Deduce #1: The race — the solution

The Deduce puzzle from August 15, 2026, worked through clue by clue: 8 clues, 3 rounds of crossing off, and no guessing anywhere.

The puzzle

Four people — Finn, Nadia, Hugo and Sam — and three things to work out about each: their jersey, club and place. The clues only ever rule things out.

1. The one in the green jersey is the one in 3rd.
2. Sam is the one in the green jersey.
3. Finn is the one in the blue jersey.
4. Sam is ahead of the Striders runner.
5. The Striders runner is ahead of the one in the blue jersey.
6. The one in the white jersey is the Foxes runner.
7. The one in the green jersey is ahead of the Owls runner.
8. The Foxes runner is ahead of Nadia.

The walkthrough

A round is one pass over the clues. Each round applies what the last one settled; every step below is an elimination the clues force, in the order a solver would take them.

Round 1

Start with every possibility open, and take the clues in order.

Clue 2, “Sam is the one in the green jersey”: green comes off Finn, Nadia and Hugo. That settles it: Sam’s jersey is green.

Clue 3, “Finn is the one in the blue jersey”: blue comes off Nadia and Hugo. That settles it: Finn’s jersey is blue.

Clue 4, “Sam is ahead of the Striders runner”: Striders comes off Sam; 5th comes off Sam.

Clue 5, “The Striders runner is ahead of the one in the blue jersey”: Striders comes off Finn; 2nd comes off Finn.

Clue 6, “The one in the white jersey is the Foxes runner”: Foxes comes off Finn and Sam.

Clue 7, “The one in the green jersey is ahead of the Owls runner”: Owls comes off Sam. That settles it: Sam’s club is Harriers.

Clue 8, “The Foxes runner is ahead of Nadia”: Foxes comes off Nadia; 2nd comes off Nadia; 5th comes off Hugo.

Round 2

Go back over the clues with the new facts in hand.

Harriers is Sam’s, so it comes off Finn, Nadia and Hugo. That settles it: Finn’s club is Owls.

Nobody but Hugo can still have Foxes, so Hugo’s club is Foxes.

Clue 1, “The one in the green jersey is the one in 3rd”: 3rd comes off Finn, Nadia and Hugo. That settles it: Sam is in 3rd.

Clue 5, “The Striders runner is ahead of the one in the blue jersey”: 4th comes off Finn; 5th comes off Nadia. That settles it: Finn is in 5th and Nadia is in 4th.

Clue 6, “The one in the white jersey is the Foxes runner”: white comes off Nadia. That settles it: Nadia’s jersey is black and Hugo’s jersey is white.

Clue 8, “The Foxes runner is ahead of Nadia”: 4th comes off Hugo. That settles it: Hugo is in 2nd.

Round 3

Go back over the clues with the new facts in hand.

Owls is Finn’s, so it comes off Nadia. That settles it: Nadia’s club is Striders.

The answer

Next: Deduce #2 (Sun, Aug 16)

About Deduce

Deduce is Noggin’s daily logic grid: four people, three things to work out about each, and clues that never hand you an answer. Every puzzle has exactly one solution and can be finished by crossing off alone. How to play Deduce, or play today’s.