Martin's neighbor, and in that overlapping group Hank is already a known criminal. Since that one criminal neighbor is already accounted for by Hank, the other person in the same overlapping group, Joyce, cannot be a criminal. So Joyce must be innocent.
15.C1 · Derek → CRIMINAL
Above Xola there are four people: Derek, Joyce, Nancy, and Ruby. Gus's clue says Nancy is one of exactly 3 criminals in that group above Xola. Joyce is innocent, and Nancy and Ruby are already criminals, so that group currently has 2 known criminals and 1 known innocent. If Derek were innocent too, then the people above Xola would not contain the required 3 criminals. So Derek must be criminal.
16.B1 · Berat → INNOCENT
Ruby’s clue says row 1 is the only row with exactly 2 criminals. In row 1, Derek and Erwin are already criminals, so row 1 already has those 2 criminals. If Berat were also a criminal, then row 1 would have 3 criminals instead of exactly 2, which clashes with Ruby’s clue. So Berat must be innocent.