Clues by Sam Jul 15, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained
A1
🕵️♀️
sleuth
B1
🕵️♂️
sleuth
C1
🕵️♂️
sleuth
D1
💂♂️
guard
A2
👨🏫
teacher
B2
👩🎤
singer
C2
👨🚒
firefighter
D2
👨🎨
painter
A3
👨💻
coder
B3
👩🍳
cook
C3
👷♀️
builder
D3
👷♂️
builder
A4
👩💻
coder
B4
👨💻
coder
C4
💂♀️
guard
D4
👩🍳
cook
A5
👩🎤
singer
B5
👩🎤
singer
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 15, 2026 — a Tricky solved in 17 steps
Today's Clues by Sam puzzle is rated Tricky and resolves with 7 criminals on a 20-cell, 4-column × 5-row grid. The criminals are Eli (C1), Jason (D2), Megan (C3), Quita (C4), Rose (D4), Saga (A5) and Tina (B5); the remaining 13 suspects are innocent.
The deduction chain, in plain English
01.B1 · Derek → INNOCENT, B2 · Habiba → INNOCENT
Noah's clue says the people above Layla contain exactly 2 innocents. There are currently no known innocents in that group, and the only people there who are not yet identified are Derek and Habiba. Since those two spots have to supply all 2 innocents required by the clue, both of them have to be innocent. So Derek and Habiba must be innocent.
02.C5 · Wally → INNOCENT
Derek’s clue says Wally is one of the exactly 2 innocents in row 5. That directly places Wally among the innocents in that row. So Wally must be innocent.
03.A5 · Saga → CRIMINAL
Row 5 has exactly 2 innocents, and one of them is already Wally. The row-5 neighbors of Wally are Tina and Zara, and exactly 1 innocent must be in that pair. So the second innocent for row 5 has to come from Tina or Zara. That leaves the only other person in row 5 outside that pair, Saga, unable to be innocent. So Saga must be criminal.
04.A1 · Chloe → INNOCENT, A2 · Gary → INNOCENT
Saga’s clue says the people above Klay contain exactly 2 innocents. Right now there are 0 known innocents in that group, and the only people left there are Chloe and Gary. Since those two spots must supply all 2 innocents required by the clue, both of them have to be innocent. So Chloe and Gary must be innocent.
05.C1 · Eli → CRIMINAL
Chloe's clue says Floyd has exactly two criminal neighbors, and exactly one of those criminals is to the right of Gary. Among Floyd's neighbors, the ones to the right of Gary are Igor and Jason, so the other criminal neighbor must come from Floyd's neighbors who are not to the right of Gary. In that group, the only person is Eli, and there are no known criminals there yet. So Eli must be criminal.
06.C3 · Megan → CRIMINAL
Eli’s clue says that the criminals below him in column C are both connected. Below Eli, the people in column C are Igor, Megan, Quita, and Wally, and Wally is innocent. If Megan were innocent, then the only remaining places for those two criminals below Eli would have to come from Igor and Quita, with Wally not criminal. But that would leave the two criminals below Eli not connected, which conflicts with the clue. So Megan must be criminal.
07.D1 · Floyd → INNOCENT
Rows 1 and 2 must have the same number of innocents. Row 1 already has two known innocents, Chloe and Derek, and the only person left there is Floyd. Row 2 also already has two known innocents, Gary and Habiba, and among Igor and Jason there is exactly one innocent. So row 2 will end with one more innocent than it has now, and row 1 must do the same to stay equal. That makes Floyd innocent.
08.D4 · Rose → CRIMINAL
Derek’s clue says row 5 has exactly two innocents, and Wally is already one of them. So among Tina and Zara, only one of them can be innocent. Floyd’s clue says an odd number of the edge people who neighbor Quita are innocent. That group is Noah, Rose, Tina, Wally, and Zara. Noah and Wally are already innocent, so those two already contribute an even count, and Tina and Zara can add only one more innocent between them. If Rose were innocent too, then this group would have Rose plus exactly one of Tina and Zara as additional innocents, making the total even instead of odd. So Rose at D4 must be criminal.
09.A4 · Olive → INNOCENT
Wally’s clue says exactly one corner person has an innocent directly above them. Among the corner cells, that total still needs one more qualifying case, and the only remaining direct-above person that can affect this clue is Olive at A4. So Olive has to be innocent to provide that one required case. That makes Olive innocent.
10.A3 · Klay → INNOCENT
Gary’s clue says column D is the only column with exactly 2 criminals. In column A, there is already 1 known criminal, and Klay at A3 is the only person in that column whose identity is not yet known. If Klay were a criminal, then column A would also end up with exactly 2 criminals, which the clue does not allow. So Klay must be innocent.
11.B3 · Layla → INNOCENT
Derek's clue says row 5 has exactly 2 innocents, and Wally is one of them. Right now row 5 already has Wally as an innocent, with Tina and Zara the only unknown people there. Klay's clue says row 3 has more innocents than row 5. Row 3 already has 2 known innocents, while row 5 currently has 1 known innocent. If Layla were a criminal, then only Tina and Zara would be left to make these two clues fit at the same time, and that cannot be done. So Layla at B3 must be innocent.
12.B4 · Pip → INNOCENT
Row 5 has exactly two innocents, and Wally is one of them, so among Tina and Zara only one can be innocent. Quita’s neighbors must contain an odd number of criminals, and those neighbors already include 2 known criminals, so among Pip, Tina, and Zara there must be an odd number of criminals. If Pip were criminal, then Tina and Zara would have to satisfy both of those conditions at the same time, but they cannot. So Pip cannot be criminal. That makes Pip innocent.
13.C4 · Quita → CRIMINAL
Row 5 must contain exactly 2 innocents, and Wally is already one of them, so among Tina and Zara only one can be innocent. Floyd’s neighbors must contain exactly 2 criminals, and exactly 1 of those criminals is to the right of Gary, which means Igor and Jason have to account for that requirement alongside Eli. The whole board must contain exactly 7 criminals, and there are already 4 known criminals, leaving the unknown people Igor, Jason, Quita, Tina, and Zara to supply the remaining 3. If Quita were innocent, then Igor, Jason, Tina, and Zara would have to satisfy all of those remaining row 5, Floyd-neighbor, and total-criminal requirements by themselves, but they cannot. So Quita must be criminal.
14.C2 · Igor → INNOCENT
Eli’s clue says the criminals below him are both connected. In column C below Eli, Megan and Quita are already the two known criminals, and Wally is innocent. If Igor were also criminal, that would conflict with the clue’s requirement about the criminals below Eli. So Igor at C2 must be innocent.
15.D2 · Jason → CRIMINAL
Chloe's clue says Floyd has exactly 2 criminal neighbors, and exactly 1 of those criminals is to the right of Gary. Among Floyd's neighbors, the people to the right of Gary are Igor and Jason. Igor is innocent, so that group still needs 1 criminal, and Jason is the only unknown person left in it. So Jason must be criminal.
16.D5 · Zara → INNOCENT
Gary’s clue says column D is the only column with exactly 2 criminals, so column D must stay at exactly 2. In column D, Jason and Rose are already the 2 known criminals, and Zara is the only unknown person left in that column. If Zara were a criminal, column D would have 3 criminals instead of 2, which clashes with the clue. So Zara must be innocent.
17.B5 · Tina → CRIMINAL
Derek’s clue says Wally is one of exactly 2 innocents in row 5. In row 5, the people are Saga, Tina, Wally, and Zara, and Wally and Zara are already the 2 known innocents there. If Tina were innocent too, row 5 would have more than the exactly 2 innocents the clue allows. So Tina must be criminal.