Clues by Sam Aug 19, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained
A1
👨⚖️
judge
B1
👩🔧
mech
C1
👨🎨
painter
D1
👩⚕️
doctor
A2
👨💼
clerk
B2
👮♂️
cop
C2
🕵️♂️
sleuth
D2
🕵️♂️
sleuth
A3
👨⚕️
doctor
B3
👨⚕️
doctor
C3
👩🎨
painter
D3
💂♂️
guard
A4
👩🔧
mech
B4
👮♀️
cop
C4
👩🎨
painter
D4
🕵️♀️
sleuth
A5
👩⚖️
judge
B5
💂♀️
guard
C5
👩💼
clerk
D5
👨⚖️
judge
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 — 8 criminals.
Clues by Sam answer for Aug 19, 2026 — a Medium solved in 17 steps
Today's Clues by Sam puzzle is rated Medium and resolves with 8 criminals on a 20-cell, 4-column × 5-row grid. The criminals are Austin (A1), Barb (B1), Clyde (C1), Frank (A2), Hal (C2), Megan (C3), Pam (A4) and Sue (B4); the remaining 12 suspects are innocent.
The deduction chain, in plain English
01.A5 · Vicky → INNOCENT, B5 · Wanda → INNOCENT
Oscar’s clue says there are exactly 2 innocents to the left of Xia. In that group, there are currently 0 known innocents, and the only people there whose identity is not yet known are Vicky and Wanda. Since the group still needs exactly 2 innocents and those are the only two people left to fill them, both must be innocent. So Vicky and Wanda must be innocent.
02.B3 · Kevin → INNOCENT
Vicky's clue says Sue has exactly 6 innocent neighbors, and exactly 2 of those innocent neighbors are in column B. Among Sue's neighbors in column B, Wanda is already innocent, and the only other person there is Kevin. That means the column B part of the clue still needs one more innocent, so Kevin must be innocent.
03.C5 · Xia → INNOCENT
Kevin’s clue says that Xia is one of the exactly 2 innocents below Hal. Since Xia is explicitly included among those innocents, Xia must be innocent. So Xia must be innocent.
04.B4 · Sue → CRIMINAL
Wanda’s clue says there are exactly 2 innocents above her, and exactly 1 of those innocents is Austin’s neighbor. The people above Wanda who are Austin’s neighbors are Barb and Gus, so the innocent who is not Austin’s neighbor must come from the others above Wanda. But among those others, Kevin is already known to be innocent, which uses up that one non-neighbor innocent spot. That means Sue cannot also be innocent. So Sue must be criminal.
05.A2 · Frank → CRIMINAL
Kevin says exactly 1 of his 3 innocent neighbors is above Vicky, so among Kevin’s neighbors above Vicky there is exactly 1 innocent. That group is A2 Frank, A3 Jerry, and A4 Pam. Sue’s clue about Kevin’s neighboring innocents means the innocent person in that above-Vicky group has to be from A3 Jerry and A4 Pam, not Frank. So Frank cannot be the one innocent there. That makes Frank criminal.
06.A1 · Austin → CRIMINAL
Wanda’s clue fixes the people above her at exactly two innocents, with exactly one of those two being a neighbor of Austin, and Sue’s clue fixes Kevin’s neighbors at exactly three innocents, with exactly one of those three being above Vicky. At the same time, Frank’s clue says column A must contain more criminals than column B, and right now both columns already have 1 known criminal. If Austin were innocent, then Austin, Barb, Gus, Hal, Jerry, Megan, Pam, and Tina would have to satisfy all three of those restrictions at once, but they cannot. So Austin cannot be innocent. That makes Austin criminal.
07.C1 · Clyde → CRIMINAL
Austin’s clue says exactly one of Clyde’s innocent neighbors is to Austin’s right, and in this case those people are Barb and Dana. So among Barb and Dana, exactly one is innocent. Xia’s clue says row 1 has exactly one innocent total: Austin, Barb, Clyde, and Dana. Since Austin is already criminal, that one innocent in row 1 must be among Barb, Clyde, and Dana. But Barb and Dana already account for exactly one innocent in row 1, so there is no innocent slot left there for Clyde. So Clyde must be criminal.
08.D2 · Igor → INNOCENT
Austin says exactly 1 of Clyde's 3 innocent neighbors is to Austin's right, so the other 2 innocent neighbors of Clyde are not to Austin's right. Among Clyde's neighbors, the people not to Austin's right are B2 Gus, C2 Hal, and D2 Igor, which means this group contains exactly 1 criminal. That 1 criminal must be Gus or Hal, not Igor. So D2 Igor must be innocent.
09.D4 · Uma → INNOCENT, D5 · Ziad → INNOCENT
Clyde says there are 9 innocents on the edge, so among the 14 edge cells there are exactly 2 criminals. On the edge, the known criminals are Austin, Clyde, and Frank, and the remaining edge people who could supply those last 2 criminals are Barb, Dana, Jerry, A4 Pam, Uma, and Ziad. From the other clue counts in this step, those 2 criminals must be chosen from Barb, Dana, Jerry, and Pam, so Uma and Ziad cannot be edge criminals. That makes Uma and Ziad innocent.
10.A3 · Jerry → INNOCENT
Above Wanda, there must be exactly 2 innocents in total, and exactly 1 of those innocents is an Austin neighbor. In that group, Kevin is already an innocent, and the only other people there whose identity is not known are Barb and Gus. Frank’s neighbors must contain an odd number of innocents. Among Frank’s neighbors, Kevin is already the 1 known innocent, and the remaining unknown people there are Barb, Gus, and Jerry. If Jerry were criminal, then Barb and Gus would have to satisfy both clues by themselves, but they cannot do that. So Jerry cannot be criminal. That makes Jerry innocent.
11.A4 · Pam → CRIMINAL
Kevin’s neighbors contain exactly 3 innocents, and exactly 1 of those innocents is above Vicky. Among Kevin’s neighbors who are above Vicky, the only people are Frank, Jerry, and Pam, and Jerry is already known to be innocent. That means the one innocent in that above-Vicky group is already accounted for, so the remaining unknown person there cannot also be innocent. So Pam must be criminal.
12.C4 · Tina → INNOCENT
Xia’s clue says row 1 has exactly one innocent. In row 1, Austin and Clyde are already criminals, and the only unknown people there are Barb and Dana, so that clue fixes the innocence count for that row entirely through Barb and Dana. Igor’s clue says exactly one row has exactly three criminals. If Tina were a criminal, then Tina together with Barb, Dana, Gus, Hal, and Megan would have to satisfy both clues at the same time, and that cannot be done. So Tina must be innocent.
13.C3 · Megan → CRIMINAL
Kevin’s clue says Xia is one of exactly 2 innocents below Hal. Below Hal are Megan, Tina, and Xia, and Tina and Xia are already the 2 known innocents there. If Megan were also innocent, there would be 3 innocents below Hal, which conflicts with the clue. So Megan must be criminal.
14.C2 · Hal → CRIMINAL
Wanda’s clue fixes the group above her at exactly two innocents, and exactly one of those innocents must be Austin’s neighbor. In that group, Kevin is already one innocent, while the only people there who could be Austin’s neighbors are Barb and Gus. Tina’s clue also says there is exactly one column with exactly two criminals. If Hal were innocent, then Barb, Gus, and Dana would have to fit Wanda’s clue and Tina’s clue at the same time, and that cannot be done. So Hal must be criminal.
15.B2 · Gus → INNOCENT
Kevin’s neighbors contain exactly 3 innocents, and exactly 1 of those innocents is above Vicky. Among Kevin’s neighbors who are above Vicky, the only innocent there is Jerry, so the other 2 innocents must be among Kevin’s neighbors who are not above Vicky. Those neighbors not above Vicky are Gus, Hal, Megan, Sue, and Tina, and that group already includes Tina as 1 known innocent. That means this group still needs 1 more innocent, and Gus is the only unknown person left in it. So Gus must be innocent.
16.B1 · Barb → CRIMINAL
Above Wanda there are exactly two innocents in total. Among the people above Wanda who are Austin's neighbors, the relevant two are Barb and Gus, and the clue says exactly one of Wanda's innocent-above people is Austin's neighbor. Gus is already an innocent in that shared group, so that one innocent neighbor is already accounted for. That means Barb cannot be innocent, so Barb must be criminal.
17.D1 · Dana → INNOCENT
Xia's clue says row 1 contains exactly one innocent. In row 1, there are currently no known innocents, and the only person there whose status is still unknown is Dana. That means the one innocent required in row 1 has to be Dana. So Dana must be innocent.