Clues by Sam Oct 20, 2026 Answer – Full Solution Explained
A1
👩💼
clerk
B1
👩🍳
cook
C1
👨🌾
farmer
D1
👩🌾
farmer
A2
👨💼
clerk
B2
👨🍳
cook
C2
👩🍳
cook
D2
👩🌾
farmer
A3
👨🏫
teacher
B3
👩🎤
singer
C3
👩🔧
mech
D3
👨🔧
mech
A4
👨🏫
teacher
B4
👩🎤
singer
C4
👨🎨
painter
D4
👨🔬
scientist
A5
👨🏫
teacher
B5
👩🔬
scientist
C5
👩🎨
painter
D5
👨🎨
painter
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 — 4 criminals.
Clues by Sam answer for Oct 20, 2026 — a Medium solved in 16 steps
Today's Clues by Sam puzzle is rated Medium and resolves with 4 criminals on a 20-cell, 4-column × 5-row grid. The criminals are Alison (A1), Gemma (C2), Kirsty (B3) and Ulrika (B5); the remaining 16 suspects are innocent.
The deduction chain, in plain English
01.A5 · Tyler → INNOCENT
Franco's clue says there is exactly 1 innocent who is both a teacher and in a corner. The only person in that shared group is Tyler at A5, and that group still needs 1 innocent. So Tyler has to be the innocent required by the clue. That makes Tyler innocent.
02.B3 · Kirsty → CRIMINAL
Tyler's clue says there are exactly 2 criminals below Bella, and exactly 1 of those criminals is a neighbor of Gemma. Among the people below Bella who are also Gemma's neighbors, Franco is innocent and Kirsty is the only unknown person there. So that neighbor spot for the clue's 1 criminal has to be Kirsty. That makes Kirsty criminal.
03.B1 · Bella → INNOCENT
Kirsty’s clue says column B has exactly 2 criminals. Column B already contains 1 known criminal, Kirsty, so there is room for exactly 1 more criminal in that column. Tyler’s clue fixes the people below Bella so that among Olga and Ulrika, exactly 1 is a criminal. Those two are also in column B, so that already accounts for the one remaining criminal column B needs. Bella is in column B but not among the people below herself, so she cannot also be that extra criminal. So Bella must be innocent.
04.C3 · Layla → INNOCENT, D3 · Melvin → INNOCENT, A3 · Jason → INNOCENT
Bella’s clue says every row has at least 3 innocents, so a row can have at most 1 criminal. In row 3, Kirsty is already known to be the 1 criminal there. That means the other unfixed people in row 3 cannot be criminals. So Layla, Melvin, and Jason must be innocent.
05.A4 · Noah → INNOCENT
Kirsty’s clue fixes column B as the only column with exactly 2 criminals, and Melvin’s clue fixes the cooks so that exactly 2 cooks have an innocent directly to the left. The cooks involved are Bella, Franco, and Gemma, with Bella and Franco already innocent. If Noah were criminal, then the remaining people named here would have to satisfy both of those clue requirements at the same time, but they cannot. So Noah cannot be criminal. That makes Noah innocent.
06.C1 · Chuck → INNOCENT
Noah’s clue says the people below Chuck contain exactly 3 innocents. Below Chuck there is already 1 known innocent, Layla, so among Gemma, Paul, and Vera exactly 2 must be innocent. Now test Chuck as criminal. Kirsty’s clue says column B is the only column with exactly 2 criminals, so column C cannot end up with exactly 2 criminals. But if Chuck were criminal, then with Gemma, Paul, and Vera containing exactly 2 innocents, those three would contain exactly 1 criminal, making column C total exactly 2 criminals: Chuck plus that one person below him. That contradicts Kirsty’s clue, so Chuck cannot be criminal. So Chuck must be innocent.
07.C5 · Vera → INNOCENT
Kirsty’s clue says column B is the only column with exactly 2 criminals, and Chuck’s clue says exactly 1 innocent is in the overlap of the people above Vera and Layla’s neighbors. That overlap is just Gemma and Paul. If Vera were criminal, the remaining people involved here would have to make both of those clue requirements true at the same time, but they cannot. So Vera cannot be criminal. That makes Vera innocent.
08.A2 · Ethan → INNOCENT
If Ethan were criminal, then row 2 would need the other three people in that row to be innocent, because every row has at least 3 innocents. That makes Gemma innocent and Ingrid innocent. But the only mechs are Layla and Melvin, and with Gemma directly above Layla and Ingrid directly above Melvin both innocent, neither mech has a criminal directly above them. That clashes with the clue that exactly 1 mech has a criminal directly above them. So Ethan at A2 must be innocent.
09.A1 · Alison → CRIMINAL
Melvin’s clue says exactly 2 cooks have an innocent directly to the left. That total is already filled by Franco and Gemma. The only remaining left-neighbor status that could change this clue is Alison, to the left of Bella, and if Alison were innocent then Bella would also count, making 3 instead of 2. So Alison must be criminal.
10.D1 · Donna → INNOCENT
Bella’s clue says every row has at least 3 innocents, so in row 1 there can be at most 1 criminal. Row 1 already has 1 known criminal, Alison. The only person in row 1 whose status is still unknown is Donna, so row 1 cannot take another criminal there. Therefore Donna must be innocent.
11.B4 · Olga → INNOCENT
Chuck’s clue says exactly one innocent is in the overlap of the people above Vera and Layla’s neighbors, and that overlap is just Gemma and Paul. Ethan’s clue says Kirsty has an odd number of innocent neighbors; she already has 5 known innocent neighbors, and the only unknown neighbors left there are Gemma, Olga, and Paul. If Olga were criminal, then only Gemma and Paul would be left to satisfy both clues at once, but that cannot be done. So Olga cannot be criminal. That makes Olga innocent.
12.B5 · Ulrika → CRIMINAL
Kirsty's clue says column B is the only column with exactly 2 criminals. In column B, Bella, Franco, and Olga are innocent, and Kirsty is already a criminal, so the only way for column B to have exactly 2 criminals is for the one remaining person in that column to be the second criminal. So Ulrika must be criminal.
13.D5 · Xavi → INNOCENT
Bella’s clue says every row has at least 3 innocents, so in row 5 there can be at most 1 criminal. Row 5 already has 1 known criminal, Ulrika, and the only person there whose status is still unknown is Xavi. That means row 5 cannot have any more criminals, so Xavi at D5 must be innocent.
14.C4 · Paul → INNOCENT, D4 · Ryan → INNOCENT
Vera’s clue says exactly one mech has a criminal directly above them, and the only mechs involved are Layla and Melvin, with Gemma directly above Layla and Ingrid directly above Melvin. Olga’s clue says exactly one row has no criminals, looking across rows 1 through 5. If Paul and Ryan were both criminals, then Gemma and Ingrid would have to satisfy those two clues at the same time, but they cannot do that. So Paul and Ryan cannot both be criminals. This leaves Paul and Ryan as innocent.
15.C2 · Gemma → CRIMINAL
Chuck's clue is about the people who are both above Vera and neighboring Layla. That shared group is only Gemma and Paul, and the clue says exactly 1 of them is innocent. Paul is already known to be innocent, so the one innocent in that group is already accounted for. Gemma therefore cannot also be innocent. So Gemma must be criminal.
16.D2 · Ingrid → INNOCENT
Bella’s clue says every row has at least 3 innocents, so in a row of 4 people there can be at most 1 criminal. In row 2, Gemma is already the one known criminal. Ingrid is the only person in row 2 whose identity was not yet fixed, so row 2 cannot allow another criminal there. That makes Ingrid innocent.