Deduce #12: The library — the solution

The Deduce puzzle from August 26, 2026, worked through clue by clue: 8 clues, 3 rounds of crossing off, and no guessing anywhere.

The puzzle

Four people — Hugo, Omar, Iris and Lena — and three things to work out about each: their book, bag and time. The clues only ever rule things out.

1. Iris is the one at noon.
2. The one with the diary is earlier than Iris.
3. The one with the novel is the one at 11am.
4. The one with the atlas is exactly 3 hours after the one with the velvet bag.
5. The one with the leather bag is the one at 11am.
6. Hugo is the one at 10am.
7. Lena is exactly 3 hours after the one with the velvet bag.
8. The one with the tartan bag is exactly 2 hours after the one with the novel.

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 1, “Iris is the one at noon”: noon comes off Hugo, Omar and Lena. That settles it: Iris is at noon.

Clue 2, “The one with the diary is earlier than Iris”: diary comes off Iris.

Clue 3, “The one with the novel is the one at 11am”: novel comes off Iris.

Clue 4, “The one with the atlas is exactly 3 hours after the one with the velvet bag”: atlas comes off Iris; velvet comes off Iris. That settles it: Iris’s book is songbook.

Clue 5, “The one with the leather bag is the one at 11am”: leather comes off Iris.

Clue 6, “Hugo is the one at 10am”: 10am comes off Omar and Lena. That settles it: Hugo is at 10am.

Clue 7, “Lena is exactly 3 hours after the one with the velvet bag”: velvet comes off Omar and Lena; 11am comes off Lena. That settles it: Lena is at 1pm.

Clue 8, “The one with the tartan bag is exactly 2 hours after the one with the novel”: tartan comes off Hugo and Omar; novel comes off Lena.

Round 2

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

Songbook is Iris’s, so it comes off Hugo, Omar and Lena.

Nobody but Hugo can still have velvet, so Hugo’s bag is velvet.

1pm is Lena’s, so it comes off Omar. That settles it: Omar is at 11am.

Clue 2, “The one with the diary is earlier than Iris”: diary comes off Lena. That settles it: Lena’s book is atlas.

Clue 3, “The one with the novel is the one at 11am”: novel comes off Hugo. That settles it: Omar’s book is novel.

Clue 4, “The one with the atlas is exactly 3 hours after the one with the velvet bag”: atlas comes off Hugo. That settles it: Hugo’s book is diary.

Clue 5, “The one with the leather bag is the one at 11am”: leather comes off Lena. That settles it: Omar’s bag is leather.

Clue 8, “The one with the tartan bag is exactly 2 hours after the one with the novel”: tartan comes off Iris. That settles it: Iris’s bag is string.

Round 3

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

String is Iris’s, so it comes off Lena. That settles it: Lena’s bag is tartan.

The answer

Previous: Deduce #11 (Tue, Aug 25) · Next: Deduce #13 (Thu, Aug 27)

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.