Clues by Sam Sep 12, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained
A1
👨🎨
painter
B1
👩🎨
painter
C1
👩⚖️
judge
D1
👨⚖️
judge
A2
👨✈️
pilot
B2
👨✈️
pilot
C2
👩⚕️
doctor
D2
👩⚖️
judge
A3
👷♂️
builder
B3
😬
pig
C3
👩⚕️
doctor
D3
👮♀️
cop
A4
👷♀️
builder
B4
👷♀️
builder
C4
👨💼
clerk
D4
👮♂️
cop
A5
😬
pig
B5
😬
pig
C5
👨💼
clerk
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 — 9 criminals.
Clues by Sam answer for Sep 12, 2026 — a Hard solved in 18 steps
Today's Clues by Sam puzzle is rated Hard and resolves with 9 criminals on a 20-cell, 4-column × 5-row grid. The criminals are Gus (D1), Harry (A2), Laura (D2), Martin (A3), Noah (B3), Quita (A4), Rose (B4), Thor (D4) and Ziad (D5); the remaining 11 suspects are innocent.
The deduction chain, in plain English
01.D2 · Laura → CRIMINAL
Julie’s clue says row 2 has exactly 2 criminals, and exactly 1 of those criminals is above Pam. In row 2, the only person who is above Pam is Laura. So the part of the clue that needs 1 criminal in row 2 who is above Pam can only be filled by Laura. That makes Laura criminal.
02.D1 · Gus → CRIMINAL
Laura’s clue says exactly one judge has a criminal directly to the right. There must be one such case beyond what is already known, and the only judge whose direct-right situation still affects this clue is Gus. So Gus has to be the one that makes the clue true, which means Gus must be criminal.
03.B1 · Claire → INNOCENT
Julie’s clue says row 2 has exactly 2 criminals in total, and Laura is already one of them, so among Harry and Isaac there is exactly 1 criminal. Those two, Harry and Isaac, are both neighbors of Brian. So within Brian’s neighbors, the pair Harry and Isaac already contributes exactly 1 criminal, which is an odd number. Gus’s clue says Brian’s neighbors contain an odd number of criminals overall, and Claire is the only other neighbor besides Harry and Isaac. If Claire were a criminal too, Brian’s neighbors would have 2 criminals, which is even, not odd. So Claire must be innocent.
04.C1 · Esha → INNOCENT
Row 2 has exactly 2 criminals, and exactly 1 of those criminals is above Pam. Laura is already a criminal in row 2 and is the one in row 2 who is above Pam, so the other criminal in row 2 has to be one of Harry or Isaac, not Julie. Claire’s clue says exactly 2 innocents in row 2 have an innocent directly above them. Julie is already an innocent in row 2, so whether she counts depends on Esha above her. If Esha were criminal, then the people involved here, Brian, Harry, and Isaac, could not make both row 2 clues true at the same time. So Esha must be innocent.
05.A4 · Quita → CRIMINAL, A3 · Martin → CRIMINAL
Esha’s clue says column A has exactly 3 criminals, and exactly 2 of those criminals are builders. In column A, the only builders are Martin and Quita. Since the builder part of the clue still needs 2 criminals, those two builder spots in column A both have to be criminals. So Quita and Martin must be criminals.
06.C3 · Olive → INNOCENT
Julie’s clue makes row 2 contain exactly two criminals, and Laura is already one of them, so exactly one of A2 Harry and B2 Isaac is a criminal. Martin’s clue means Noah’s neighbors who are not neighbors of Xavi contain exactly three criminals. In that larger group, Martin and Quita are already criminals, and Harry and Isaac contribute exactly one more criminal, which fills all three criminal places in that group. The only remaining person in that group is Olive, so Olive cannot be a criminal. That makes Olive innocent.
07.D4 · Thor → CRIMINAL
Martin’s clue says the criminal neighbors of Noah include exactly 1 person who is also Xavi’s neighbor, and in that overlap the only possibilities are Rose and Steve. So Rose and Steve account for that 1 criminal. Quita’s clue says Olive has exactly 2 criminal neighbors who do not also neighbor Julie. In that group, the possibilities are Julie, Rose, Steve, and Thor, but Julie is innocent. That means this group needs 2 criminals total, and Rose and Steve provide only 1 of them. The only person in Olive’s group who is not already among Rose and Steve is Thor, so Thor has to be the other criminal there. So Thor must be criminal.
08.B5 · Wanda → INNOCENT
Thor’s clue says that Wanda is one of the exactly 2 innocent pigs. That directly identifies Wanda’s status without needing any other step. So Wanda must be innocent.
09.A1 · Brian → INNOCENT
Esha’s clue says column A has exactly 3 criminals, and exactly 2 of those criminals are builders. Martin and Quita are already known criminals in column A, and they are both builders, so those two already fill the builder part of the clue. That means the one remaining criminal in column A has to be a non-builder. Among the unknown people in column A, the remaining criminal must therefore come from Harry or Uma, not Brian. So Brian must be innocent.
10.D3 · Pam → INNOCENT
Assume Pam were criminal. Quita's clue says Olive has exactly 4 criminal neighbors, and exactly 2 of those criminals also neighbor Julie. With Laura and Pam both criminal among the people who neighbor both Olive and Julie, Isaac cannot also be criminal, so Isaac must be innocent. Then Thor's clue makes Wanda one of exactly 2 innocent pigs, so Noah must be the other innocent pig. Esha's clue says column A has exactly 3 criminals, and Martin and Quita are already the 2 builder criminals there, so Uma must be the third criminal in column A. Julie's clue says row 2 has exactly 2 criminals, and exactly 1 of them is above Pam; Laura is already that one, so Harry must be the second criminal in row 2. But then Harry and Uma would both be criminals, which clashes with the required counts from those clues under this assumption. So Pam at D3 must be innocent.
11.D5 · Ziad → CRIMINAL
Column A is fixed by Esha’s clue: it has exactly 3 criminals, and exactly 2 of those are builders. Martin and Quita are already those 2 builder criminals in column A, so the third criminal in column A has to come from Harry or Uma. Brian’s clue also says that exactly one column has 4 criminals. If Ziad were innocent, then Harry, Isaac, Noah, Rose, Steve, Uma, and Xavi would have to satisfy both of those column requirements at the same time, and they cannot. So Ziad cannot be innocent. That makes Ziad criminal.
12.C5 · Xavi → INNOCENT
Olive says there are 11 innocents in total. Right now 7 people are already known to be innocent, so the remaining innocent spots have to come from Harry, Isaac, Noah, Rose, Steve, Uma, and Xavi. At the same time, Esha fixes column A at exactly 3 criminals, with Martin and Quita already the 2 criminal builders there, and Quita fixes Olive’s neighborhood at exactly 4 criminals, with exactly 2 of those also neighboring Julie. If Xavi were criminal, then Harry, Isaac, Noah, Rose, Steve, and Uma would have to satisfy all of those count requirements by themselves, and they cannot do that. So Xavi must be innocent.
13.C4 · Steve → INNOCENT
Olive says there are 11 innocents in total, and Pam says exactly one column has exactly 3 innocents. Right now there are 8 known innocents, and the people not yet identified for these clues are Harry, Isaac, Noah, Rose, Steve, and Uma. If Steve were criminal, then Harry, Isaac, Noah, Rose, and Uma would have to account for the remaining innocents while also making it true that only one column has exactly 3 innocents. That combination cannot be done. So Steve must be innocent.
14.B4 · Rose → CRIMINAL
Olive’s neighbors contain exactly 4 criminals, and exactly 2 of those criminals are also neighbors of Julie. That means the other 2 criminals among Olive’s neighbors must be people who are not neighbors of Julie. Among Olive’s neighbors who are not neighbors of Julie, the people are Julie, Rose, Steve, and Thor. Julie and Steve are innocent, and Thor is already a criminal, so that group already has 1 of the 2 required criminals. The only unknown person left in that group is Rose, so Rose must be criminal.
15.B3 · Noah → CRIMINAL
Julie’s clue makes row 2 contain exactly two criminals, and Laura is already one of them, so among Harry and Isaac there is exactly one more criminal. Rose’s clue says Martin has exactly one innocent neighbor, so among Martin’s five neighbors the other four must be criminals. Quita and Rose are already two of those criminals, and Harry and Isaac supply exactly one more criminal between them. That leaves the only remaining neighbor outside that row-2 pair, Noah, to provide the last criminal needed. So Noah must be criminal.
16.B2 · Isaac → INNOCENT
Quita's clue says that among Olive's four criminal neighbors, exactly two also neighbor Julie. In the overlap of Olive's neighbors and Julie's neighbors, the people are Isaac, Laura, Noah, and Pam, and Laura and Noah are already criminal. That already fills the clue's total of two criminals in that overlap, so the only remaining unknown person there, Isaac, cannot be criminal. So Isaac must be innocent.
17.A2 · Harry → CRIMINAL
Julie’s clue says row 2 has exactly 2 criminals, and exactly 1 of those row 2 criminals is above Pam. In row 2, the only person above Pam is Laura, and she is already a criminal, so that uses up the one criminal in row 2 who is above Pam. That means the other row 2 criminal must be someone in row 2 who is not above Pam. Those people are Harry, Isaac, and Julie, but Isaac and Julie are innocent, and there are no known criminals there yet. So Harry must be criminal.
18.A5 · Uma → INNOCENT
Esha’s clue says column A has exactly 3 criminals, and exactly 2 of those criminals are builders. Those 2 builder criminals in column A are already Martin and Quita. That leaves just 1 criminal in column A who is not a builder. Among the other people in column A, Harry is already a known criminal, while Brian is innocent and Uma is the only unknown. So Uma cannot also be a criminal. So Uma must be innocent.