Clues by Sam Sep 28, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained
A1
👨🌾
farmer
B1
👩✈️
pilot
C1
👩✈️
pilot
D1
👩🎤
singer
A2
👨💻
coder
B2
👨💻
coder
C2
👨💻
coder
D2
💂♂️
guard
A3
💂♂️
guard
B3
👩🏫
teacher
C3
👷♂️
builder
D3
👨🏫
teacher
A4
👩🎨
painter
B4
👩⚖️
judge
C4
👩🎨
painter
D4
👩🎤
singer
A5
👩🌾
farmer
B5
👷♂️
builder
C5
👩🎨
painter
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 28, 2026 — a Easy solved in 15 steps
Today's Clues by Sam puzzle is rated Easy and resolves with 12 criminals on a 20-cell, 4-column × 5-row grid. The criminals are Bonnie (B1), Cheryl (C1), Debra (D1), Eric (A2), Hal (C2), Laura (B3), Ruby (C4), Sarah (D4), Tina (A5), Vince (B5), Xia (C5) and Ziad (D5); the remaining 8 suspects are innocent.
The deduction chain, in plain English
01.A1 · Alex → INNOCENT, A3 · Kyle → INNOCENT
Above Tina, there are exactly 3 innocents in total. Of those, exactly 1 is a neighbor of Kyle, so the other 2 innocents above Tina must be people above Tina who are not neighbors of Kyle. The only people above Tina who are not neighbors of Kyle are Alex and Kyle, and there are no known innocents there yet. So Alex and Kyle must be innocent.
02.D1 · Debra → CRIMINAL, C1 · Cheryl → CRIMINAL, B1 · Bonnie → CRIMINAL
Kyle’s clue says row 1 contains exactly 3 criminals. In row 1, there are currently 0 known criminals, and the only people there whose identities are still unknown are Bonnie, Cheryl, and Debra. Since row 1 still needs all 3 of its criminals, those three unknown people must fill them. So Bonnie, Cheryl, and Debra must be criminal.
03.A5 · Tina → CRIMINAL
Above Tina, there must be exactly 3 innocents, and Alex and Kyle are already two of them, so exactly one of Eric and Olga is innocent. Below Alex, there must be exactly 2 innocents total. In that below-Alex group, Eric, Kyle, and Olga are already enough to make those 2 innocents, because Kyle is innocent and exactly one of Eric and Olga is innocent. That leaves no innocent place for Tina, so Tina must be criminal.
04.C2 · Hal → CRIMINAL
Tina’s clue says there are exactly 2 criminals above Mark. Above Mark, there is already 1 known criminal there, Cheryl, and the only person there whose identity is still unknown is Hal. That group still needs exactly 1 more criminal, so Hal has to be the one. So Hal must be criminal.
05.D2 · Igor → INNOCENT
Hal’s clue says the people above Nick contain exactly one innocent. Above Nick there are currently no known innocents, and the only person there whose identity is still unknown is Igor. Since that group still needs exactly one innocent, Igor has to be the one who fills it. So Igor must be innocent.
06.A2 · Eric → CRIMINAL
Igor’s clue says every person in row 1 has at most 2 innocent neighbors. Bonnie is in row 1 and already has 2 known innocent neighbors, Alex and Floyd, while A2 Eric is still one of Bonnie’s neighbors. If Eric were innocent, Bonnie would have 3 innocent neighbors, which would break the clue. So Eric at A2 must be criminal.
07.A4 · Olga → INNOCENT
Above Tina there must be exactly three innocents in total. Among the people above Tina who are also Kyle's neighbors, Eric is criminal and Olga is the only unknown there. Since exactly one of Tina's innocents above her is supposed to be Kyle's neighbor, that remaining innocent in that group has to be Olga. So Olga must be innocent.
08.B3 · Laura → CRIMINAL
Olga’s clue is about the people who are both between Bonnie and Vince and neighboring Eric. That shared group is just Floyd and Laura, and the clue says exactly 1 of them is innocent. Floyd is already known to be innocent, so the one innocent in that group is already accounted for. Laura at B3 must be criminal.
09.D3 · Nick → INNOCENT
Mark’s neighbors must contain exactly 4 innocents, and exactly 1 of those innocents is also a neighbor of Xia. That means 3 of Mark’s innocent neighbors must be people who are not neighbors of Xia. Among Mark’s neighbors who are not neighbors of Xia, Floyd and Igor are already known innocents, while Hal and Laura are criminals. The only unknown person left in that group is Nick, so he has to be the remaining innocent there. So Nick must be innocent.
10.C3 · Mark → INNOCENT
If Mark were criminal, then row 3 would have only its 2 known innocents, while row 4 already has 1 known innocent and three unknown people. Nick’s clue says row 3 has more innocents than row 4, so that would force Petra, Ruby, and Sarah to be criminals. But Mark’s clue says Mark’s neighbors contain exactly 4 innocents in total. Among Mark’s neighbors, Floyd, Igor, and Nick are already known innocents, so one of Petra, Ruby, or Sarah would also have to be innocent to make the total 4. That clashes with Petra, Ruby, and Sarah all being criminals. So Mark at C3 must be innocent.
11.D4 · Sarah → CRIMINAL
Mark’s clue says there are exactly 4 innocents among Mark’s neighbors. Laura’s clue says exactly 1 of those 4 innocent neighbors of Mark is also a neighbor of Xia, so the other 3 innocent neighbors of Mark are not Xia’s neighbors. Among Mark’s neighbors, the people who are not Xia’s neighbors are Floyd, Hal, Igor, Laura, Nick, and Sarah. Floyd, Igor, and Nick are already innocent, which already fills those 3 innocent spots outside Xia’s neighborhood. That leaves Sarah as the only remaining person in that part of Mark’s neighborhood, so Sarah cannot be innocent. So Sarah must be criminal.
12.C5 · Xia → CRIMINAL
Mark’s clue says he has exactly 4 innocent neighbors, and exactly 1 of those innocents is also a neighbor of Xia. Right now Mark already has 3 known innocent neighbors, and among Xia’s neighbors that are also Mark’s neighbors, Sarah is criminal, so the only people who could supply that one innocent are Petra or Ruby. Vince’s clue says he has an odd number of criminal neighbors. He already has 1 known criminal neighbor, and the unknown neighbors involved here are Petra, Ruby, and Xia. If Xia were innocent, then Petra and Ruby would have to make both clues work at the same time, but they cannot. So Xia must be criminal.
13.C4 · Ruby → CRIMINAL
Xia’s clue says exactly one person in column D has exactly one innocent neighbor. Debra already has exactly one innocent neighbor, and with no unknown neighbors that cannot change. Igor already has two innocent neighbors, so he cannot be that person. Nick already has two innocent neighbors, and his only unknown neighbor is Ruby. If Ruby were innocent, Nick would still not have exactly one innocent neighbor, and Ziad would go from 0 known innocent neighbors to exactly 1. That would make both Debra and Ziad fit the clue, which is impossible. So Ruby must be criminal.
14.B4 · Petra → INNOCENT
Mark’s neighbors must contain exactly 4 innocents in total. Among Mark’s neighbors, exactly 1 innocent is also a neighbor of Xia, and the people in that overlap are Petra, Ruby, and Sarah. Ruby and Sarah are already criminals, so that overlap still needs 1 innocent and Petra is the only unknown person left there. So Petra must be innocent.
15.B5 · Vince → CRIMINAL, D5 · Ziad → CRIMINAL
Petra’s clue says there are exactly 8 innocents in total. The board already has 8 people identified as innocent, while Vince and Ziad are the only people not yet identified. Since all 8 innocent spots are already used, neither Vince nor Ziad can be innocent. So Vince and Ziad must be criminal.