Clues by Sam Sep 08, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained
A1
👩🏫
teacher
B1
👨🏫
teacher
C1
👨🍳
cook
D1
👨💼
clerk
A2
👨⚕️
doctor
B2
👨🍳
cook
C2
👩🍳
cook
D2
👨💼
clerk
A3
👩⚕️
doctor
B3
👨🔬
scientist
C3
👨🔬
scientist
D3
👷♀️
builder
A4
👩⚕️
doctor
B4
👨🔬
scientist
C4
🕵️♀️
sleuth
D4
👷♀️
builder
A5
👨🌾
farmer
B5
👩🌾
farmer
C5
🕵️♀️
sleuth
D5
🕵️♀️
sleuth
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 — 5 criminals.
Clues by Sam answer for Sep 08, 2026 — a Medium solved in 16 steps
Today's Clues by Sam puzzle is rated Medium and resolves with 5 criminals on a 20-cell, 4-column × 5-row grid. The criminals are Bobby (B1), Saga (C4), Umar (A5), Vicky (B5) and Zoe (D5); the remaining 15 suspects are innocent.
The deduction chain, in plain English
01.D5 · Zoe → CRIMINAL
Mary’s clue says that Zoe is one of Tina’s 2 criminal neighbors. That directly places Zoe among Tina’s criminal neighbors, so Zoe must be criminal. So Zoe must be criminal.
02.A5 · Umar → CRIMINAL
Zoe's clue says Vicky has exactly 2 criminal neighbors, and exactly 1 of those criminals is to the left of Wanda. Among Vicky's neighbors, the only person who is to the left of Wanda is Umar. Since that left-of-Wanda criminal still has to be filled, it has to be Umar. So Umar must be criminal.
03.D3 · Petra → INNOCENT, D4 · Tina → INNOCENT
Umar’s clue says there are exactly 2 innocents below Kyle. Below Kyle there are currently 0 known innocents, and the only people there whose status is still unknown are Petra and Tina. Since those two spots still have to supply exactly 2 innocents, both of those unknown people must be innocent. So Petra and Tina must be innocent.
04.D1 · Ghani → INNOCENT, D2 · Kyle → INNOCENT
Petra’s clue says there are exactly 4 innocents in column D. In that column, 2 people are already known to be innocent, and the only people there not yet identified are Ghani and Kyle. Since column D still needs exactly 2 more innocents, those two remaining people have to supply them. So Ghani and Kyle must be innocent.
05.C5 · Wanda → INNOCENT
Mary’s clue says Tina has exactly 2 criminal neighbors, and Zoe is one of them. In Tina’s neighbor group, the only person outside the “people directly above sleuths” group is Wanda. Kyle’s clue says there is exactly 1 sleuth with a criminal directly above them, so within that smaller group the criminal place or places that could account for Tina’s two criminal neighbors are already the ones there. That leaves no criminal slot for the one neighbor outside that smaller group. So Wanda must be innocent.
06.B5 · Vicky → CRIMINAL
Tina’s clue says row 5 has exactly one innocent. Row 5 already has that one innocent: Wanda. The only person in row 5 whose identity was still unknown is Vicky, so Vicky cannot also be innocent. So Vicky must be criminal.
07.B4 · Ronald → INNOCENT
Wanda’s clue says there is exactly one innocent among the people who are neighbors of both Quita and Umar. That shared group is only Ronald and Vicky, and Vicky is already known to be a criminal. So the shared group still needs one innocent, and Ronald is the only person there who could fill it. That makes Ronald innocent.
08.C2 · Janet → INNOCENT
Petra’s neighbors must contain an odd number of criminals, and among Petra’s neighbors there are currently no known criminals, so the unknown neighbors there must contribute an odd number of criminals. Tina’s neighbors contain exactly 2 criminals, and Zoe is already one of them. The only unknown people in Tina’s neighbors are Olsi and Saga, so exactly one of Olsi and Saga must be a criminal. Olsi and Saga are also Petra’s shared unknown neighbors, so they already contribute exactly 1 criminal to Petra’s neighbor count, which is odd. If Janet were also a criminal, Petra’s unknown neighbors would contribute 2 criminals instead, which would be even. So Janet must be innocent.
09.A1 · Amy → INNOCENT, A2 · Harry → INNOCENT
Janet’s clue says exactly one edge person has a criminal directly above them. If Amy and Harry were both criminals, then among the edge people that count could not be made to fit together with the remaining people involved here, namely Bobby, Daniel, Quita, and Saga. That conflicts with the requirement that there be only one such edge person. So Amy and Harry cannot be criminals, and Amy and Harry must be innocent.
10.C1 · Daniel → INNOCENT
If Daniel were criminal, then column C would already have the same number of criminals as column D. Since column C and column D must be equal, that leaves no room for any other criminal in column C. Mary's clue says Zoe is one of Tina's exactly two criminal neighbors. In Tina's neighbor list, Zoe is already the one known criminal, so the other possible criminal neighbor would have to be either Olsi or Saga. But with Daniel counted as the criminal in column C, neither Olsi nor Saga can be criminal, so both would have to be innocent. That clashes with Tina needing a second criminal neighbor alongside Zoe. So Daniel at C1 must be innocent.
11.B2 · Ike → INNOCENT
If Ike were criminal, then row 2 would stay at 3 innocents. Daniel’s clue says row 2 has more innocents than row 4, and row 4 already has 2 known innocents, so row 4 cannot reach 3 or more innocents. That means both unknown people in row 4, Quita and Saga, would have to be criminals. Zoe’s clue says Vicky has exactly 2 criminal neighbors, and exactly 1 of those criminals is to the left of Wanda. Umar is already a criminal neighbor of Vicky and is to the left of Wanda, so he is that one. But if Quita and Saga were both criminals, Vicky would have 3 criminal neighbors in total, which contradicts Zoe’s clue. So Ike must be innocent.
12.A4 · Quita → INNOCENT
Ike’s clue says column B is the only column with exactly 3 innocents. Column A already has 3 known innocents, and Quita is the only person in that column not yet identified. If Quita were criminal, then column A would remain at exactly 3 innocents, which the clue does not allow for any column other than B. So Quita must be innocent.
13.C4 · Saga → CRIMINAL
Zoe's clue says Vicky has exactly 2 criminal neighbors, and exactly 1 of those criminals is to the left of Wanda. That one criminal is already Umar. So Vicky's neighbors who are not to the left of Wanda must contain exactly 1 criminal. In that group, Quita, Ronald, and Wanda are already innocent, leaving only Saga to fill that criminal spot. So Saga must be criminal.
14.C3 · Olsi → INNOCENT
Mary's clue says Zoe is one of Tina's exactly 2 criminal neighbors. Among Tina's neighbors, the two criminals are already Saga and Zoe, while Petra and Wanda are innocent and Olsi is the only unknown. Since Tina's neighbor list already has its full total of 2 criminals, Olsi cannot be criminal. So Olsi must be innocent.
15.B1 · Bobby → CRIMINAL
Saga’s clue says exactly one innocent person in row 1 has an innocent directly to the right. In row 1, Amy, Daniel, and Ghani are already innocent, and Bobby is the only person there not yet identified. If Bobby were also innocent, then row 1 would have to fit that “exactly one” requirement with Amy, Bobby, Daniel, and Ghani all innocent, but that conflicts with the clue. So Bobby cannot be innocent. So Bobby must be criminal.
16.B3 · Noah → INNOCENT
Ike’s clue says column B is the only column with exactly 3 innocents. The other columns to compare with it are columns A, C, and D, so column B itself has to be the column that reaches 3 innocents. In column B, Bobby and Vicky are criminals, Ike and Ronald are innocents, and Noah is the only person there not yet identified. Since column B must contain exactly 3 innocents and it currently has 2 known innocents, Noah has to be the third innocent. So Noah must be innocent.