Puzzle Pack #2 Puzzle 31 Answer

Jason’s clue says Rose is one of exactly three innocents to the right of Olivia. The people to the right of Olivia are only Paula, Rose, and Terry. If Terry, Paula, and Rose were all criminals, then those same three people could not also be the exactly three innocents to the right of Olivia. So Terry, Paula, and Rose must be innocent.

Barnie and Flora are the two neighbors of Alex that also make up the exact-count group from Isaac's clue, and that group contains exactly 1 innocent. So among Alex's neighbors, Barnie and Flora already contribute an odd number of innocents. Alex's neighbors are Barnie, Ellie, and Flora, and that total must also be odd, with Ellie the only one not in that exact-count pair. If Ellie were innocent too, the number of innocents among Alex's neighbors would become even instead of odd. So Ellie must be criminal.

Ellie’s clue directly says that there are more criminals among mechs than in any other profession. In this step, that identifies Kay as a criminal.

Kay’s clue says the two innocents below Chad must be connected. Rose is already known to be one of those innocents below Chad, so the second innocent has to be orthogonally next to Rose in that column. That means the other innocent can only be Mary or Xavi. Isaac is below Chad but not next to Rose in that line, so he cannot be the other innocent in the connected pair. So Isaac must be criminal.