Clues by Sam Jul 07, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained
A1
👨💻
coder
B1
👩🏫
teacher
C1
👩💻
coder
D1
👨⚕️
doctor
A2
👨💻
coder
B2
👮♀️
cop
C2
👮♂️
cop
D2
👮♂️
cop
A3
👩🏫
teacher
B3
🕵️♂️
sleuth
C3
👩🍳
cook
D3
💂♀️
guard
A4
💂♀️
guard
B4
👩⚕️
doctor
C4
👨🏫
teacher
D4
🕵️♂️
sleuth
A5
👨🎨
painter
B5
👩🍳
cook
C5
👩🎨
painter
D5
👨🎨
painter
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 Jul 07, 2026 — a Medium solved in 18 steps
Today's Clues by Sam puzzle is rated Medium and resolves with 7 criminals on a 20-cell, 4-column × 5-row grid. The criminals are Eli (D1), Ghani (A2), Hazel (B2), Ivan (C2), Nala (D3), Quita (B4) and Terry (C4); the remaining 13 suspects are innocent.
The deduction chain, in plain English
01.A2 · Ghani → CRIMINAL
Logan's clue says there are no innocents in the group that is both above Kay and neighboring Logan. That shared group contains only A2 Ghani, and it already has 0 known innocents. So Ghani cannot be innocent. That makes Ghani criminal.
02.B5 · Wanda → INNOCENT
Ghani’s clue says that Wanda is one of the 11 innocents on the edge. That directly identifies Wanda as innocent. So Wanda must be innocent.
03.B4 · Quita → CRIMINAL
Wanda’s clue says Kay has exactly 3 criminal neighbors, and exactly 1 of those criminals is also Terry’s neighbor. Among the people who are both Kay’s neighbors and Terry’s neighbors, Logan is innocent and Quita is the only unknown. That means the one criminal required in that shared group has to be Quita. So Quita must be criminal.
04.D4 · Umar → INNOCENT
Quita’s clue says the two criminals in row 4 are connected, and Quita is already one of those criminals. That means the other criminal in row 4 has to be directly next to Quita in that row, so it can only be Penny at A4 or Terry at C4. Umar at D4 is not next to Quita in that line, so he cannot be the second criminal. So Umar must be innocent.
05.D3 · Nala → CRIMINAL
Umar’s clue says the people between Jerry and Zane contain exactly one innocent. That group already has one known innocent, Umar. The only person there whose identity is still unknown is Nala, so Nala cannot also be innocent. So Nala must be criminal.
06.C5 · Xia → INNOCENT
The clue says exactly one cook has a criminal directly to the right. That one case is already Max. The only other direct-right neighbor that could still change this clue is Xia, to the right of Wanda the other cook, so if Xia were criminal there would be two cooks counted instead of one. So Xia must be innocent.
07.C3 · Max → INNOCENT
Xia’s clue says there are exactly 2 innocents to the right of Kay. In that group, Logan is already known to be innocent, so 1 of those 2 innocents is already accounted for. The only person there whose status is still unknown is Max, so the remaining innocent has to be Max. So Max must be innocent.
08.A3 · Kay → INNOCENT
Max’s clue says exactly one row has exactly 2 criminals, and Quita’s clue says the 2 criminals in row 4 must be connected. Row 4 is Penny, Quita, Terry, and Umar, with Quita already criminal and Umar already innocent, so row 4 is one of the rows constrained by those clues. If Kay were criminal, then the remaining people named in these clues would have to fit both of those row conditions at the same time, and they cannot do that. So Kay cannot be criminal. So Kay must be innocent.
09.D5 · Zane → INNOCENT
Kay’s clue says exactly 2 painters have an innocent directly to the right of them. One of those painter cases is already Vince, because Vince is a painter and Wanda, directly to his right, is innocent. Xia cannot be the other case, because the person directly to Xia’s right is Zane, whose identity is the one still in question. So the only remaining way to reach the required second case is for Zane to be innocent, making Xia a painter with an innocent directly to the right. So Zane must be innocent.
10.B1 · Celia → INNOCENT, C1 · Dana → INNOCENT
Ghani’s clue says there are exactly 11 innocents on the edge. On the edge, 5 people are already known to be innocent and 2 are already known to be criminals, so among the 7 unknown edge people there can be only 1 criminal. Zane’s clue says all innocents in row 1 are connected, so the single edge criminal cannot be at B1 or C1, because putting the row 1 criminal in the middle would split the row 1 innocents. That means the one edge criminal must come from A1 Banda, D1 Eli, D2 Jerry, A4 Penny, or A5 Vince instead. So Celia and Dana must be innocent.
11.A5 · Vince → INNOCENT
Wanda’s clue says her neighbors contain an odd number of innocents. Right now those neighbors have 1 known innocent, and the unknown neighbors are Penny, Terry, and Vince. Quita’s clue says the two criminals in row 4 must be connected, and row 4 is Penny, Quita, Terry, and Umar, with Quita already criminal and Umar already innocent. If Vince were criminal, then Penny and Terry would be the people who still have to make both clues work at the same time, but they cannot do that. So Vince cannot be criminal. That makes Vince innocent.
12.A1 · Banda → INNOCENT
Vince’s clue says the coder group and the cook group must have the same number of innocents. The cooks already have 2 innocents, while the coders currently have only 1 known innocent. If Banda were criminal, the coders would stay at 1 innocent, so they could not match the cooks’ 2 innocents. So Banda must be innocent.
13.D2 · Jerry → INNOCENT
Banda’s clue says the people strictly between Eli and Umar contain exactly one innocent. Right now, that group has no known innocents, and the only unknown person left in that group is Jerry. So the one innocent that still has to appear there must be Jerry. That makes Jerry innocent.
14.A4 · Penny → INNOCENT
Jerry's clue says column A has exactly one criminal. In column A, Ghani is already that one known criminal, and Banda, Kay, and Vince are already innocent. That leaves Penny as the only unknown person in column A, but there cannot be any additional criminal there. So Penny must be innocent.
15.C4 · Terry → CRIMINAL
Quita’s clue says that the two criminals in row 4 must be connected. In row 4, Penny is innocent, Quita is criminal, Umar is innocent, and Terry is the only person not yet identified. If Terry were innocent, then row 4 would have only Quita as a criminal, so the clue about both criminals in row 4 could not be satisfied. So Terry must be criminal.
16.D1 · Eli → CRIMINAL
Ghani’s clue says Wanda is one of exactly 11 innocents on the edge. On the edge cells, 11 people are already known to be innocent: Banda, Celia, Dana, Jerry, Kay, Penny, Umar, Vince, Wanda, Xia, and Zane. If Eli were also innocent, the edge would have more than those exactly 11 edge innocents, which conflicts with the clue. So Eli must be criminal.
17.B2 · Hazel → CRIMINAL
Wanda’s clue says Kay has exactly 3 criminal neighbors, and exactly 1 of those criminals is also a neighbor of Terry. Among the people who are neighbors of both Kay and Terry, the only criminal is Quita, so that uses up the 1 criminal neighbor of Kay who is also Terry’s neighbor. That means the other 2 criminal neighbors of Kay must come from Kay’s neighbors who are not neighbors of Terry: Ghani, Hazel, and Penny. Ghani is already a criminal and Penny is innocent, so the remaining criminal spot has to be Hazel. So Hazel must be criminal.
18.C2 · Ivan → CRIMINAL
Max’s clue says only one row can have exactly 2 criminals. Row 4 already has exactly 2 criminals, because Quita and Terry are criminals while Penny and Umar are innocent. Row 2 already has 2 known criminals, Ghani and Hazel, and Ivan is the only person there not yet identified. If Ivan were innocent, row 2 would also have exactly 2 criminals, which would clash with Max’s clue. So Ivan must be criminal.