Clues by Sam Jun 16, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained
A1
👨🌾
farmer
B1
👮♂️
cop
C1
💂♀️
guard
D1
💂♀️
guard
A2
🕵️♂️
sleuth
B2
👷♀️
builder
C2
👨🎤
singer
D2
👩🎤
singer
A3
🕵️♂️
sleuth
B3
👷♀️
builder
C3
💂♀️
guard
D3
👨⚕️
doctor
A4
🕵️♀️
sleuth
B4
👷♂️
builder
C4
👨⚕️
doctor
D4
👩⚕️
doctor
A5
👮♀️
cop
B5
👨🍳
cook
C5
👩🍳
cook
D5
👨🌾
farmer
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 — 4 criminals.
Clues by Sam answer for Jun 16, 2026 — a Easy solved in 16 steps
Today's Clues by Sam puzzle is rated Easy and resolves with 4 criminals on a 20-cell, 4-column × 5-row grid. The criminals are Banda (B1), Flora (B2), Joy (B3) and Xia (C5); the remaining 16 suspects are innocent.
The deduction chain, in plain English
01.A2 · Ethan → INNOCENT
Joy’s clue says Flora and Igor have exactly one innocent neighbor in common. Their shared neighbors are only Ethan and Joy, and Joy is already known to be criminal. That means the one innocent in that shared group has to be the only person left there, Ethan. So Ethan must be innocent.
02.C3 · Karen → INNOCENT, C2 · Gabe → INNOCENT
Ethan's clue says Flora and Logan have no criminal neighbors in common. The people they have in common are Gabe and Karen, and there are already 0 criminals in that shared group. Since the clue allows exactly 0 criminals there, neither of the remaining people in that shared group can be criminal. So Karen and Gabe must be innocent.
03.D3 · Logan → INNOCENT, A3 · Igor → INNOCENT
Gabe’s clue says every row has at least 3 innocents, so row 3 can have at most 1 criminal. Row 3 already has that one known criminal, Joy. The only other people in row 3 whose identities were not fixed yet are Igor and Logan, so neither of them can be criminal. So Logan and Igor must be innocent.
04.B5 · Vince → INNOCENT
Igor's clue says there are exactly 2 innocents below Banda, and exactly 1 of those innocents is Paul's neighbor. Among the people below Banda who are Paul's neighbors, Joy is already known to be criminal, and Vince is the only unknown person left there. So that group still needs its 1 innocent to be Vince. That makes Vince innocent.
05.D1 · Diane → INNOCENT
Gabe’s clue says every row has at least 3 innocents, so row 1 cannot have more than one criminal among Aaron, Banda, Chloe, and Diane. Vince’s clue says an odd number of the edge neighbors of Flora are criminals, and that shared group is Aaron, Banda, Chloe, Ethan, and Igor. Since Ethan and Igor are innocent, the criminals in that group must come from Aaron, Banda, and Chloe, so that group must contain an odd number of criminals. If Diane were criminal, then row 1 would already have its one allowed criminal, which conflicts with what Aaron, Banda, and Chloe still have to do for those clues together. So Diane cannot be criminal. That makes Diane innocent.
06.C1 · Chloe → INNOCENT
Diane’s clue says there is exactly one criminal to the left of Chloe, and the only people there are Aaron and Banda. So among Aaron and Banda, exactly one must be the criminal. If Chloe were criminal, then row 1 would contain Chloe plus that one criminal among Aaron and Banda, giving row 1 two criminals. But Gabe’s clue says every row has at least 3 innocents, so row 1 cannot have two criminals. So Chloe must be innocent.
07.B1 · Banda → CRIMINAL
Below Banda, there must be exactly 2 innocents, and in column B, there must also be exactly 2 innocents. The people below Banda are B2 Flora, B3 Joy, B4 Paul, and B5 Vince, and the only person in column B who is not in that below-Banda group is B1 Banda. So the below-Banda group already accounts for all the innocents that column B is allowed to have. That means the extra person in column B, Banda, cannot be innocent. So Banda must be criminal.
08.A1 · Aaron → INNOCENT
Gabe's clue says every row has at least 3 innocents, so row 1 can have at most 1 criminal. Row 1 already has one known criminal, Banda, and the only person there not yet identified is Aaron. That means Aaron cannot be the row's second criminal. So Aaron must be innocent.
09.A4 · Mary → INNOCENT
Below Banda there must be exactly 2 innocents, and exactly 1 of those innocents is Paul's neighbor. Vince is already one innocent below Banda, so Flora and Paul are the other people there who still have to fit that clue. Igor's clue says his neighbors contain an odd number of innocents. Igor's neighbors currently have 1 known innocent, and the unknown neighbors involved here are Flora, Mary, and Paul. If Mary were criminal, then Flora and Paul would have to satisfy both clues without her contributing to Igor's innocent-neighbor count, and that cannot be done. So Mary cannot be criminal. So Mary must be innocent.
10.A5 · Uma → INNOCENT
Below Banda there must be exactly 2 innocents, and exactly 1 of those innocents is Paul's neighbor. Vince is already one innocent below Banda, and he is Paul's neighbor, so the remaining innocent below Banda must be the one who is not Paul's neighbor. The people still involved in these clues are Flora, Paul, and Uma. Mary's clue says the number of innocent builders must equal the number of innocent cops. If Uma were criminal, then there would be no innocent cop at all, while Flora and Paul would still have to fit Igor's clue about the people below Banda, and those requirements cannot all be met together. So Uma must be innocent.
11.D2 · Hilda → INNOCENT
Uma’s clue says exactly 3 innocent people in row 1 have an innocent directly below them. In row 1, the innocent people are Aaron, Chloe, and Diane. So all three of those row 1 innocents must be counted by the clue. If Hilda were criminal, then Diane would not have an innocent directly below her, so the clue’s total of 3 could not be met. So Hilda must be innocent.
12.D4 · Sue → INNOCENT
Hilda’s clue says exactly 2 people who are both edge cells and Logan’s neighbors are innocent. That shared group is only Hilda and Sue. Hilda is already innocent, so the group still needs 1 more innocent, and Sue is the only unknown person left in that group. So Sue must be innocent.
13.C4 · Peter → INNOCENT
Sue’s clue says there are more innocent doctors than innocent singers. Right now there are already 2 known innocent doctors, Logan and Sue, and there are 2 innocent singers, Gabe and Hilda. Peter is the only doctor whose status is still unknown. If Peter were criminal, the doctors would stay at 2 innocents, which would not be more than the 2 innocent singers. So Peter must be innocent.
14.B4 · Paul → INNOCENT, B2 · Flora → CRIMINAL
Peter’s clue says that exactly two innocents below Banda must be connected. Below Banda are Flora, Joy, Paul, and Vince, and among them Joy is already criminal while Vince is already innocent. If Paul were criminal and Flora were innocent, then the two innocents below Banda would be Flora and Vince, but that does not fit the clue’s required connected pair. So Paul must be innocent and Flora must be criminal.
15.C5 · Xia → CRIMINAL
Paul’s clue says the people below Karen contain exactly one criminal. Among those people, Peter is already innocent, so there are currently no known criminals there, and the only person there whose identity is still unknown is Xia. Since that group still needs exactly one criminal, Xia has to be that criminal. So Xia must be criminal.
16.D5 · Zane → INNOCENT
Gabe’s clue says every row has at least 3 innocents, so a row can have at most 1 criminal. Row 5 already has 1 known criminal, Xia, and the only person there whose identity is not fixed yet is Zane. That means row 5 cannot contain any additional criminal. So Zane must be innocent.