Clues by Sam Jul 25, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained
A1
👨🌾
farmer
B1
👨🔧
mech
C1
👨🎤
singer
D1
👩🔧
mech
A2
👩🌾
farmer
B2
👨🔧
mech
C2
👩🎤
singer
D2
👨⚕️
doctor
A3
👩🌾
farmer
B3
👨🍳
cook
C3
👨🍳
cook
D3
👨⚕️
doctor
A4
👩💼
clerk
B4
👩💻
coder
C4
👨🏫
teacher
D4
👩✈️
pilot
A5
👩💼
clerk
B5
👩💻
coder
C5
👨🏫
teacher
D5
👩✈️
pilot
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 Jul 25, 2026 — a Hard solved in 18 steps
Today's Clues by Sam puzzle is rated Hard and resolves with 4 criminals on a 20-cell, 4-column × 5-row grid. The criminals are Ben (A1), Peter (D3), Rose (B4) and Uma (A5); the remaining 16 suspects are innocent.
The deduction chain, in plain English
01.D1 · Emily → INNOCENT
Quita’s clue says that Emily is one of the exactly three innocents above Xola. Since Emily is explicitly included in that innocent group, Emily must be innocent. So Emily must be innocent.
02.D5 · Xola → INNOCENT
Quita’s clue says that among the people above Xola, exactly three are innocent, and Emily is one of them. Emily’s clue says column A is the only column with exactly two criminals, so columns B, C, and D cannot also have exactly two criminals. If Xola were a criminal, then the remaining people involved in these two clues would have to satisfy both of those restrictions at the same time, but they cannot. That contradiction rules out Xola being a criminal. So Xola must be innocent.
03.B5 · Vicky → INNOCENT
Emily’s clue says column A is the only column with exactly 2 criminals, and Xola’s clue says the four people above Vicky contain exactly 3 innocents. That means Chad, Gus, Noah, and Rose have to supply those 3 innocents, while column A must also keep its exact criminal count without another column matching it. If Vicky were criminal, then the remaining people named in these clues would have to satisfy both requirements at the same time, and that cannot be done. So Vicky cannot be criminal. That makes Vicky innocent.
04.D4 · Tina → INNOCENT
Vicky's clue says Olsi has exactly 2 criminal neighbors, and exactly 1 of those criminals is above Tina. So among Olsi's neighbors who are not above Tina, there is exactly 1 criminal. That not-above-Tina group is B2 Gus, C2 Hope, B3 Noah, B4 Rose, C4 Steve, and D4 Tina. The 1 criminal in that group has to come from Gus, Hope, Noah, Rose, or Steve, so Tina cannot be that criminal. So Tina must be innocent.
05.A5 · Uma → CRIMINAL
Column A has to contain exactly 2 criminals, and it is the only column allowed to have exactly 2 criminals. Also, the farmers must contain more innocents than the doctors, with Ben, Freya, and Layla as the farmers and Kyle and Peter as the doctors. If Uma were innocent, then Ben, Freya, Layla, Chad, David, Gus, Hope, Kyle, Noah, Olsi, Peter, Rose, Steve, and Wally would have to satisfy both of those clue requirements at the same time, but they cannot. So Uma cannot be innocent. That makes Uma criminal.
06.C5 · Wally → INNOCENT
Uma’s clue says every row has at least 3 innocents, so in row 5 there can be at most 1 criminal. Row 5 already has one known criminal, Uma, and the only person there whose status is not yet fixed is Wally. That means row 5 cannot have any additional criminal. So Wally must be innocent.
07.C3 · Olsi → INNOCENT
Wally’s clue says Olsi is one of Tina’s 4 innocent neighbors. That directly identifies Olsi as innocent. So Olsi must be innocent.
08.B3 · Noah → INNOCENT
Uma’s clue and Vicky’s clue together make Olsi’s neighbors who are not above Tina contain exactly 1 criminal. In that group, the possible places for that 1 criminal are Gus, Hope, Rose, and Steve. Noah is not among the people who can fill that criminal spot. So B3 Noah must be innocent.
09.A2 · Freya → INNOCENT
Noah’s clue says directly that Freya is innocent. So Freya at A2 must be innocent.
10.C1 · David → INNOCENT
If David were criminal, the remaining people named in these clues would have to satisfy all of them at once: column A being the only column with exactly 2 criminals, exactly 3 innocents above Xola, exactly 4 innocent neighbors of Tina, and at least 3 innocents in every row. But with David set to criminal, Ben, Chad, Gus, Hope, Kyle, Layla, Peter, Rose, and Steve cannot be assigned in a way that makes all of those facts true together. So David cannot be criminal. That makes David innocent.
11.B2 · Gus → INNOCENT, C2 · Hope → INNOCENT
Between Quita and Tina, Rose and Steve contain exactly 1 innocent. In Olsi's neighbors who are not above Tina, the six people B2 Gus, C2 Hope, B3 Noah, B4 Rose, C4 Steve, and D4 Tina contain exactly 5 innocents. Noah and Tina are already innocent, and Rose and Steve contribute exactly 1 more innocent, so that accounts for 3 of those 5 innocents. The only people left in that same group are Gus and Hope, so they must provide the remaining 2 innocents. So Gus and Hope must be innocent.
12.B1 · Chad → INNOCENT
The edge cells must contain exactly 3 criminals, and Uma is already one of them, so there are exactly 2 more edge criminals to place. Column A must contain exactly 2 criminals, and since Freya and Quita are innocent while Uma is already criminal, the second criminal in column A has to be Ben or Layla. Emily is one of exactly 3 innocents above Xola, and Tina is also already innocent there, so among Kyle and Peter exactly one is innocent and the other is criminal. That uses up the 2 remaining edge criminals as one of Ben or Layla and one of Kyle or Peter, so Chad cannot be one of them. So Chad must be innocent.
13.B4 · Rose → CRIMINAL
Xola’s clue says the people above Vicky contain exactly 3 innocents. Above Vicky, Chad, Gus, and Noah are already known innocents, which fills all 3 innocent spots in that group. The only person there not yet identified is Rose, so she cannot also be innocent. So Rose must be criminal.
14.C4 · Steve → INNOCENT
Uma’s clue says every row has at least 3 innocents, so in a 4-person row there can be at most 1 criminal. Row 4 already has 1 known criminal, Rose, and the only person there whose status is not yet fixed is Steve. That means no remaining person in row 4 can be a criminal. So Steve must be innocent.
15.D3 · Peter → CRIMINAL
Wally’s clue says Olsi is one of Tina’s exactly 4 innocent neighbors. Tina’s neighbors are Olsi, Peter, Steve, Wally, and Xola, and among them Olsi, Steve, Wally, and Xola are already innocent. That already makes the full set of Tina’s 4 innocent neighbors, so Peter cannot also be innocent. So Peter must be criminal.
16.D2 · Kyle → INNOCENT
Emily’s clue says column A is the only column with exactly 2 criminals. In column D, Peter is already a known criminal, and Kyle is the only person there not yet identified. If Kyle were a criminal, then column D would also have exactly 2 criminals, which the clue rules out. So Kyle must be innocent.
17.A3 · Layla → INNOCENT
Uma’s clue says each row has at least 3 innocents, so in a 4-person row there can be at most 1 criminal. Row 3 already has 1 known criminal, Peter, and the only person there whose status is not yet fixed is Layla. That means row 3 cannot have any additional criminal. So Layla must be innocent.
18.A1 · Ben → CRIMINAL
Emily’s clue says column A is the only column with exactly 2 criminals. In column A, Uma is already a criminal, while Freya, Layla, and Quita are innocent, so Ben is the only person there who could supply the second criminal. If Ben were innocent, then column A would have only 1 criminal, not exactly 2, which conflicts with the clue that column A is the only column with exactly 2 criminals. So Ben must be criminal.