Clues by Sam Aug 16, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained
A1
🕵️♂️
sleuth
B1
🕵️♀️
sleuth
C1
👨🎨
painter
D1
👨🎨
painter
A2
🕵️♂️
sleuth
B2
👮♂️
cop
C2
👮♂️
cop
D2
👨🎨
painter
A3
👨🏫
teacher
B3
👩🍳
cook
C3
👮♂️
cop
D3
👩🌾
farmer
A4
👩🏫
teacher
B4
👩🍳
cook
C4
👩⚕️
doctor
D4
👩🌾
farmer
A5
👩🏫
teacher
B5
👩🍳
cook
C5
👨⚕️
doctor
D5
👩🌾
farmer
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 — 16 criminals.
Clues by Sam answer for Aug 16, 2026 — a Hard solved in 18 steps
Today's Clues by Sam puzzle is rated Hard and resolves with 16 criminals on a 20-cell, 4-column × 5-row grid. The criminals are Alex (A1), Betsy (B1), Derek (D1), Gabe (A2), Ivan (B2), Klay (C2), Martin (A3), Nancy (B3), Ollie (C3), Paula (D3), Rose (B4), Stella (C4), Tina (D4), Uma (A5), Wanda (B5) and Zoe (D5); the remaining 4 suspects are innocent.
The deduction chain, in plain English
01.A5 · Uma → CRIMINAL
Carl’s clue says Uma is one of the exactly 2 criminals to the left of Zoe. That directly identifies Uma as a criminal. So Uma must be criminal.
02.B2 · Ivan → CRIMINAL
Uma’s clue says Ivan is one of the exactly 3 criminals in row 2. Since Ivan is explicitly included among those criminals, his identity is fixed by the clue itself. So Ivan must be criminal.
03.A2 · Gabe → CRIMINAL
Ivan’s clue says there are no innocents among the people who are both in column A and neighbors of Alex. That shared group is just Gabe, and there are already 0 known innocents in it. So Gabe cannot be innocent. So Gabe must be criminal.
04.D5 · Zoe → CRIMINAL
Row 2 must contain exactly 3 criminals, and it already has Gabe and Ivan as criminals, so among Klay and Logan there is room for only 1 innocent in row 2. Also, the people to the left of Zoe must contain exactly 2 criminals, and with Uma already criminal, Wanda and Xavi must contain exactly 1 innocent between them. If Zoe were innocent, then row 5 would have Zoe plus exactly 1 innocent among Wanda and Xavi, for 2 innocents in row 5. But Gabe’s clue says rows 2 and 5 have the same number of innocents, and row 2 cannot have 2 innocents. So Zoe cannot be innocent. That makes Zoe criminal.
05.D3 · Paula → CRIMINAL
Uma’s clue fixes row 2 at exactly three criminals. Gabe and Ivan are already criminals there, so among Klay and Logan there is room for exactly one more criminal. Zoe’s clue says exactly two painters have a criminal directly below them, which means the criminals in that relevant set are C2 Klay, D2 Logan, and D3 Paula, with exactly two criminals among those three. Since Klay and Logan together contribute exactly one criminal, the remaining needed criminal has to be Paula. So Paula must be criminal.
06.D4 · Tina → CRIMINAL
Paula’s clue says the number of innocents among the edge neighbors of Stella is odd. That group is Paula, Tina, Wanda, Xavi, and Zoe, with Paula and Zoe already criminal. Carl’s clue says there are exactly 2 criminals to the left of Zoe, and those people are Uma, Wanda, and Xavi, with Uma already one of those criminals. So Wanda and Xavi must fit that clue together while also fitting Paula’s odd-innocents clue. If Tina were innocent, then Wanda and Xavi would have to make both clues work at the same time, and they cannot. So Tina cannot be innocent. That makes Tina criminal.
07.C3 · Ollie → CRIMINAL, C4 · Stella → CRIMINAL
Row 2 has exactly 3 criminals, and Gabe and Ivan already account for 2 of them, so among Klay and Logan there is exactly 1 more criminal. Paula’s neighbors must contain exactly 4 criminals, and Tina is already 1 of them. That means the four unknown neighbors together must provide 3 more criminals, but Klay and Logan can contribute only 1 of those 3. So the remaining two neighbors, Ollie and Stella, must both be criminals. That makes Ollie and Stella criminal.
08.A4 · Quita → INNOCENT
Row 4 contains Quita, Rose, Stella, and Tina, and Stella and Tina are already criminals. The clue about row 4 says exactly 2 criminals there have a criminal directly below them, and the other clue says there are more criminal cooks than criminal teachers. Right now the cooks have 0 known criminals, while the teachers already have 1 known criminal, Uma. If Quita were also a criminal, then the remaining people involved here, including Martin, Nancy, Rose, Wanda, and Xavi, would have to satisfy both clues at once, but that cannot be done. So Quita must be innocent.
09.B4 · Rose → CRIMINAL
Carl’s clue says there are exactly 2 criminals to the left of Zoe, and Uma is one of them. Since the people there are Uma, Wanda, and Xavi, that leaves only one more criminal among Wanda and Xavi. Stella’s clue says there are more criminal cooks than criminal teachers. But there is already 1 criminal teacher, Uma, and no cook is yet known to be criminal. If Rose were innocent, then the cooks would have to rely only on Nancy and Wanda to get above that teacher total, while Carl’s clue also limits Wanda because only one of Wanda and Xavi can be criminal. That combination cannot satisfy all the clue facts at once, so Rose cannot be innocent. That makes Rose criminal.
10.B3 · Nancy → CRIMINAL
Klay’s clue says his neighbors contain exactly 2 innocents. Among those neighbors, Carl is already known to be innocent, so there is room for exactly 1 more innocent among Betsy, Derek, Logan, and Nancy. That remaining innocent is accounted for by Betsy, Derek, and Logan, so Nancy cannot be the innocent person in that group. That makes Nancy criminal.
11.B1 · Betsy → CRIMINAL
Quita says Klay has exactly 2 innocent neighbors. Around Klay, Carl is already one innocent neighbor, so among Betsy, Derek, and Logan there is room for only one more innocent. Nancy says only one person in row 2 has exactly 2 innocent neighbors. Klay is that person, so the one extra innocent needed for Klay cannot be Betsy, because that extra innocent must come from Derek or Logan instead. So Betsy must be criminal.
12.A3 · Martin → CRIMINAL
To the left of Zoe there must be exactly 2 criminals, and that group is Uma, Wanda, and Xavi with Uma already known to be one of those criminals. Rose’s neighbors must contain exactly 6 criminals, and among her neighbors there are already 4 known criminals: Nancy, Ollie, Stella, and Uma. The only neighbors of Rose who are not also in Zoe’s left-of group are Martin, Nancy, Ollie, Quita, and Stella, and among those only Martin is not already identified, since Nancy, Ollie, and Stella are criminals and Quita is innocent. So the extra criminal needed for Rose’s total has to come from Martin. So Martin must be criminal.
13.B5 · Wanda → CRIMINAL
Stella’s clue says there are more criminal cooks than criminal teachers. Right now the teachers already have 2 criminals, and the cooks also currently have 2 criminals. Wanda is the only cook whose identity is not yet known, so if Wanda were innocent, the cooks would stay at 2 criminals and would not have more criminal members than the teachers. So Wanda must be criminal.
14.C5 · Xavi → INNOCENT
Carl says Uma is one of the exactly 2 criminals to the left of Zoe. The people to the left of Zoe are Uma, Wanda, and Xavi, and Uma and Wanda are already criminals. If Xavi were also a criminal, there would be 3 criminals to the left of Zoe, which contradicts the clue saying there are exactly 2. So Xavi must be innocent.
15.C2 · Klay → CRIMINAL
Rose’s clue says each column has at least 3 criminals, so a column can have at most 2 innocents. Column C already has 2 known innocents, Carl at C1 and Xavi at C5. That means no other person in column C can be innocent. So Klay must be criminal.
16.D2 · Logan → INNOCENT
Uma’s clue says Ivan is one of exactly 3 criminals in row 2. In row 2, Gabe, Ivan, and Klay are already the 3 known criminals, and Logan is the only person there whose identity was still unknown. If Logan were criminal too, row 2 would have 4 criminals, which clashes with the clue’s total of exactly 3. So Logan must be innocent.
17.D1 · Derek → CRIMINAL
Quita’s clue says Klay has exactly 2 innocent neighbors. Klay’s neighbors already include 2 known innocents, Carl and Logan. The only neighbor of Klay whose identity was still unknown is Derek, so Derek cannot be innocent without giving Klay more than 2 innocent neighbors. So Derek must be criminal.
18.A1 · Alex → CRIMINAL
Nancy’s clue says exactly one person in row 2 has exactly 2 innocent neighbors. Klay already has exactly 2 innocent neighbors, and Logan has 1 with no unknown neighbors, so Logan cannot be that person. If Alex were innocent, Gabe would rise from 0 known innocent neighbors to 2, and Ivan would rise from 1 to 2 as well. That would give row 2 three people with exactly 2 innocent neighbors, which conflicts with the clue. So Alex must be criminal.