Clues by Sam Aug 29, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained
A1
👩⚖️
judge
B1
👷♂️
builder
C1
👮♀️
cop
D1
👮♀️
cop
A2
👨🎨
painter
B2
👮♂️
cop
C2
👨🎨
painter
D2
👨🎨
painter
A3
👨🎤
singer
B3
👩✈️
pilot
C3
👨✈️
pilot
D3
👨✈️
pilot
A4
👩⚖️
judge
B4
👷♀️
builder
C4
👨🎤
singer
D4
👨💻
coder
A5
👩⚖️
judge
B5
👩💻
coder
C5
👩🎤
singer
D5
👩💻
coder
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 29, 2026 — a Hard solved in 15 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 Amy (A1), Bruce (B1), Cheryl (C1), Erwin (A2), Frank (B2), Gary (C2), Hank (D2), Mary (B3), Nick (C3), Paula (A4), Rose (B4), Scott (C4), Terry (D4), Vicky (A5), Xena (C5) and Zoe (D5); the remaining 4 suspects are innocent.
The deduction chain, in plain English
01.B3 · Mary → CRIMINAL
Olof’s clue says that the two criminals in row 3 must be connected. In row 3, Olof is already innocent, so the only people who could fill those two criminal spots are Igor, Mary, and Nick. If Mary were innocent, then Igor and Nick would have to be the two criminals in that row. But then the two criminals in row 3 would not satisfy Olof’s requirement that both criminals there are connected. So Mary must be criminal.
02.B4 · Rose → CRIMINAL
Mary’s clue says that the two innocents neighboring Paula are also neighbors of Rose. Among Paula’s neighbors, the only person who is not a neighbor of Rose is Rose herself. So every innocent neighbor of Paula has to be someone other than Rose, and Rose cannot be one of Paula’s two innocent neighbors. That makes Rose criminal.
03.A3 · Igor → INNOCENT
Row 3 has to contain more innocents than any other row. Right now row 3 already has Olof as an innocent, and its only unknown people are Igor and Nick. If Igor were criminal, then row 3 would have to rely on the remaining people to keep row 3 ahead of every other row, but that cannot be done while also satisfying these clue facts. So Igor cannot be criminal. That makes Igor innocent.
04.C3 · Nick → CRIMINAL
Olof’s clue says that the two criminals in row 3 must be connected. In row 3, Igor is innocent, Mary is criminal, Nick is unknown, and Olof is innocent. If Nick were innocent, then row 3 would not have the required pair of connected criminals. So Nick at C3 must be criminal.
05.C5 · Xena → CRIMINAL, D5 · Zoe → CRIMINAL
Rose says row 3 has more innocents than any other row, and row 3 already has exactly two innocents: Igor and Olof. So no other row can also reach two innocents. If Xena and Zoe were innocent, then row 5 would have two innocents in that same row. That would tie row 5 with row 3, which contradicts Rose's clue that row 3 has more innocents than any other row. So Xena and Zoe must be criminals.
06.A4 · Paula → CRIMINAL
Mary says the two innocents neighboring Paula are also neighbors of Rose. Paula’s neighbors already include Igor as one known innocent, so the other innocent neighbor of Paula must be either Vicky or Wanda, and that person is also a neighbor of Rose. Among the edge people who neighbor Rose, Igor is already one innocent, so the group can have only one more innocent. That remaining innocent must therefore be Vicky or Wanda, not Paula. So Paula must be criminal.
07.C4 · Scott → CRIMINAL
Paula has two innocent neighbors, and Mary says both of those innocents are also neighbors of Rose. Igor is already one innocent neighbor of Paula, so Paula’s other innocent neighbor must be either Vicky or Wanda, and that person is also a neighbor of Rose. Paula says Rose has exactly two innocent neighbors, and exactly one of them is in row 3. Among Rose’s neighbors in row 3, the only innocent is Igor, so Igor is that one. That means Rose’s other innocent neighbor must be outside row 3, and from Mary’s clue it has to be Vicky or Wanda, not Scott. So Scott must be criminal.
08.B1 · Bruce → CRIMINAL, A2 · Erwin → CRIMINAL, B2 · Frank → CRIMINAL
Paula's neighbors and Amy's neighbors must contain the same number of criminals. Right now Paula's neighbors already contain 2 known criminals, while Amy's neighbors contain 0 known criminals. If Bruce, Erwin, and Frank were all innocent, then Amy's entire neighbor group would have no criminals at all. The only other people involved here are Vicky and Wanda, so those remaining people would have to make the clues fit, but they cannot make Amy's neighbors match Paula's neighbors' criminal count. So Bruce, Erwin, and Frank must be criminal.
09.D4 · Terry → CRIMINAL
Bruce’s clue says Paula’s neighbors and Zoe’s neighbors must contain the same number of criminal people. Right now each of those groups already has 2 known criminals. If Terry were innocent, then Zoe’s neighbor group would stay at 2 criminals. But Paula still has Vicky and Wanda not yet identified, and Mary’s clue also has to be satisfied by those same remaining people. That combination cannot be met if Terry is innocent. So Terry must be criminal.
10.D2 · Hank → CRIMINAL
Igor’s clue says there are exactly 10 criminals on the edge, and exactly 3 of those edge criminals are Rose’s neighbors, so exactly 7 edge criminals are not Rose’s neighbors. In the edge cells that are not neighboring Rose, there are already 4 known criminals, which means among A1 Amy, C1 Cheryl, D1 Debra, and D2 Hank there is exactly 1 innocent. That one innocent must come from Amy, Cheryl, and Debra, so Hank cannot be that innocent person. So Hank must be criminal.
11.C2 · Gary → CRIMINAL
Olof’s neighbors must contain more criminals than Erwin’s neighbors. Right now that count is 4 around Olof and 3 around Erwin, and the only unknown in those two groups is Gary around Olof and Amy around Erwin. At the same time, Bruce and Wanda must have the same number of criminal neighbors. But Bruce currently has 2 known criminal neighbors while Wanda already has 4, with only Amy, Cheryl, and Gary affecting Bruce’s side and only Vicky affecting Wanda’s side. If Gary were innocent, Amy, Cheryl, and Vicky would have to make both clues true at once, and that cannot be done. So Gary cannot be innocent. That makes Gary at C2 criminal.
12.A1 · Amy → CRIMINAL
Bruce’s neighbors must have the same number of criminal neighbors as Wanda’s neighbors. Right now Bruce’s neighbors have 3 known criminals, while Wanda’s neighbors already have 4 known criminals. Column A must contain more criminals than innocents, so with Erwin and Paula already criminal and Igor innocent, column A needs at least one of Amy or Vicky to be criminal. If Amy were innocent, then Cheryl and Vicky would be the only remaining people who could fix both clues at once, but that cannot be done. So Amy cannot be innocent. So Amy must be criminal.
13.C1 · Cheryl → CRIMINAL, D1 · Debra → INNOCENT
Amy’s clue says all criminals in row 1 must be connected. In row 1, Amy and Bruce are already criminals, while Cheryl and Debra are the two unknowns. If Cheryl were innocent and Debra were criminal, then the criminals in row 1 would be Amy, Bruce, and Debra. Cheryl would sit between Bruce and Debra, so those row 1 criminals would not form one connected block. That clashes with Amy’s clue. So Cheryl must be criminal and Debra must be innocent.
14.A5 · Vicky → CRIMINAL
Zoe’s clue says Bruce and Wanda must have the same number of criminal neighbors. Bruce’s neighbors already give a total of 5 criminals, while Wanda’s neighbors currently give 4 criminals, with Vicky the only unknown among them. If Vicky were innocent, Wanda would stay at 4 criminal neighbors, which would not match Bruce’s 5. So Vicky must be criminal.
15.B5 · Wanda → INNOCENT
Mary’s clue says that the two innocents among Paula’s neighbors are also neighbors of Rose. Among Paula’s neighbors, anyone outside Rose’s neighboring group is already identified as criminal, so the second innocent cannot be outside that shared group. In the shared group, Igor is already one innocent, and Paula’s neighbors still need one more innocent there; the only unknown person left in that shared group is Wanda. So Wanda must be innocent.