Sapient creatures tend to have stats that are of similar magnitude: if several are “high”, it usually means the others are too: compare a Solar [26/22/26/25/25/30] (a kind of angelic being) to a Kobold [7/15/9/8/7/8]. DEX sometimes stands out in the case of small and nimble creatures (like the Kobold). Nonsapient animals tend to have STR/DEX/CON of a similar magnitude, but at least two of INT/WIS/CHA are usually lower (in prey animals, WIS is often high because they’re good at spotting movement; pack animals sometimes have high CHA), e.g. consider a Deer [11/16/11/2/14/5] exhibits middling STR/DEX/CON (with slightly elevated DEX because it’s nimble), low INT/CHA, and slightly-high WIS. Spotting patterns can be helpful early on; e.g. a good first guess might be something like 9/10/11/12/13/14; if you get some hits in the first three and zero or one of the last three boxes, you’re probably looking at an animal, which narrows down your guesses a bit.

I don’t think it’s as “smart” as a game with words, though!