Clues by Sam Aug 04, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained
A1
👮♂️
cop
B1
👮♂️
cop
C1
👨💻
coder
D1
👨🏫
teacher
A2
👮♀️
cop
B2
👨💻
coder
C2
👨💻
coder
D2
👨🏫
teacher
A3
👨🌾
farmer
B3
👷♀️
builder
C3
👩🎤
singer
D3
👩🎤
singer
A4
👩🌾
farmer
B4
👷♀️
builder
C4
👨🎨
painter
D4
👩🎨
painter
A5
👩🔧
mech
B5
👩🔧
mech
C5
👨🔧
mech
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 — 12 criminals.
Clues by Sam answer for Aug 04, 2026 — a Medium solved in 19 steps
Today's Clues by Sam puzzle is rated Medium and resolves with 12 criminals on a 20-cell, 4-column × 5-row grid. The criminals are Aaron (A1), Eric (D1), Freya (A2), Henry (B2), Igor (C2), Kumar (A3), Lisa (B3), Nala (D3), Quita (B4), Tina (A5), Vera (B5) and Zara (D5); the remaining 8 suspects are innocent.
The deduction chain, in plain English
01.B5 · Vera → CRIMINAL
Megan's clue says there is exactly 1 criminal in the overlap of row 5 and the people below Lisa. That shared group contains only one person: Vera. Since that group still needs its 1 criminal, Vera has to be the criminal there. So Vera must be criminal.
02.B2 · Henry → CRIMINAL
Vera’s clue says Henry is one of Megan’s 5 criminal neighbors. That directly identifies Henry as a criminal. So Henry must be criminal.
03.A3 · Kumar → CRIMINAL
Henry's clue says there are no innocents who are both above Tina and neighboring Paula. The only person in that shared group is Kumar, and there are already 0 known innocents in it. So Kumar cannot be innocent. That makes Kumar criminal.
04.D3 · Nala → CRIMINAL
Kumar’s clue says every profession has at least one criminal. In the singer profession, Megan is already known to be innocent, and the only singer whose identity is not fixed yet is Nala. That means the singer profession cannot get its required criminal from anyone else, so Nala must be the criminal singer. So Nala must be criminal.
05.B3 · Lisa → CRIMINAL
Nala’s clue says row 1 is the only row with exactly 2 criminals. Row 3 already has 2 known criminals, Kumar and Nala, and Lisa is the only person in that row not yet identified. If Lisa were innocent, then row 3 would remain at exactly 2 criminals, which the clue forbids for any row other than row 1. So Lisa must be criminal.
06.C2 · Igor → CRIMINAL
Nala’s clue fixes row 1 as the only row with exactly 2 criminals, and Lisa’s clue says exactly one corner person has a criminal directly below them. The corner people involved are Aaron, Eric, Tina, and Zara. If Igor were innocent, the remaining people named in these clues would have to fill row 1, rows 2, 4, and 5, and the corner positions in a way that satisfies both of those exact restrictions at the same time, but that cannot be done. So Igor cannot be innocent. That makes Igor criminal.
07.D4 · Sarah → INNOCENT
Nala’s clue says row 1 is the only row with exactly 2 criminals, so every other row must avoid finishing with exactly 2. Igor’s clue also says exactly 1 mech has a criminal directly above them, which depends on Paula above Tina, Quita above Vera, and Ryan above Wally. If Sarah were criminal, the remaining people involved here would have to make both of those clues true at the same time: Aaron, Carl, Daniel, Eric in row 1; Freya and Jerry in row 2; Paula, Quita, and Ryan in row 4; and Tina, Wally, and Zara. But that combination cannot be completed without breaking one of those clue requirements. So Sarah must be innocent.
08.D5 · Zara → CRIMINAL
Sarah’s clue says there is exactly one innocent to the left of Zara. Among the people to Zara’s left, there are currently no known innocents, so that single innocent would have to come from Tina or Wally. If Zara were innocent, then Aaron, Carl, Daniel, Eric, Freya, Jerry, Paula, Quita, Ryan, Tina, and Wally would have to satisfy both that left-of-Zara requirement and Nala’s requirement that row 1 is the only row with exactly 2 criminals, but those facts cannot all be met together. So Zara cannot be innocent. That makes Zara at D5 criminal.
09.C4 · Ryan → INNOCENT
Zara’s clue says there are exactly 2 innocents to the right of Quita. In that group, Sarah is already a known innocent, so 1 innocent is still missing. The only person there whose status is not yet known is Ryan, so Ryan has to be that second innocent. So Ryan must be innocent.
10.C1 · Daniel → INNOCENT
Ryan’s clue says the number of innocent coders must equal the number of innocent singers. The singers already have exactly 1 innocent, while the coders currently have 0 known innocents, and Daniel is the only coder whose status is still unknown. If Daniel were criminal, the coders would stay at 0 innocents, which would not match the singers’ 1 innocent. So Daniel must be innocent.
11.A1 · Aaron → CRIMINAL
Daniel’s clue says the two innocents in row 1 must be connected. Daniel is already one of those innocents, so the other innocent in row 1 has to be next to Daniel, which leaves only Carl or Eric. Aaron is not next to Daniel in that row, so Aaron cannot be the second innocent. So Aaron must be criminal.
12.C5 · Wally → INNOCENT
Aaron’s clue says column C contains exactly 4 innocents. In column C, Daniel, Megan, and Ryan are already known to be innocents, so that makes 3 known innocents there. The only person in column C whose status is still unknown is Wally, so the one remaining innocent in that column has to be Wally. So Wally must be innocent.
13.A5 · Tina → CRIMINAL
The clue says row 1 is the only row with exactly 2 criminals. Row 5 already has 2 known criminals, and Tina is the only person in that row not yet identified. If Tina were innocent, then row 5 would remain at exactly 2 criminals, which the clue does not allow for any row except row 1. So Tina must be criminal.
14.B1 · Carl → INNOCENT
Wally’s clue says the people to the left of Daniel contain exactly one innocent. In that group, there are currently no known innocents, and the only person there whose identity is still unknown is Carl. So the one innocent that still has to be there can only be Carl. That makes Carl innocent.
15.D1 · Eric → CRIMINAL
Nala’s clue says row 1 is the only row with exactly 2 criminals. In row 1, Aaron is already a criminal, Carl and Daniel are innocent, and Eric is the only person there not yet identified. If Eric were innocent, then row 1 would have only 1 criminal, so it would fail the clue. That would also leave the other rows to satisfy the “only row” restriction instead, which is impossible with Freya, Jerry, Paula, and Quita. So Eric must be criminal.
16.D2 · Jerry → INNOCENT
Tina’s clue says there are exactly 2 innocents in column D. In column D, there is currently 1 known innocent, and the only person there whose identity is still unknown is Jerry. That means column D still needs exactly 1 more innocent, and Jerry is the only person who can fill that spot. So Jerry must be innocent.
17.A2 · Freya → CRIMINAL
Nala’s clue says row 1 is the only row with exactly 2 criminals. Row 2 already has 2 known criminals, and Freya is the only person in that row not yet identified. If Freya were innocent, then row 2 would also have exactly 2 criminals, which the clue forbids. So Freya must be criminal.
18.B4 · Quita → CRIMINAL
Vera’s clue says Henry is one of Megan’s exactly 5 criminal neighbors. Among Megan’s neighbors, Henry, Igor, Lisa, and Nala are already known criminals, while Jerry, Ryan, and Sarah are known innocents, and Quita is the only neighbor not yet identified. That gives Megan only 4 known criminal neighbors so far, so the fifth criminal neighbor has to be Quita. So Quita must be criminal.
19.A4 · Paula → INNOCENT
Nala’s clue says row 1 is the only row with exactly 2 criminals. Row 4 currently has 1 known criminal, and Paula is the only person in that row whose status is not yet identified. If Paula were a criminal, row 4 would also have exactly 2 criminals, which the clue does not allow. So Paula must be innocent.