Puzzle Pack #2 Puzzle 28 Answer

Gabe’s clue says everyone has at least 2 criminal neighbors, so Alice’s neighbor group can have at most 1 innocent. Alice’s neighbors already include 1 known innocent, Gabe. The only other people there whose status is not fixed are Ben and Flora, so neither of them can be innocent without putting more than 1 innocent in Alice’s neighbors. So Ben and Flora must be criminal.

Flora’s clue says Olive and Xia have exactly one innocent neighbor in common, and that shared group is only Salil and Uma. So among Salil and Uma, exactly one must be innocent. Now test Xia as innocent. Gabe’s clue says everyone has at least 2 criminal neighbors, so Xia would need at least two criminal neighbors around her while Salil and Uma still have to supply exactly one innocent in that shared pair. Those requirements cannot all be met together. So Xia must be criminal.

Xia's clue says that the two criminals below Ben are connected. Below Ben are Gabe, Lisa, Rob, and Wally, and Gabe is already known to be innocent, so the clue can only act on Lisa, Rob, and Wally. With exactly two criminals in that group needing to form one orthogonally connected pair, Rob is the person that has to be one of them. So Rob must be criminal.

Olive and Xia’s common neighbors are exactly Salil and Uma, and Flora’s clue says exactly one of those two is innocent. Rob’s clue says row 4 has an odd number of criminals, and row 4 currently already has 1 known criminal, with Paula, Salil, and Uma still open. If Paula were innocent, then Salil and Uma would have to satisfy both clues by themselves, but that cannot be done. So Paula cannot be innocent. That makes Paula criminal.

Paula’s clue says the people above Kumar contain exactly one innocent. In that group, there are currently no known innocents, and the only unknown person left there is Alice. So Alice must be innocent.

Alice’s clue says there are no innocents in the group that is both strictly between Flora and Vince and also neighbors Gabe. That shared group is just A3, Kumar, and it already contains 0 known innocents. So Kumar cannot be innocent. That makes Kumar criminal.

Kumar’s clue directly says that Isaac is one of the two criminals strictly between Cheryl and Xia. Since Isaac is explicitly named as one of those criminals, Isaac must be criminal.

Isaac’s clue says Denis’s neighbors and Kumar’s neighbors must have the same number of innocent people. Right now Denis’s neighbors have 0 known innocents, while Kumar’s neighbors already have 1 known innocent, and the only unknown person left in Kumar’s neighbor group is Lisa. So Lisa cannot be innocent, because that would raise Kumar’s neighbor group above Denis’s. That makes Lisa criminal.

Xia’s clue says that exactly two criminals below Ben are connected. Below Ben we have Gabe, Lisa, Rob, and Wally, and among them Gabe is innocent while Lisa and Rob are already known criminals. Since Lisa and Rob are the two criminals below Ben that fit the clue, the only remaining unknown person in that group, Wally, cannot be a criminal. So Wally must be innocent.

Wally’s clue says exactly 2 cops have a criminal directly to their left. The cops are Ben, Rob, and Wally. Ben already has Alice directly to his left, and Alice is innocent, while Rob already has Paula directly to his left, and Paula is criminal. That gives 1 such cop already, so the second one has to be Wally, which means the person directly to Wally’s left, Vince, is criminal. So Vince must be criminal.

The clue says exactly one judge has an innocent directly to the right. Vince is a judge, and Wally is directly to his right and is innocent, so that already gives one judge who fits the clue. Xia is also a judge, so Zane cannot be innocent, because then Xia would also have an innocent directly to the right, making two. So Zane must be criminal.

Between Cheryl and Xia, there are exactly two criminals, and Isaac is already one of them. So among Nancy and Salil, only one of those two can be a criminal. Uma’s neighbors must contain more innocents than Kumar’s neighbors, and Kumar’s neighbors already have 1 innocent while Uma’s neighbors currently have 0 known innocents. If Olive were a criminal, then the only other people these clues still leave to adjust are Nancy and Salil, but they also have to fit the “exactly two criminals between Cheryl and Xia” clue, and that cannot be done in a way that gives Uma more innocent neighbors than Kumar. So Olive must be innocent.

Olive’s clue says there are exactly two innocents above Zane, and those two innocents must be connected. The people above Zane are Denis, Joyce, Olive, and Uma, with Olive already known to be innocent. That means one of Denis, Joyce, or Uma must be the second innocent, but the clue’s limits already rule Denis out as that innocent. So Denis must be criminal.

Denis’s clue says there are exactly 2 innocents in row 2. In that row, Gabe is already known to be innocent, so row 2 still needs 1 more innocent. The only unknown person left in row 2 is Joyce. So Joyce must be innocent.

Gabe’s clue says everyone has at least 2 criminal neighbors, so in Denis’s neighboring group there can be at most 1 innocent. Denis’s neighbors already include 1 known innocent, and the only unresolved person left among those neighbors is Cheryl. That means Cheryl cannot be innocent, so Cheryl must be criminal.

Olive’s clue says that among the people above Zane, exactly two innocents must be connected. Above Zane are Denis, Joyce, Olive, and Uma, and among them Joyce and Olive are already the two known innocents while Denis is a criminal. The only unknown person in that group is Uma, so the clue’s two innocents are already accounted for by Joyce and Olive. That makes Uma criminal.

Flora’s clue says Olive and Xia have exactly one innocent neighbor in common. The shared neighbors are only Salil and Uma, and Uma is already known to be criminal. That means the one innocent in that shared group has to be the only unknown person there, Salil. So Salil must be innocent.

Kumar’s clue says Isaac is one of exactly 2 criminals strictly between Cheryl and Xia. Among those people, Isaac is already a criminal, Salil is already innocent, and Nancy is the only one there whose status was still unknown. That means Nancy has to be the second criminal needed by the clue. So Nancy must be criminal.