Clues by Sam Aug 31, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained
A1
🕵️♀️
sleuth
B1
🕵️♂️
sleuth
C1
🕵️♀️
sleuth
D1
👨🔧
mech
A2
👩🍳
cook
B2
👨🍳
cook
C2
👨🌾
farmer
D2
👩🌾
farmer
A3
👩💼
clerk
B3
👨🍳
cook
C3
👩🌾
farmer
D3
👨⚖️
judge
A4
👩💼
clerk
B4
👨💼
clerk
C4
👩⚖️
judge
D4
👨⚖️
judge
A5
👷♀️
builder
B5
👷♂️
builder
C5
👨🔧
mech
D5
👩🔧
mech
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 — 6 criminals.
Clues by Sam answer for Aug 31, 2026 — a Easy solved in 18 steps
Today's Clues by Sam puzzle is rated Easy and resolves with 6 criminals on a 20-cell, 4-column × 5-row grid. The criminals are Bruce (B1), Eli (D1), Hazel (A2), Ryan (B4), Vicky (A5) and Zoe (D5); the remaining 14 suspects are innocent.
The deduction chain, in plain English
01.B1 · Bruce → CRIMINAL
Quita’s clue says there are exactly 2 criminals in row 1, and exactly 1 of those criminals is Amy’s neighbor. In row 1, the only person who is also a neighbor of Amy is Bruce. So the row-1 person who is Amy’s neighboring criminal has to be Bruce. That makes Bruce criminal.
02.B3 · Martin → INNOCENT
Bruce’s clue says the two innocents above Wally must be connected. Above Wally, Bruce is already a criminal, so if Martin were also a criminal, the two innocents there would have to be Igor and Ryan. That would make the people above Wally Bruce criminal, Igor innocent, Martin criminal, and Ryan innocent. But then the two innocents above Wally would be Igor and Ryan, and they are not connected because Martin sits between them. So the assumption that Martin is a criminal cannot fit Bruce’s clue. That makes Martin innocent.
03.B5 · Wally → INNOCENT
If Wally were criminal, then the people above Wally would have to include exactly two innocents that are connected. Bruce is criminal and Martin is innocent, so that makes Igor and Ryan the needed innocents above Wally, giving Igor, Martin, and Ryan as the innocents there. But then there would be three innocents above Wally, not exactly two. So the assumption fails, and Wally must be innocent.
04.C3 · Nala → INNOCENT
Column C has Celia, Jason, Nala, Susan, and Xavi, and that column must contain at least 3 innocents. At the same time, all innocents in column C have to be connected as one orthogonally connected block. If Nala were criminal, the people named in these clues could not satisfy both of those facts at once. So Nala cannot be criminal. That makes Nala innocent.
05.A2 · Hazel → CRIMINAL
Nala’s clue says directly that Hazel is a criminal. So Hazel at A2 must be criminal.
06.D2 · Katie → INNOCENT
Hazel's clue says there is exactly 1 innocent who is both below Eli and in row 2. That shared group contains only one person: Katie at D2. Since that group still needs that 1 innocent, Katie has to fill it. So Katie must be innocent.
07.C4 · Susan → INNOCENT, C2 · Jason → INNOCENT
Column C currently has only one known innocent, Nala, and it must end up with more innocents than column D. Also, all innocents in column C have to form one connected block. If Jason and Susan were both criminals, then the only remaining possible extra innocents in column C would be Celia at C1 and Xavi at C5. That would leave any innocents in column C split around Nala instead of forming one connected block, while column C still has to satisfy the requirement of having more innocents than column D. So Susan and Jason cannot be criminals. Susan and Jason must be innocent.
08.D4 · Tyler → INNOCENT
Susan’s clue says exactly 2 corner people have an innocent directly above them. There must be 1 more such case to satisfy that count, and the only direct-above neighbor still affecting this clue is D4 Tyler. So the remaining needed case has to come from Tyler being innocent. That makes Tyler innocent.
09.A3 · Linda → INNOCENT
Tyler’s clue says exactly 2 clerks have an innocent directly above them. Ryan is one such clerk, because Martin is directly above Ryan and Martin is innocent. Quita is not, because Linda is directly above Quita and Linda is not yet known to be innocent, while Linda herself would count only if Hazel directly above her were innocent, but Hazel is criminal. That leaves the one remaining clerk case to be Quita, so Linda has to be innocent for Quita to have an innocent directly above. So Linda must be innocent.
10.B4 · Ryan → CRIMINAL
Linda’s clue says Vicky has exactly 2 innocent neighbors. Vicky’s neighbors already include exactly 2 known innocents, Quita and Wally. The only neighbor of Vicky whose identity is still unknown is Ryan, so Ryan cannot also be innocent without exceeding that total. So Ryan must be criminal.
11.B2 · Igor → INNOCENT
Martin’s clue says each column has at least 3 innocents, so any column can have at most 2 criminals. In column B, Bruce and Ryan are already known criminals, which uses up those 2 criminal spots. The only person left in that column whose status was not fixed is Igor, so he cannot also be a criminal. So Igor must be innocent.
12.C1 · Celia → INNOCENT
Ryan’s clue says there is exactly one innocent between Amy and Eli. Among the people between them, there are currently no known innocents, and Celia is the only person there whose identity is still unknown. Since that group still needs exactly one innocent, Celia has to be that innocent. So Celia must be innocent.
13.D3 · Olof → INNOCENT
Celia’s clue says the number of criminal farmers must equal the number of criminal judges. All the farmers are already identified as innocent, so the farmer group has 0 criminals. The judges therefore also have to total 0 criminals, and Susan and Tyler are already innocent. So Olof must be innocent.
14.C5 · Xavi → INNOCENT
Vicky’s neighbors already are exactly two innocents, and Olof’s clue says Vicky is the only person with exactly 2 innocent neighbors. So every other neighbor-group on the board must avoid ending at exactly 2 innocent neighbors. Zoe’s neighbors already contain 2 known innocents, and the only unknown there is Xavi. To keep Zoe from also having exactly 2 innocent neighbors, Xavi has to be innocent. So Xavi must be innocent.
15.D5 · Zoe → CRIMINAL
Xavi's clue says the people below Katie contain exactly 2 innocents. Below Katie, there are already 2 known innocents: Olof and Tyler. The only person there who is still unknown is Zoe, so she cannot also be innocent without exceeding the clue's total. So Zoe must be criminal.
16.A5 · Vicky → CRIMINAL
Row 1 must contain exactly 2 criminals, and exactly 1 of those row 1 criminals is Amy's neighbor. Bruce is already that 1 criminal neighbor of Amy, so Amy and Eli are the only remaining people in row 1 who could fill the second criminal spot while keeping Quita's clue true. Zoe's clue says the edge cells contain an odd number of innocents. There are already 8 known innocents on the edge, and the only edge people not yet identified are Amy, Eli, and Vicky. If Vicky were innocent, then Amy and Eli would have to fit both the row 1 requirement and the edge-innocent requirement at the same time, and they cannot. So Vicky must be criminal.
17.A1 · Amy → INNOCENT
Martin’s clue says every column has at least 3 innocents, so column A can have at most 2 criminals. Column A already has 2 known criminals, Hazel and Vicky. The only person left in column A whose identity was not fixed is Amy, so she cannot also be a criminal. So Amy must be innocent.
18.D1 · Eli → CRIMINAL
Quita’s clue says row 1 has exactly 2 criminals, and exactly 1 of those criminals is Amy’s neighbor. In row 1, the only criminal who is Amy’s neighbor is Bruce, so the other criminal in row 1 must be someone there who is not Amy’s neighbor. The people in row 1 who are not Amy’s neighbor are Amy, Celia, and Eli. Amy and Celia are already innocent, so the remaining criminal spot can only be Eli. So Eli must be criminal.