Clues by Sam Jul 30, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained
A1
👨🏫
teacher
B1
👩💼
clerk
C1
👮♀️
cop
D1
👷♀️
builder
A2
💂♂️
guard
B2
👨💼
clerk
C2
👨⚕️
doctor
D2
👷♂️
builder
A3
👨🍳
cook
B3
👩💼
clerk
C3
👨🌾
farmer
D3
👨🏫
teacher
A4
💂♀️
guard
B4
👮♀️
cop
C4
🕵️♀️
sleuth
D4
🕵️♂️
sleuth
A5
💂♀️
guard
B5
👮♀️
cop
C5
🕵️♂️
sleuth
D5
👩🍳
cook
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 Jul 30, 2026 — a Tricky solved in 16 steps
Today's Clues by Sam puzzle is rated Tricky and resolves with 9 criminals on a 20-cell, 4-column × 5-row grid. The criminals are Aaron (A1), Eric (A2), Gary (C2), Hal (D2), Olga (A4), Quita (C4), Raul (D4), Tina (A5) and Will (C5); the remaining 11 suspects are innocent.
The deduction chain, in plain English
01.A4 · Olga → CRIMINAL, A5 · Tina → CRIMINAL
Debra's clue says Vicky has exactly 4 criminal neighbors, and exactly 2 of those criminal neighbors are in column A. Among Vicky's neighbors, the only people in column A are Olga and Tina. Since the column A part of the clue still needs 2 criminals, those two spots both have to be criminals. So Olga and Tina must be criminal.
02.D4 · Raul → CRIMINAL
Tina's clue says row 4 has exactly 3 criminals, and exactly 2 of those row 4 criminals are neighbors of Vicky. That means exactly 1 criminal in row 4 must be someone who is not a neighbor of Vicky. In row 4, the only person who is not a neighbor of Vicky is Raul, and that non-neighbor group currently has no known criminal in it. So Raul must be criminal.
03.C5 · Will → CRIMINAL
Vicky’s neighbors contain exactly 4 criminals, and among those neighbors the row 4 people account for exactly 3 of them. In that row 4 neighbor group, Olga is already a criminal, so the remaining 1 criminal there has to be Pam or Quita. That means the row 4 neighbors can contribute only 3 criminals total, while Vicky’s full neighbor group needs 4 criminals total. The only neighbor outside that row 4 group is Will, so Will has to supply that remaining criminal. So Will must be criminal.
04.C4 · Quita → CRIMINAL
Will’s clue says that Quita is one of Mark’s 4 criminal neighbors. That directly places Quita among Mark’s criminal neighbors, so her identity is fixed by the clue itself. So Quita must be criminal.
05.B4 · Pam → INNOCENT
Debra's clue says Vicky has exactly 4 criminal neighbors, and exactly 2 of those criminals are in column A. Those 2 column-A criminals are already Olga and Tina. So among Vicky's neighbors that are not in column A, there can be only 2 criminals total. But that group is Pam, Quita, and Will, and Quita and Will are already criminal. That leaves no room for Pam to be criminal. So Pam must be innocent.
06.C2 · Gary → CRIMINAL
Gary and Mark’s shared neighbors are Floyd, Hal, Laura, and Noah, and that clue says exactly 3 of those 4 people are innocent. Mark’s full neighbor group has exactly 4 innocents in total. Compared with the shared group, the only extra person in Mark’s neighbor group who matters here is Gary, since Pam is already the known innocent there and Quita and Raul are already known criminals. That means the shared group already accounts for the 3 innocent spots, and Pam is the 4th innocent in Mark’s neighbors. So Gary cannot be innocent. That makes Gary criminal.
07.B3 · Laura → INNOCENT
Raul's clue makes the four shared neighbors of Gary and Mark the key group: Floyd, Hal, Laura, and Noah. In that group there is exactly 1 criminal person, and that 1 criminal must be Floyd, Hal, or Noah. That means Laura cannot be the criminal in that group. So Laura must be innocent.
08.B2 · Floyd → INNOCENT
Gary and Mark must have 3 innocent neighbors in common, and in their shared group Laura is already innocent. That leaves exactly 1 criminal among the other three shared people: Floyd, Hal, and Noah. Since that one criminal has to be Hal or Noah, Floyd cannot be the criminal there. So Floyd must be innocent.
09.D5 · Zara → INNOCENT
Column D has exactly 2 criminals, and it already has 1 known criminal, Raul, so there is room for exactly 1 more criminal in that column. In the shared neighbor group for Gary and Mark, there must be exactly 3 innocents; with Floyd and Laura already innocent, that leaves exactly 1 criminal among Hal and Noah. Hal and Noah are both in column D, so that exact-count group already provides the one remaining criminal that column D needs. Zara is also in column D but not in that group, so Zara cannot be criminal. That makes Zara innocent.
10.B5 · Vicky → INNOCENT
Zara’s clue says row 5 is the only row with exactly 2 innocents. In row 5, Tina and Will are already criminals and Zara is already innocent, so Vicky is the only person there who could supply that second innocent. If Vicky were criminal, then row 5 would have only 1 innocent, which clashes with Zara’s clue that row 5 has exactly 2 innocents. That makes Vicky innocent.
11.C1 · Carol → INNOCENT
Laura’s clue says there is exactly one innocent to the left of Carol, and the only people there are Aaron and Bonnie. So among Aaron and Bonnie, exactly one must be innocent. Now test Carol as criminal. Then row 1 would have to avoid being another row with exactly 2 innocents, because Zara says row 5 is the only row with exactly 2 innocents. But with Debra already innocent and exactly one of Aaron or Bonnie innocent, row 1 would then have exactly 2 innocents. That clashes with Zara’s clue. So Carol must be innocent.
12.A3 · Jerry → INNOCENT
Carol’s clue says directly that Jerry is innocent. So Jerry at A3 must be innocent.
13.D3 · Noah → INNOCENT, A2 · Eric → CRIMINAL, D2 · Hal → CRIMINAL
Raul’s clue says Gary and Mark have exactly 3 innocent neighbors in common. In that shared group, Floyd and Laura are already innocent, so among Hal and Noah there must be exactly one more innocent. Zara’s clue says row 5 is the only row with exactly 2 innocents. Row 3 already has Jerry and Laura as innocents, so Mark and Noah cannot both be criminal; at least one of them must be innocent. If Noah were criminal, then Mark would have to be innocent to stop row 3 from ending with exactly 2 innocents, and Hal would have to be innocent to give Gary and Mark their third shared innocent. Together with Eric innocent, that combination clashes with Olga’s column clue and Zara’s row clue. So Noah must be innocent, and Hal and Eric must be criminal.
14.B1 · Bonnie → INNOCENT
Quita’s clue says Carol’s neighbors contain an odd number of innocents. In Carol’s neighboring group, there are already 2 known innocents, and the only unknown person there is Bonnie. If Bonnie were criminal, Carol’s neighbors would stay at 2 innocents, which is even, not odd. So Bonnie must be innocent.
15.A1 · Aaron → CRIMINAL
Laura’s clue says the people to the left of Carol contain exactly one innocent. That group already has one known innocent in it, and the only person there whose identity is still unknown is Aaron. Since the one innocent allowed by the clue is already accounted for, Aaron cannot be innocent. So Aaron must be criminal.
16.C3 · Mark → INNOCENT
Olga’s clue says only one column has exactly one innocent. Column A already fits that exactly, because Jerry is the only innocent there and everyone else in column A is criminal. Column C currently has one known innocent, Carol, and Mark is the only person in that column not yet identified. If Mark were criminal, column C would also have exactly one innocent, which would clash with Olga’s clue. So Mark must be innocent.