Clues by Sam Oct 05, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained
A1
👩⚖️
judge
B1
👨⚖️
judge
C1
👨🎨
painter
D1
👨🎨
painter
A2
👩🎨
painter
B2
👮♂️
cop
C2
👨🌾
farmer
D2
👨🌾
farmer
A3
👩⚕️
doctor
B3
👮♀️
cop
C3
💂♀️
guard
D3
👨💼
clerk
A4
👩⚕️
doctor
B4
👮♀️
cop
C4
🕵️♀️
sleuth
D4
😬
cat
A5
👨⚕️
doctor
B5
💂♀️
guard
C5
👩💼
clerk
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 — 7 criminals.
Clues by Sam answer for Oct 05, 2026 — a Easy solved in 15 steps
Today's Clues by Sam puzzle is rated Easy and resolves with 7 criminals on a 20-cell, 4-column × 5-row grid. The criminals are Chloe (A1), Eli (C1), Helen (A2), Isaac (B2), Laura (A3), Tina (C4) and Uma (D4); the remaining 13 suspects are innocent.
The deduction chain, in plain English
01.C3 · Nancy → INNOCENT, C2 · Jason → INNOCENT
Floyd’s clue says exactly 2 innocents are both below Eli and neighboring Isaac. That shared group contains only Jason and Nancy. Since those 2 innocent spots in the group are still unfilled, and Jason and Nancy are the only people there, both of them have to be the innocents required by the clue. So Jason and Nancy must be innocent.
02.A4 · Paula → INNOCENT, A5 · Vince → INNOCENT
Nancy’s clue says none of the three doctors has a criminal directly below them. Laura is a doctor with Paula directly below her, and Paula is a doctor with Vince directly below her. So if Paula were a criminal, Laura would have a criminal directly below her, and if Vince were a criminal, Paula would have a criminal directly below her. That would break the clue that this count is zero. So Paula and Vince must be innocent.
03.B3 · Maria → INNOCENT
Above Sofia, there must be exactly 2 innocents in total. The clue also says exactly 1 of those innocents is Chloe's neighbor, and among the people above Sofia, Chloe's neighbors are only Donald and Isaac. So the other innocent above Sofia must be someone above Sofia who is not Chloe's neighbor. The only person above Sofia who is not Chloe's neighbor is Maria, so Maria must be innocent.
04.C1 · Eli → CRIMINAL
Maria’s clue says Eli is one of the exactly 2 criminals in row 1. Since Eli is named directly as one of those criminals, his identity is fixed by the clue itself. So Eli must be criminal.
05.B4 · Sofia → INNOCENT, B5 · Wanda → INNOCENT
Above Sofia there are exactly 2 innocents, among Donald, Isaac, and Maria. Column B has exactly 4 innocents, among Donald, Isaac, Maria, Sofia, and Wanda. That means the two people in column B who are not in the group above Sofia, namely Sofia and Wanda, have to provide the extra two innocents needed to bring column B from 2 innocents above Sofia up to 4 innocents in the whole column. So Sofia and Wanda must be innocent.
06.A3 · Laura → CRIMINAL
Maria’s clue says row 1 has exactly 2 criminals, and in row 1 the only unknown people are Chloe and Donald alongside Eli as criminal and Floyd as innocent. Wanda’s clue says an odd number of the edge neighbors of Helen are innocent, and that shared group is Chloe, Donald, and Laura. If Laura were innocent, then Chloe, Donald, and Laura would have to satisfy both clues at once, but that cannot be done. So Laura cannot be innocent. That makes Laura criminal.
07.A2 · Helen → CRIMINAL
Laura’s clue says the two innocents in row 2 are connected. Jason at C2 is already known to be one of those innocents, so the other innocent in row 2 must be next to Jason. That means the other innocent can only be Isaac at B2 or Kumar at D2, and Helen at A2 cannot be that other innocent. So Helen must be criminal.
08.D3 · Oscar → INNOCENT
Helen’s clue says row 3 is the only row with exactly 3 innocents. In row 3, Laura is criminal, Maria and Nancy are innocent, and Oscar is the only person there not yet identified. So for row 3 to have exactly 3 innocents, Oscar has to be the third innocent. That makes Oscar innocent.
09.B2 · Isaac → CRIMINAL
If Isaac were innocent, then Helen's neighbors would already include 2 innocents: Isaac and Maria. Vince's neighbors already include 3 innocents, so Oscar's clue would then leave no room for Chloe or Donald to be innocent as well, because Vince must have more innocent neighbors than Helen. But Maria's other clue says row 1 has exactly 2 criminals, and Eli is one of them. If neither Chloe nor Donald can be innocent, then Chloe and Donald would both be criminals, giving row 1 three criminals: Chloe, Donald, and Eli. That clashes with the row 1 clue, so Isaac cannot be innocent. So Isaac must be criminal.
10.B1 · Donald → INNOCENT
Above Sofia there must be exactly two innocents. Maria is already one known innocent there, so the only way to reach two innocents above Sofia is for Donald to be the other one. That also fits Paula's clue that exactly one of those innocents above Sofia is Chloe's neighbor, because among the people above Sofia who are Chloe's neighbors, Isaac is already criminal and Donald is the only unknown left. So Donald at B1 must be innocent.
11.A1 · Chloe → CRIMINAL
Maria’s clue says that Eli is one of exactly 2 criminals in row 1. In row 1, Donald and Floyd are already innocent, and Eli is already one criminal, so the only other person in that row who can fill the second criminal spot is Chloe. So Chloe must be criminal.
12.D2 · Kumar → INNOCENT
Laura’s clue says the two innocents in row 2 are connected. In row 2, Helen and Isaac are criminals, Jason is already innocent, and Kumar is the only person there whose identity is not yet known. Since the clue requires exactly two innocents in that row, the second innocent has to be Kumar. So Kumar must be innocent.
13.C5 · Xia → INNOCENT
Kumar’s clue says the number of innocent clerks must equal the number of innocent doctors. The doctors already have 2 innocents, while the clerks currently have only 1 known innocent. Since Xia is the only clerk whose status is not yet fixed, Xia has to supply that second innocent clerk. So Xia must be innocent.
14.D5 · Zane → INNOCENT
Helen’s clue says row 3 is the only row with exactly 3 innocents. Row 5 already has 3 known innocents, and Zane is the only person in that row not yet identified. If Zane were criminal, then row 5 would remain at exactly 3 innocents, which is not allowed because only row 3 can have that count. So Zane must be innocent.
15.C4 · Tina → CRIMINAL, D4 · Uma → CRIMINAL
Helen’s clue says row 3 is the only row with exactly 3 innocents, and row 3 already has exactly 3 innocents. Zane’s clue says exactly one row has exactly 4 innocents, and row 5 already has 4 innocents. If Tina and Uma were both innocent, then row 4 would also have exactly 4 innocents, which would conflict with Zane’s clue. So Tina and Uma cannot both be innocent. That makes Tina and Uma criminal.