Clues by Sam Jul 18, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained
A1
😬
lion
B1
👩💼
clerk
C1
👩💼
clerk
D1
😬
leopard
A2
😬
bug
B2
👨💼
clerk
C2
👩🌾
farmer
D2
👨🎤
singer
A3
👩✈️
pilot
B3
🐺
wolf
C3
😬
dog
D3
🕵️♀️
sleuth
A4
👨🔧
mech
B4
😬
cat
C4
👨⚕️
doctor
D4
👮♂️
cop
A5
👷♀️
builder
B5
😬
goose
C5
👮♀️
cop
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 Jul 18, 2026 — a Hard solved in 15 steps
Today's Clues by Sam puzzle is rated Hard and resolves with 7 criminals on a 20-cell, 4-column × 5-row grid. The criminals are Frank (A2), Kumar (B3), Max (D3), Pip (B4), Tom (D4), Uma (A5) and Vera (B5); the remaining 13 suspects are innocent.
The deduction chain, in plain English
01.C4 · Salil → INNOCENT, C5 · Wanda → INNOCENT
Helen’s clue says exactly 2 innocents are in the overlap between the people below Helen and the people neighboring Xola. That overlap contains only Salil and Wanda, and there are no known innocents there yet. Since the overlap still needs 2 innocents and Salil and Wanda are the only people left in it, both of them have to fill those two innocent spots. So Salil and Wanda must be innocent.
02.A5 · Uma → CRIMINAL
Wanda's clue says the two innocents in row 5 are connected. Wanda at C5 is already one of those innocents, so the other innocent in row 5 has to be next to Wanda, which means it must be Vera at B5 or Xola at D5. Uma at A5 is not next to Wanda in that row, so Uma cannot be the other innocent in the connected pair. So Uma must be criminal.
03.B2 · Gabe → INNOCENT
Uma’s clue says that Gabe is one of Frank’s four innocent neighbors. That directly identifies Gabe’s status. So Gabe must be innocent.
04.B4 · Pip → CRIMINAL, D4 · Tom → CRIMINAL
Wanda says the two innocents in row 5 are connected. In row 5, Uma is already a criminal and Wanda is already an innocent, so the remaining innocent in that row has to be Vera or Xola, and it must come from those two row 5 neighbors of Wanda. Gabe says Wanda has exactly 3 criminal neighbors, so among Wanda's five neighbors there is exactly 1 innocent neighbor. Since that one innocent neighbor has to be Vera or Xola, Pip and Tom cannot be that innocent neighbor. So Pip and Tom must be criminals.
05.D3 · Max → CRIMINAL
Tom says Salil has exactly 5 criminal neighbors, and only 1 of those criminals is also a neighbor of Gabe. So among Salil's neighbors who are not Gabe's neighbors, there is room for exactly 1 innocent person. In that not-Gabe-neighbor group, the possible single innocent is forced to come from Vera or Xola, not Max. So Max at D3 must be criminal.
06.A4 · Noah → INNOCENT
Max’s clue says that Noah is one of Kumar’s six innocent neighbors. That directly identifies Noah’s status. So Noah must be innocent.
07.A3 · Julie → INNOCENT
Kumar’s clue says he has exactly 6 innocent neighbors. Among Kumar’s neighbors, four are already known innocents and Pip is already a criminal, so the only criminal among the three unknown neighbors A2 Frank, A3 Julie, and C3 Logan has to come from Frank or Logan. That means Julie cannot be that criminal. So Julie must be innocent.
08.B1 · Betty → INNOCENT
Tom’s clue makes Kumar and Logan account for the one criminal among Salil’s neighbors who is also Gabe’s neighbor. Julie’s clue says there is exactly one criminal in Gabe’s neighbor list who is not Betty’s neighbor, and that set is Betty, Julie, Kumar, and Logan. Since Julie is innocent, the smaller shared pair Kumar and Logan already contains the one criminal allowed in that larger set. The only person in the larger set who is not in that smaller pair is Betty, so Betty cannot be criminal. So Betty must be innocent.
09.C1 · Claire → INNOCENT
Julie says Gabe has exactly 2 criminal neighbors, and only 1 of them is also Betty's neighbor. Among Gabe's neighbors who are also Betty's neighbors, the possible criminals are Anna, Claire, and Frank. But from the other two clues, Kumar's neighbors need one more innocent among Frank and Logan, and Frank's neighbors need one more innocent among Anna and Kumar, so that shared criminal counted by Julie must come from Anna or Frank, not Claire. So Claire must be innocent.
10.D1 · Donald → INNOCENT, D2 · Ike → INNOCENT
Claire’s clue says there are exactly 9 innocents on the edges. There are already 5 known innocents on the edge and 3 known criminals there, so among the 6 unknown edge people, exactly 2 are criminals. Those 2 criminals must be A1 Anna, A2 Frank, B5 Vera, and D5 Xola, which leaves no criminal place for D1 Donald or D2 Ike. So Donald and Ike must be innocent.
11.D5 · Xola → INNOCENT
Ike’s clue says columns A and D must contain the same number of criminals. Column D already has two known criminals, Max and Tom, and the only person there not yet identified is Xola. Julie’s clue fixes the criminal neighbors of Gabe so that among Gabe’s neighbors who are also Betty’s neighbors, exactly one criminal is accounted for by Anna and Frank. That means column A does not gain any extra criminal from Anna or Frank, so column A stays at its current criminal total. Since column A cannot increase, column D cannot increase either without breaking the equal-columns clue. So Xola must be innocent.
12.B5 · Vera → CRIMINAL
Tom’s clue says Salil has exactly 5 criminal neighbors, and exactly 1 of those 5 is also a neighbor of Gabe. That means the other 4 criminal neighbors of Salil must be people who are not neighbors of Gabe. Among Salil’s neighbors who are not neighbors of Gabe, Max, Pip, and Tom are already known criminals, while Wanda and Xola are innocent. The only unknown person left in that group is Vera, so she has to fill the fourth criminal spot there. So Vera must be criminal.
13.C3 · Logan → INNOCENT, B3 · Kumar → CRIMINAL
Gabe’s neighbors contain exactly 2 criminals, and exactly 1 of those criminals is also a neighbor of Betty. Among Gabe’s unknown neighbors, the two people who are Betty’s neighbors are Anna and Frank, while Kumar and Logan are not Betty-neighbors. If Logan were a criminal and Kumar were innocent, then the two criminals around Gabe would have to be Logan plus exactly one of Anna or Frank, while the edge clue still has to be satisfied by Anna and Frank along with the known edge people. That combination cannot satisfy all of those facts at once. So the tested pairing is impossible. Logan must be innocent, and Kumar must be criminal.
14.A2 · Frank → CRIMINAL
Max’s clue says Noah is one of Kumar’s exactly 6 innocent neighbors. Among Kumar’s neighbors, the six already known innocents are Gabe, Helen, Julie, Logan, Noah, and Salil, and Pip is the one known criminal. That leaves Frank as the only unknown neighbor, and he cannot also be innocent because then Kumar would have more than 6 innocent neighbors. So Frank must be criminal.
15.A1 · Anna → INNOCENT
Gabe has exactly two criminal neighbors. Among Gabe's neighbors who are also Betty's neighbors, exactly one is criminal, and that group already contains Frank as a known criminal. Since Anna is the only unknown person left in that shared group, she cannot also be criminal without making that count more than one. So Anna must be innocent.