Clues by Sam Sep 27, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained
A1
👩🌾
farmer
B1
👨🌾
farmer
C1
👩⚕️
doctor
D1
👷♀️
builder
A2
👨🔧
mech
B2
👨🔧
mech
C2
👩⚕️
doctor
D2
👷♂️
builder
A3
👨🍳
cook
B3
👩🏫
teacher
C3
👨🏫
teacher
D3
👨🏫
teacher
A4
👮♂️
cop
B4
👮♀️
cop
C4
👨⚕️
doctor
D4
👷♀️
builder
A5
👩🍳
cook
B5
👮♀️
cop
C5
👨⚖️
judge
D5
👩⚖️
judge
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 — 12 criminals.
Clues by Sam answer for Sep 27, 2026 — a Brutal solved in 16 steps
Today's Clues by Sam puzzle is rated Brutal and resolves with 12 criminals on a 20-cell, 4-column × 5-row grid. The criminals are Carl (B1), Donna (C1), Frank (A2), Helen (C2), Katie (B3), Larry (C3), Mark (D3), Thor (C4), Uma (D4), Vicky (A5), Xavi (C5) and Zara (D5); the remaining 8 suspects are innocent.
The deduction chain, in plain English
01.B4 · Sofia → INNOCENT, D4 · Uma → CRIMINAL, C4 · Thor → CRIMINAL
Ollie’s clue says that the two innocents in row 4 must be connected. In row 4, Ollie is already innocent, and the other people there are Sofia, Thor, and Uma. If Sofia were criminal while Thor and Uma were the two innocents, then the two innocents in that row would be Ollie and Thor. Those two would not be connected because Sofia would be between them, so that assignment cannot fit the clue. So Sofia must be innocent, and Thor and Uma cannot be innocent. That makes Sofia innocent, Thor criminal, and Uma criminal.
02.D1 · Eve → INNOCENT
Uma’s clue says that the two criminals above Zara are connected. Uma is already one of those criminals, so the other criminal above Zara has to be orthogonally next to Uma. In that column, the only person above Zara who is next to Uma is Mark at D3, and Eve at D1 is not next to Uma in that line. So Eve at D1 must be innocent.
03.D3 · Mark → CRIMINAL
Uma’s clue says that the two criminals above Zara are connected. Above Zara are Eve, Ivan, Mark, and Uma, with Eve innocent and Uma criminal. If Mark were innocent, then the second criminal above Zara would have to be Ivan, so the group above Zara would be Eve innocent, Ivan criminal, Mark innocent, and Uma criminal. But then the two criminals above Zara would be Ivan at D2 and Uma at D4, with Mark between them, so they would not be connected. That conflict means Mark cannot be innocent. So Mark must be criminal.
04.D2 · Ivan → INNOCENT
Above Zara are Eve, Ivan, Mark, and Uma. The clue says the two criminals in that group are both criminals above Zara, and those two criminals must be connected. Mark and Uma are already the two known criminals in that group, and they are directly next to each other, so they are the connected pair the clue requires. That leaves Ivan unable to be a criminal in that same group. So Ivan must be innocent.
05.C3 · Larry → CRIMINAL
Thor says row 3 has exactly one innocent. Mark’s clue gives exactly one innocent among the people who are both neighbors of Ollie and neighbors of Gus, and in row 3 that smaller group is Jose and Katie. So row 3’s single innocent is already accounted for within Jose and Katie. The only other unidentified person left in row 3 is Larry, so Larry cannot be innocent. That makes Larry criminal.
06.B2 · Gus → INNOCENT
Below Carl there is already 1 known innocent, Sofia, and the other people there are Gus, Katie, and Wanda. Sofia’s clue says the total number of innocents below Carl is odd. Larry’s clue says Sofia has exactly 3 innocent neighbors in total, and exactly 1 of those innocent neighbors is below Carl. Among Sofia’s neighbors, the only people below Carl are Katie and Wanda, so exactly one of Katie and Wanda is innocent. If Gus were criminal, then below Carl the only possible extra innocents would be Katie and Wanda. But exactly one of Katie and Wanda is innocent, which would make the total below Carl 2 innocents altogether, not an odd number. So Gus at B2 must be innocent.
07.B1 · Carl → CRIMINAL
If Carl were innocent, then the people below him would still have to contain an odd number of innocents. But below Carl there are already 2 known innocents, Gus and Sofia, so the remaining people there cannot add any more innocents. That makes Katie and Wanda both criminals. That clashes with the other clue requiring every column to have at least 2 criminals, so Carl cannot be innocent. So Carl must be criminal.
08.C5 · Xavi → CRIMINAL
Ollie’s neighbors account for exactly two innocents among A3 Jose, B3 Katie, A5 Vicky, and B5 Wanda. Sofia’s neighbors must contain exactly three innocents total, and besides those same people they also include Ollie, who is already innocent, plus Xavi. That means Sofia’s three innocent neighbors are already fully accounted for by Ollie and two of Jose, Katie, Vicky, and Wanda. The only person in Sofia’s neighbor group who is not part of that smaller set is Xavi, so Xavi cannot be innocent. So Xavi must be criminal.
09.A2 · Frank → CRIMINAL
Carl says there are 6 innocents on the edge, and only 1 of those edge innocents is Thor's neighbor. That means the edge people who are not Thor's neighbors contain exactly 2 innocents: Alice, Donna, Frank, Jose, and Vicky. Those 2 innocents must come from Alice, Donna, Jose, and Vicky, so Frank cannot be one of them. Since Frank is on the edge and is not a neighbor of Thor, Frank cannot be innocent. So Frank must be criminal.
10.C2 · Helen → CRIMINAL
If Helen were innocent, then row 2 would have 3 innocents while row 1 has only 1. Since those two rows must contain the same number of innocents, Alice and Donna would both have to be innocent to bring row 1 up to 3. Then look at the edge clue: there must be exactly 6 innocents on the edges, and exactly 1 of those edge innocents is Thor's neighbor. With Alice and Donna innocent, the needed edge innocents are already accounted for in a way that makes Jose and Vicky criminal. But Sofia's clue says her neighbors contain exactly 3 innocents in total, and exactly 1 of those is below Carl; with Ollie already innocent, that conflicts with Jose and Vicky both being criminal. So the assumption fails, and Helen at C2 must be criminal.
11.A1 · Alice → INNOCENT
Ollie’s neighborhood must contain exactly 3 innocents, and exactly 1 of those innocents is one of Gus’s neighbors, which here means Jose or Katie. Also, columns A and B must have the same number of innocents, but right now column A has 1 known innocent while column B already has 2. If Alice were criminal, then Jose, Katie, Vicky, and Wanda would have to make both clues true at the same time, but they cannot do that. So Alice cannot be criminal. So Alice must be innocent.
12.C1 · Donna → CRIMINAL
Ivan’s clue says row 1 and row 2 have the same number of innocents. Row 2 already has 2 innocents, and row 1 already also has 2 innocents. That means row 1 cannot gain another innocent in its only unknown spot. So Donna must be criminal.
13.D5 · Zara → CRIMINAL
Larry’s clue fixes Sofia’s neighbors at exactly 3 innocents, with exactly 1 of those innocents in the below-Carl group, which here is just Katie and Wanda. The people still involved in meeting that clue are Jose, Katie, Vicky, and Wanda. Xavi’s clue also says exactly one of the four columns has exactly 2 innocents. If Zara were innocent, then Jose, Katie, Vicky, and Wanda would have to satisfy both Larry’s neighbor-count restriction and that one-column-only restriction at the same time, and they cannot do that. So Zara must be criminal.
14.B5 · Wanda → INNOCENT
Carl’s clue says there are exactly 6 innocents on the edge, and exactly 1 of those edge innocents is a neighbor of Thor. Among the edge people who are neighbors of Thor, Mark, Uma, Xavi, and Zara are already criminals. The only remaining unknown edge person in that neighbor group is Wanda, so the one edge innocent neighbor of Thor has to be Wanda. That makes Wanda innocent.
15.A5 · Vicky → CRIMINAL
Ollie’s neighbors must contain exactly 3 innocents, and exactly 1 of those innocents is a neighbor of Gus. The only Ollie-neighbors who are also Gus-neighbors are Jose and Katie, so the innocents among Ollie’s other neighbors must account for the other 2 innocent spots. Among Ollie’s neighbors who are not neighbors of Gus, Sofia and Wanda are already innocent, and the only other person there is Vicky. That already fills the 2 innocent places outside Gus’s neighborhood, so Vicky cannot be innocent. So Vicky must be criminal.
16.B3 · Katie → CRIMINAL, A3 · Jose → INNOCENT
Sofia’s neighbors must contain exactly 3 innocents in total. Among the two neighbors of Sofia who are below Carl, Wanda is already innocent, and the clue says exactly 1 of Sofia’s innocent neighbors is below Carl. That means Katie cannot also be innocent, so Katie must be criminal. With Sofia’s neighbors needing exactly 3 innocents altogether, and Ollie and Wanda already the two known innocents there, the only remaining innocent neighbor slot must be Jose. So Katie must be criminal and Jose must be innocent.