Clues by Sam Jun 15, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained
A1
👨✈️
pilot
B1
👨✈️
pilot
C1
👷♂️
builder
D1
👩🌾
farmer
A2
👩✈️
pilot
B2
👨💻
coder
C2
👷♂️
builder
D2
👩🌾
farmer
A3
👩🎨
painter
B3
👩💼
clerk
C3
👩🎤
singer
D3
👩🌾
farmer
A4
👨💼
clerk
B4
👨💻
coder
C4
👩🎨
painter
D4
👩🎨
painter
A5
👨🎤
singer
B5
👨⚕️
doctor
C5
👨🎤
singer
D5
👩⚕️
doctor
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 — 7 criminals.
Clues by Sam answer for Jun 15, 2026 — a Easy solved in 17 steps
Today's Clues by Sam puzzle is rated Easy and resolves with 7 criminals on a 20-cell, 4-column × 5-row grid. The criminals are Lisa (A3), Nicole (B3), Olga (C3), Tina (C4), Uma (D4), Vince (A5) and Will (B5); the remaining 13 suspects are innocent.
The deduction chain, in plain English
01.B1 · Chase → INNOCENT
Derek’s clue says Chase is one of the exactly 3 innocents in column B. Since Chase is explicitly included in that innocent group, his identity is given directly by the clue. So Chase must be innocent.
02.C2 · Jason → INNOCENT, D2 · Karen → INNOCENT
Chase’s clue says there are exactly 2 innocents to the right of Gus. That group currently has no known innocents, and the only people left in it are Jason and Karen. Since the group still needs exactly 2 innocents and there are exactly 2 people available, both of them have to fill those innocent spots. So Jason and Karen must be innocent.
03.C4 · Tina → CRIMINAL
Karen’s clue says the two criminals in column C must be connected. In column C, Derek and Jason are already innocent, so the only people who could be those two criminals are Olga, Tina, and Xavi. If Tina were innocent, then the two criminals would have to come from Olga and Xavi. But with Tina between them, those two would not be connected, which clashes with the clue. So Tina must be criminal.
04.B5 · Will → CRIMINAL
Column B has exactly 3 innocents, so the whole column must contain exactly 2 criminals. Above Will are Chase, Gus, Nicole, and Scott, and Tina says that group has an odd number of criminals. Since Chase is already innocent, the people above Will could have 1 or 3 criminals. But they cannot have 3 criminals, because then column B would already have 3 criminals above Will, which contradicts the fact that the entire column has exactly 2 criminals. So the group above Will has only 1 criminal, which means the second criminal required in column B must be the only person there who is not above Will: Will. So Will must be criminal.
05.B4 · Scott → INNOCENT
Will’s clue says there is exactly 1 innocent among the people who are both in column B and neighboring Xavi. That shared group contains only Scott and Will. Will is already criminal, so there are currently no known innocents in that group, and Scott is the only unknown person left there who could fill the required innocent spot. So Scott must be innocent.
06.A5 · Vince → CRIMINAL
The builders already give 2 innocents, Derek and Jason, so the singers must have fewer than 2 innocents. Among the singers, the only people involved here are Olga, Vince, and Xavi. If Vince were innocent, then the singers could not also have both Olga and Xavi innocent, because that would give the singers at least as many innocents as the builders. But in column C, Tina is already a criminal, and Karen's clue says both criminals in column C are connected, so the remaining column C people touched by this are constrained to satisfy that column-C requirement at the same time. That combination does not work if Vince is innocent. So Vince at A5 must be criminal.
07.A3 · Lisa → CRIMINAL
Vince's clue says row 3 has exactly 3 criminals, and exactly 2 of those row 3 criminals are Tina's neighbors. That means exactly 1 criminal in row 3 is not a neighbor of Tina. Among the people in row 3 who are not neighbors of Tina, the only person is Lisa, and there are no known criminals there yet. So Lisa has to be the one criminal in that non-neighbor group. So Lisa must be criminal.
08.A1 · Alex → INNOCENT, A2 · Freya → INNOCENT
Lisa’s clue says there are exactly 2 innocents above Ryan. Above Ryan, there are currently 0 known innocents, and the only people there whose identities are not yet known are Alex and Freya. So those two spots must supply the full total of 2 innocents above Ryan. That makes Alex and Freya innocent.
09.A4 · Ryan → INNOCENT
Alex’s clue says every column has at least 3 innocents, so any column can have at most 2 criminals. In column A, Lisa and Vince are already known criminals. The only person left there whose identity was not fixed is Ryan. Since column A cannot have a third criminal, Ryan must be innocent.
10.D4 · Uma → CRIMINAL
Ryan’s clue says row 4 contains exactly 2 innocents. Row 4 already has those 2 known innocents: Ryan and Scott. That means no unknown person left in row 4 can be innocent, and the only unknown person there is Uma. So Uma must be criminal.
11.D5 · Zara → INNOCENT
Uma’s clue says there is exactly one innocent below Quita. Below Quita, there are currently no known innocents, and the only person there whose identity is still unknown is Zara. Since that group still needs exactly one innocent, Zara has to be that innocent. So Zara must be innocent.
12.D1 · Eve → INNOCENT
Zara’s clue says both builders have an innocent directly to the right of them, so there must be exactly two such builder-right pairs. One such case is already accounted for, so the clue still needs one more. The only remaining direct-right neighbor that can supply that missing innocent is Eve at D1. So Eve must be innocent.
13.C5 · Xavi → INNOCENT
Vince’s clue fixes row 3 very tightly: row 3 has exactly 3 criminals, and exactly 2 of those row 3 criminals are Tina’s neighbors. Since the row 3 neighbors of Tina are Nicole, Olga, and Quita, that means those three have to account for exactly 2 criminals in row 3. Eve’s clue says only one row has exactly 3 criminals. If Xavi were criminal, the remaining unknowns touched by these clues, especially Nicole, Olga, and Quita in row 3, could not be assigned in a way that keeps Vince’s row 3 requirement and still leaves exactly one row with 3 criminals. That clashes with the clues. So Xavi must be innocent.
14.C3 · Olga → CRIMINAL
Karen’s clue says that the two criminals in column C are connected. In column C, Derek, Jason, and Xavi are innocent, Tina is already known to be a criminal, and Olga is the only person there not yet identified. If Olga were innocent, then column C would have only one criminal, Tina, which cannot fit the clue that both criminals in column C are connected. So Olga cannot be innocent. So Olga must be criminal.
15.B2 · Gus → INNOCENT
Xavi’s clue says rows 1 and 2 must have the same number of criminals. Row 1 has no criminals at all, and there is nobody unknown in that row who could change that. If Gus were a criminal, then row 2 would have 1 criminal while row 1 would still have 0, which breaks the clue. So Gus must be innocent.
16.B3 · Nicole → CRIMINAL
Derek’s clue says Chase is one of exactly 3 innocents in column B. In that column, Chase, Gus, and Scott are already innocent, and Will is criminal, leaving only Nicole unidentified. If Nicole were also innocent, column B would have 4 innocents, which conflicts with the clue that there are exactly 3. So Nicole at B3 must be criminal.
17.D3 · Quita → INNOCENT
Row 3 has exactly 3 criminals in total. The clue says exactly 2 of those row 3 criminals are Tina's neighbors, and among the row 3 neighbors of Tina we already have Nicole and Olga as known criminals. That means the full pair of row 3 criminals who neighbor Tina is already accounted for. Quita is the only remaining row 3 neighbor of Tina, so Quita cannot be a criminal. So Quita must be innocent.