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Clues by Sam Help: Stuck on a Grid?
Stuck on today’s Clues by Sam and don’t want the answer? Here is how to find the next provable move yourself: ten deduction techniques with diagrams, a when-you’re-stuck checklist, and free practice puzzles with hints.
Clues & Culprits is an independent game and is not affiliated with Clues by Sam or its publisher. The techniques below apply to any puzzle where truthful suspects describe a grid; every example is our own.
The ten techniques
1. Start at the extremes
Counts of zero or “all” are the strongest statements on the board. “None of my neighbors are criminals” settles up to eight cards in one move. Scan for them first, every time a new statement arrives.
2. Know how many neighbors each seat has
Neighbors include diagonals. On a 4×5 grid a corner has 3, an edge seat 5, a middle seat 8. When a statement’s number equals the number of neighbors — “three of my neighbors are innocent” from a corner — every one of them is settled.
3. “Between” never includes the two people named
“There are two criminals between Ada and Dev” is about the cards strictly between them. Counting the endpoints is the single most common misreading.
4. “Connected” means no gaps
“All the criminals in row 2 are connected” means they form one unbroken run. If you know the two ends of the run are criminals, everyone in between is too — and anyone outside the run in that row is innocent.
5. Read if–then backwards
“If Gus is a criminal, then Hana is a criminal” gives you a second statement for free: if Hana is innocent, Gus is innocent (the contrapositive). It does not tell you anything when Gus is innocent. Most “I was sure that was proven” moments come from reading it the wrong way round.
6. Totals across jobs and rows
“There are three criminal cooks and guards in total” constrains two groups at once. Pair it with any statement about cooks alone and the guards fall out by subtraction.
7. Zero is even
“An even number of my neighbors are criminals” is satisfied by zero. When only one unknown neighbor is left, odd/even statements settle it immediately.
8. Subtract overlapping groups
When two proven suspects talk about groups that overlap — two neighborhoods, a row and a column — compare them. If one group is the other plus a single extra card, the difference in their counts tells you exactly what that extra card is.
9. Proof by contradiction
Pick a suspect and assume a verdict. Follow the consequences through the statements on file. If you hit a statement that can’t be true, the opposite verdict is proven. Use colour tags or pencil marks so you can undo the experiment cleanly. (In Clues & Culprits, the Check button tests your pencil marks for you.)
10. Dim spent clues, re-read the newest
Once a statement has given everything it can, dim it. The next step almost always involves the most recent statement, read together with one older one — so re-read the newest first, then look for a partner.
When you are completely stuck
- Re-read every statement with your latest verdicts in mind — a count that was “two of five” may now be “two of two”.
- Look for pairs of statements about overlapping groups (technique 8).
- Try one contradiction on the suspect with the most statements about them (technique 9).
- Take a hint that shows which statements to read, not the answer. Clues & Culprits’ first hint does exactly that, and every Clues & Culprits case has a spoiler-free hint page.
Practise for free
The fastest way to get better is to solve a lot of puzzles with hints that explain themselves. Clues & Culprits publishes three cases a day — Easy 4×4, Medium 4×5 and Hard 4×5 — and keeps every past case free in the archive, each with a hint page and a step-by-step walkthrough. Start with Easy to drill single-clue steps, then move to Hard for techniques 8 and 9.
- Oct 25, 2026The Loaf That TickedEasyMediumHardEvil
- Oct 24, 2026Breakfast with the GorillasEasyMediumHard
- Oct 23, 2026912 Flights Without Leaving HomeEasyMediumHard
Looking for the rules first? Read how to play Clues & Culprits, the clue-type manual, or our honest comparison of games like Clues by Sam.
Questions
Does Clues by Sam have a hint button?
Yes. According to its own help text, the hint button below the grid first shows which clues to look at, and a second press shows which people you can identify.
Does Clues by Sam ever require a guess?
No. Like Clues & Culprits, it only lets you make choices that follow logically from the clues, so there is always a provable next move — even when it doesn’t feel like it.
Where can I ask for help with a Clues by Sam puzzle?
Its own site points players to the r/CluesBySamHelp subreddit and Bluesky, and its “Share scenario” button copies a link to your exact board.
Where can I practise more puzzles like it for free?
Clues & Culprits has three free cases a day in the same truthful-suspect format, the last 7 days free to replay with no account, and three-step hints that show the reasoning.
Is Clues & Culprits the same game as Clues by Sam?
No. Clues & Culprits is an independent game by a different team. It uses the same family of rules, so the techniques on this page work in both.