Clues by Sam Aug 25, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained
A1
👨🎨
painter
B1
👩🎨
painter
C1
👨✈️
pilot
D1
👨✈️
pilot
A2
👨🎨
painter
B2
👷♂️
builder
C2
😬
worm
D2
👷♀️
builder
A3
👩🔧
mech
B3
👨🔧
mech
C3
👩🔧
mech
D3
👩💼
clerk
A4
👮♂️
cop
B4
👮♀️
cop
C4
👩💻
coder
D4
👩💼
clerk
A5
👨⚖️
judge
B5
👩⚖️
judge
C5
👨💻
coder
D5
👩💼
clerk
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 — 10 criminals.
Clues by Sam answer for Aug 25, 2026 — a Easy solved in 16 steps
Today's Clues by Sam puzzle is rated Easy and resolves with 10 criminals on a 20-cell, 4-column × 5-row grid. The criminals are Alex (A1), Ghani (A2), Hal (B2), Igor (C2), Olive (D3), Quita (B4), Saga (C4), Umar (A5), Vera (B5) and Xavi (C5); the remaining 10 suspects are innocent.
The deduction chain, in plain English
01.B2 · Hal → CRIMINAL
Tina’s clue says there are exactly 3 criminals in column B, and exactly 1 of those criminals is in row 2. In column B, the only person who is also in row 2 is Hal at B2. So the one criminal from column B who must be in row 2 has to be Hal. That makes Hal criminal.
02.B5 · Vera → CRIMINAL
Hal is above Vera and is already criminal, so Hal cannot be one of the two innocents above Vera. That means the two innocents in the group above Vera must come from Bunty, Logan, and Quita. So column B already has exactly two innocents among the people above Vera. Since column B as a whole also has exactly two innocents, there is no innocent slot left for the only person in column B who is not above Vera, which is Vera. So Vera must be criminal.
03.A3 · Karen → INNOCENT
Vera's clue says Ghani and Logan have exactly one innocent neighbor in common. Their shared neighbors are only Hal and Karen, and Hal is already known to be a criminal. That means the one innocent in that shared group has to be Karen. So Karen must be innocent.
04.A5 · Umar → CRIMINAL
Karen’s clue says the two innocents below Alex are connected. Karen is already one of those innocents, so the other innocent below Alex has to be directly next to Karen in that column. That means the other innocent can only be Ghani or Peter, and Umar is not next to Karen there. So Umar must be criminal.
05.C1 · Chola → INNOCENT
Umar’s clue says that Chola is one of David’s 2 innocent neighbors. That directly places Chola among the innocent people in David’s neighborhood. So Chola must be innocent.
06.A2 · Ghani → CRIMINAL
Row 2 must contain an odd number of innocents, and right now there are none known there, so the unknown people in that row must supply an odd number of innocents. David’s neighbors contain exactly 2 innocents, and Chola is already one of them, so among Igor and Julie there must be exactly 1 more innocent. Igor and Julie are both in row 2, so they already provide the odd number row 2 needs. That means Ghani cannot also be innocent. So Ghani must be criminal.
07.A4 · Peter → INNOCENT
Karen’s clue says that exactly two innocents below Alex must be connected. Below Alex are Ghani, Karen, Peter, and Umar, and among them Ghani and Umar are already criminal while Karen is already innocent. If Peter were also criminal, then below Alex there would be only one innocent there, Karen, so the clue about both innocents below Alex could not be true. So Peter must be innocent.
08.B1 · Bunty → INNOCENT
Ghani’s clue says exactly one corner person has a criminal directly to the right. That one case is already A5 Umar. The only other undecided right-neighbor that could change this clue is B1 Bunty for the corner at A1 Alex. If Bunty were criminal, there would be another corner person meeting the clue, which would make more than one. So Bunty must be innocent.
09.A1 · Alex → CRIMINAL
Bunty’s clue says the three painters contain an odd number of innocents. Among the painters, Bunty is already innocent and Ghani is already criminal, so the only unknown painter is Alex. If Alex were innocent, the painters would have 2 innocents, which is even, not odd. That clashes with Bunty’s clue, so Alex cannot be innocent. So Alex must be criminal.
10.D5 · Zoe → INNOCENT, D1 · David → INNOCENT
Alex’s clue says the corner cells contain exactly 2 innocents. Right now the corners have 0 known innocents, and the only corner people not yet identified are David at D1 and Zoe at D5. Since the corners still need exactly 2 innocents and there are exactly 2 unknown corner people left, those two have to supply both innocents. So David and Zoe must be innocent.
11.B4 · Quita → CRIMINAL, C4 · Saga → CRIMINAL, C5 · Xavi → CRIMINAL
Zoe’s clue says row 4 is the only row with exactly 2 innocents. Row 4 already has Peter and Tina as its 2 known innocents, so if Quita and Saga were innocent as well, row 4 would no longer fit that clue; and pairing that with Xavi as innocent makes the remaining people Igor, Julie, Logan, Nancy, and Olive unable to satisfy the clue facts for the other rows at the same time. That combination cannot happen. So Quita, Saga, and Xavi must be criminals.
12.B3 · Logan → INNOCENT
Tina’s clue says column B has exactly 3 criminals, and exactly 1 of those criminals is in row 2. That one in row 2 is already Hal at B2. Outside row 2, column B contains Bunty, Logan, Quita, and Vera, and Quita and Vera already account for the other 2 criminals allowed there. So Logan cannot also be a criminal. That makes Logan innocent.
13.C3 · Nancy → INNOCENT
Xavi's clue says there are more criminal cops than criminal mechs. Right now the cops have 1 criminal, and the mechs have 0 known criminals, with Nancy the only mech whose identity is not yet fixed. If Nancy were criminal, then the mechs would also have 1 criminal. That would make the number of criminal mechs equal to the number of criminal cops, not more for the cops. So Nancy must be innocent.
14.D3 · Olive → CRIMINAL
Nancy’s clue says each row has at least one criminal. In row 3, Karen, Logan, and Nancy are already known to be innocent, so that row already has 3 innocents. Since row 3 still needs at least one criminal, the only remaining person there cannot be innocent. So Olive must be criminal.
15.C2 · Igor → CRIMINAL
Olive’s clue says every person in column D can have at most 3 innocent neighbors. Julie already has 3 known innocent neighbors: Chola, David, and Nancy, and Igor is also one of Julie’s neighbors. So if Igor were innocent, Julie would have 4 innocent neighbors, which breaks Olive’s clue. That means Igor cannot be innocent. So Igor must be criminal.
16.D2 · Julie → INNOCENT
Umar’s clue says Chola is one of David’s exactly 2 innocent neighbors. David’s neighbors here are Chola, Igor, and Julie, and among them Chola is already innocent while Igor is criminal. If Julie were criminal too, then David would have only 1 innocent neighbor, which clashes with the clue saying he has exactly 2. So Julie must be innocent.