Clues by Sam Jun 21, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained
A1
🕵️♂️
sleuth
B1
👩💼
clerk
C1
👩🎤
singer
D1
👩🎤
singer
A2
👷♂️
builder
B2
👷♂️
builder
C2
👨💼
clerk
D2
👩⚖️
judge
A3
👩🏫
teacher
B3
👨🏫
teacher
C3
👩✈️
pilot
D3
👩⚖️
judge
A4
👷♀️
builder
B4
👨✈️
pilot
C4
👨🏫
teacher
D4
👩⚕️
doctor
A5
🕵️♂️
sleuth
B5
👩✈️
pilot
C5
👨⚕️
doctor
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 — 9 criminals.
Clues by Sam answer for Jun 21, 2026 — a Brutal solved in 15 steps
Today's Clues by Sam puzzle is rated Brutal and resolves with 9 criminals on a 20-cell, 4-column × 5-row grid. The criminals are Chloe (C1), Frida (D1), Igor (B2), Katie (D2), Nancy (C3), Rob (B4), Salil (C4), Umar (A5) and Xavi (C5); the remaining 11 suspects are innocent.
The deduction chain, in plain English
01.C5 · Xavi → CRIMINAL
Bunty’s clue says that Xavi is one of Tina’s 3 criminal neighbors. That directly identifies Xavi as a criminal. So Xavi must be criminal.
02.C1 · Chloe → CRIMINAL, D1 · Frida → CRIMINAL
Xavi says there is only one innocent to the right of Andre. That group already contains one known innocent, Bunty, and the only people there whose status is still unknown are Chloe and Frida. Since the single innocent in that group is already accounted for, Chloe and Frida cannot be innocent. So Chloe and Frida must be criminal.
03.C3 · Nancy → CRIMINAL, C4 · Salil → CRIMINAL
Frida’s clue says Olive and Rob have no innocent neighbors in common. The only people who are neighbors of both Olive and Rob are Nancy and Salil, and there are already 0 known innocents in that shared group. So Nancy and Salil cannot be innocent. That makes Nancy and Salil criminal.
04.D3 · Olive → INNOCENT, D5 · Zach → INNOCENT
Bunty’s clue says Xavi is one of Tina’s exactly 3 criminal neighbors. Tina’s neighbors are Nancy, Olive, Salil, Xavi, and Zach, and among them Nancy, Salil, and Xavi are already known criminals. That already fills all 3 criminal spots in Tina’s neighborhood, so Olive and Zach cannot also be criminals. So Olive and Zach must be innocent.
05.A1 · Andre → INNOCENT
Olive’s clue says every row has at least 2 innocents, so row 1 can have at most 2 criminals. Row 1 already has 2 known criminals, Chloe and Frida. The only person left in row 1 whose status was not fixed is Andre, so Andre cannot also be a criminal. So Andre must be innocent.
06.A4 · Penny → INNOCENT
Olive says every row has at least 2 innocents, so row 4 cannot have more than 2 criminals. Chloe says Nancy has exactly 4 criminal neighbors, and exactly 2 of those criminal neighbors are in row 4; in row 4 those neighbor positions are B4 Rob, C4 Salil, and D4 Tina. If Penny at A4 were criminal, then row 4 would already have three criminals: Penny, Salil, and whichever two of Rob and Tina are needed to make the row-4 part of Chloe’s clue work. That clashes with Olive’s rule that row 4 must contain at least 2 innocents. So Penny at A4 must be innocent.
07.B2 · Igor → CRIMINAL
Penny’s clue says that Igor is one of Lisa’s 2 criminal neighbors. That directly identifies Igor as a criminal, without needing any further deduction. So Igor must be criminal.
08.A2 · Henry → INNOCENT
Lisa has exactly 2 criminal neighbors, and Penny’s clue says Igor is one of them. Since Igor is already a criminal, that leaves room for exactly 1 more criminal among Lisa’s other unknown neighbors: Henry, Martin, and Rob. In this step, that remaining criminal is confined to Martin or Rob, so Henry cannot be that extra criminal. So Henry must be innocent.
09.C2 · Jerry → INNOCENT
Nancy says exactly 2 of her 4 criminal neighbors are in row 4, so among Nancy's neighbors who are not in row 4 there must also be exactly 2 criminals. In that not-row-4 group, Igor is already a known criminal, which leaves exactly 1 more criminal among C2 Jerry, D2 Katie, and B3 Martin. From Penny's clue, Igor is one of Lisa's 2 criminal neighbors, and Lisa's only unknown neighbors are B3 Martin and B4 Rob. That means the second criminal next to Lisa is not Jerry, so the 1 remaining criminal among C2 Jerry, D2 Katie, and B3 Martin must come from D2 Katie or B3 Martin. So C2 Jerry cannot be that criminal, and Jerry at C2 must be innocent.
10.B5 · Wanda → INNOCENT
Penny says she has exactly 3 innocent neighbors, so among Penny's 5 neighbors there must be exactly 2 criminals. Those neighbors are Lisa, Martin, Rob, Umar, and Wanda. Lisa has exactly 2 criminal neighbors, and Igor is one of them. Since Henry and Penny are already innocent, Lisa's second criminal neighbor must be Martin or Rob. That accounts for the second criminal in Penny's neighborhood together with Lisa, Martin, Rob, and Umar as the only places those 2 criminals can come from. So Wanda cannot be one of Penny's 2 criminal neighbors. That makes Wanda innocent.
11.A5 · Umar → CRIMINAL
Nancy’s clue says her neighbors contain exactly 4 criminals, and exactly 2 of those neighboring criminals are in row 4. In row 4, the only neighbors of Nancy are Rob, Salil, and Tina, and Salil is already one of those row 4 criminals, so the remaining people tied up in these clues are Katie, Martin, Rob, and Tina. Jerry’s clue says rows 4 and 5 have the same number of criminals. Both rows currently already have 1 known criminal, so if Umar were innocent, the needed criminal placements among Katie, Martin, Rob, and Tina would have to satisfy Nancy’s exact neighbor count and row 4’s exact share of those neighboring criminals while still keeping rows 4 and 5 equal, and that cannot be done. So Umar must be criminal.
12.A3 · Lisa → INNOCENT
Nancy’s clue says column A is the only column with exactly 4 innocents. In column A, Andre, Henry, and Penny are already innocent, Umar is criminal, and Lisa is the only unknown person there. If Lisa were criminal, then column A would stay at only 3 innocents, so it could not be the column with exactly 4 innocents that the clue requires. That clashes with Nancy’s clue about column A. So Lisa must be innocent.
13.D2 · Katie → CRIMINAL, B3 · Martin → INNOCENT
Nancy’s clue says her neighbors contain exactly 4 criminals, and exactly 2 of those criminals are in row 4. Salil is already one row 4 criminal there, so Rob and Tina have to fit that row 4 part while Katie and Martin have to fit the rest of Nancy’s total. Umar’s clue says Salil has an odd number of innocent neighbors. Salil already has 3 known innocent neighbors, and the unknown neighbors relevant here are Martin, Rob, and Tina, so their identities must keep that innocent count odd. If Katie were innocent and Martin were criminal, then the remaining people involved, Rob and Tina, would have to satisfy both of those clue requirements at the same time, and they cannot. So Katie cannot be innocent and Martin cannot be criminal. That makes Katie and Martin criminal, Martin innocent.
14.B4 · Rob → CRIMINAL
Nancy’s clue says column A is the only column with exactly 4 innocents. Column B already has 3 known innocents, and Rob is the only person in that column not yet identified. If Rob were innocent, then column B would also have exactly 4 innocents, which the clue rules out. So Rob must be criminal.
15.D4 · Tina → INNOCENT
Chloe's clue says that among Nancy's neighboring criminals, exactly 2 are in row 4. In that row-4 neighbor group, Rob and Salil are already known criminals. That already fills the clue's total of 2 row-4 criminals, so the only remaining person there, Tina, cannot be a criminal. So Tina must be innocent.