Clues by Sam May 30, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained
A1
👮♀️
cop
B1
👮♂️
cop
C1
👩🏫
teacher
D1
👩💼
clerk
A2
👷♀️
builder
B2
👨💻
coder
C2
👩⚕️
doctor
D2
👨⚕️
doctor
A3
👨💼
clerk
B3
👩🔧
mech
C3
👨⚕️
doctor
D3
👨🔧
mech
A4
👩🏫
teacher
B4
😬
woodchuck
C4
👩🍳
cook
D4
👷♀️
builder
A5
👨🍳
cook
B5
👨🔧
mech
C5
👨🍳
cook
D5
👷♂️
builder
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 30, 2026 — a Hard solved in 17 steps
Today's Clues by Sam puzzle is rated Hard and resolves with 10 criminals on a 20-cell, 4-column × 5-row grid. The criminals are Amy (A1), Donna (D1), Gus (B2), Ivan (D2), Pip (D3), Quita (A4), Ruth (B4), Tina (D4), Will (B5) and Zed (D5); the remaining 10 suspects are innocent.
The deduction chain, in plain English
01.C1 · Cheryl → INNOCENT, C2 · Helen → INNOCENT
Nick's clue says Bruce and Donna have exactly 2 innocent neighbors in common. The shared neighbors are only Cheryl and Helen. Since those 2 common-neighbor innocent spots still have to be filled, and Cheryl and Helen are the only people in that shared group, both of them have to be the innocents there. So Cheryl and Helen must be innocent.
02.D2 · Ivan → CRIMINAL
Cheryl’s clue fixes row 3 as the only row with exactly 3 innocents, and Helen’s clue fixes the shared neighbors of Bruce and Lisa as exactly 2 innocents: Emma, Gus, and Helen, with Helen already one of them. If Ivan were innocent, the remaining people named here would have to satisfy both of those clue limits at the same time, but they cannot. That contradiction rules out Ivan being innocent. So Ivan must be criminal.
03.D1 · Donna → CRIMINAL
Cheryl’s clue says row 3 is the only row with exactly 3 innocents, so no other row can end up with exactly 3 innocents. Ivan’s clue says Emma’s neighbors contain exactly 2 criminals, and exactly 1 of those criminals is in row 1, namely among Amy and Bruce. If Donna were innocent, then row 1 would have Cheryl and Donna as innocents already, so row 1 could not let both Amy and Bruce be criminals. But Ivan’s clue requires exactly 1 criminal in row 1 among Emma’s neighbors, while the rest of the people named in these clues would also have to satisfy Cheryl’s restriction that only row 3 reaches exactly 3 innocents, and that combination cannot be made to fit. So Donna must be criminal.
04.D4 · Tina → CRIMINAL
Donna’s clue says Tina is one of Nick’s five criminal neighbors. That directly places Tina among the neighbors of Nick who are criminal. So Tina must be criminal.
05.A3 · Jason → INNOCENT
Emma has exactly 2 criminal neighbors, and exactly 1 of those criminals is in row 1. That means among Emma's neighbors who are not in row 1, there is exactly 1 criminal: Gus, Jason, and Lisa. That 1 criminal must come from Gus and Lisa, not Jason. So Jason cannot be a criminal. So Jason must be innocent.
06.A1 · Amy → CRIMINAL
Jason’s clue says Amy is one of the exactly 3 criminals in the corner cells. Since Amy is named directly as one of those corner criminals, her identity is fixed by the clue itself. So Amy must be criminal.
07.B1 · Bruce → INNOCENT
Emma’s neighbors contain exactly 2 criminals in total, and exactly 1 of those criminals is in row 1. Among Emma’s neighbors who are in row 1, the only people are Amy and Bruce. Amy is already a known criminal, so that one row 1 criminal is already accounted for. That means Bruce cannot also be a criminal. So Bruce must be innocent.
08.B5 · Will → CRIMINAL
Cheryl’s clue fixes row 3 as the only row with exactly 3 innocents, Jason’s clue fixes the corners as having exactly 3 criminals with Amy among them, and Tina’s clue says exactly 1 criminal in row 5 has an innocent directly to the right. In row 5, the people are Vince, Will, Xavi, and Zed, and none of them is already known to be a criminal. If Will were innocent, then the remaining unknown people named here would have to satisfy all three of those restrictions at the same time, and they cannot. So Will cannot be innocent. That makes Will criminal.
09.D5 · Zed → CRIMINAL
Will’s clue says that Zed is one of Tina’s two criminal neighbors. That directly identifies Zed as a criminal. So Zed must be criminal.
10.A5 · Vince → INNOCENT
Jason’s clue says Amy is one of exactly 3 criminals in the corner cells. The corners are Amy, Donna, Vince, and Zed, and Amy, Donna, and Zed are already criminals. If Vince were also a criminal, the corners would contain 4 criminals, which conflicts with the clue that there are exactly 3. So Vince must be innocent.
11.C5 · Xavi → INNOCENT
Tina's clue says exactly one person in row 5 has an innocent directly to the right. That means row 5 still needs one more case of that kind beyond the ones already known. The only remaining direct-right relationship in row 5 that can affect this clue is Xavi at C5, so Xavi has to be the innocent needed there. So Xavi must be innocent.
12.A4 · Quita → CRIMINAL, B4 · Ruth → CRIMINAL
Zed’s clue says exactly one corner person has no innocent neighbors. Donna already cannot be that person because she has 2 known innocent neighbors, and Amy and Zed also already each have 1 known innocent neighbor. Vince is the only corner currently sitting at 0 known innocent neighbors, and the only unknowns affecting that are Quita and Ruth. If Quita and Ruth were both innocent, then the remaining people involved in this clue, Emma, Gus, and Saga, could not satisfy all those corner-neighbor facts at the same time. So Quita and Ruth cannot both be innocent. That makes Quita and Ruth criminal.
13.C4 · Saga → INNOCENT
Bruce and Lisa’s common neighbors are Emma, Gus, and Helen, and exactly 2 of those 3 must be innocent. Since Helen is already innocent, that means Emma and Gus cannot both be criminals. Lisa’s neighbors must contain an odd number of criminals. She already has 2 known criminal neighbors, so among Emma, Gus, and Saga there must be an odd number of criminals. If Saga were criminal, then Emma and Gus would have to make that total work while also keeping exactly 2 innocents in the shared group with Helen, and those requirements clash. So Saga cannot be criminal. That makes Saga innocent.
14.D3 · Pip → CRIMINAL
Will’s clue says Zed is one of Tina’s exactly 2 criminal neighbors. Among Tina’s neighbors, Nick, Saga, and Xavi are innocent, and Zed is already the one known criminal, leaving only Pip as the remaining neighbor not yet identified. If Pip were innocent, Tina would have only 1 criminal neighbor, Zed, which contradicts the clue that she has exactly 2. So Pip must be criminal.
15.B3 · Lisa → INNOCENT
Cheryl’s clue says row 3 is the only row with exactly 3 innocents. In row 3, Jason and Nick are already innocent and Pip is criminal, so Lisa is the only person there who could make row 3 reach 3 innocents. If Lisa were criminal, then row 3 would not have exactly 3 innocents, which clashes with Cheryl’s clue. So Lisa must be innocent.
16.B2 · Gus → CRIMINAL
Ivan’s clue says Emma has exactly 2 criminal neighbors, and exactly 1 of those criminal neighbors is in row 1. Among Emma’s neighbors in row 1, Amy is the one criminal there. So the other criminal neighbor must be among Emma’s neighbors not in row 1: Gus, Jason, and Lisa. Jason and Lisa are already innocent, so the only person who can fill that remaining criminal spot is Gus. That makes Gus criminal.
17.A2 · Emma → INNOCENT
Bruce and Lisa’s shared neighbors are Emma, Gus, and Helen. Helen’s clue says exactly 2 of those shared neighbors are innocent. In that group, Helen is already innocent and Gus is criminal, so the group still needs 1 more innocent, and the only person left there is Emma. So Emma must be innocent.