Deduce #25: The library — the solution

The Deduce puzzle from September 8, 2026, worked through clue by clue: 8 clues, 4 rounds of crossing off, and no guessing anywhere.

The puzzle

Four people — Vic, Sam, Ana and Finn — and three things to work out about each: their book, bag and time. The clues only ever rule things out.

1. The one with the velvet bag is earlier than the one with the songbook.
2. The one with the tartan bag is earlier than the one with the almanac.
3. The one with the tartan bag is earlier than Sam.
4. The one with the velvet bag is exactly 2 hours after the one with the cookbook.
5. Ana is not the one at 10am.
6. Ana is the one with the canvas bag.
7. Vic is the one with the leather bag.
8. The one with the leather bag is the one at noon.

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 3, “The one with the tartan bag is earlier than Sam”: tartan comes off Sam; 9am comes off Sam.

Clue 5, “Ana is not the one at 10am”: 10am comes off Ana.

Clue 6, “Ana is the one with the canvas bag”: canvas comes off Vic, Sam and Finn. That settles it: Ana’s bag is canvas.

Clue 7, “Vic is the one with the leather bag”: leather comes off Sam and Finn. That settles it: Vic’s bag is leather and Sam’s bag is velvet.

Clue 8, “The one with the leather bag is the one at noon”: noon comes off Sam, Ana and Finn. That settles it: Vic is at noon.

Round 2

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

Velvet is Sam’s, so it comes off Finn. That settles it: Finn’s bag is tartan.

Clue 1, “The one with the velvet bag is earlier than the one with the songbook”: songbook comes off Sam.

Clue 2, “The one with the tartan bag is earlier than the one with the almanac”: almanac comes off Finn.

Clue 3, “The one with the tartan bag is earlier than Sam”: 11am comes off Finn.

Clue 4, “The one with the velvet bag is exactly 2 hours after the one with the cookbook”: cookbook comes off Vic and Sam; 10am comes off Sam. That settles it: Sam is at 11am.

Round 3

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

11am is Sam’s, so it comes off Ana. That settles it: Ana is at 9am.

9am is Ana’s, so it comes off Finn. That settles it: Finn is at 10am.

Clue 1, “The one with the velvet bag is earlier than the one with the songbook”: songbook comes off Ana and Finn.

Clue 2, “The one with the tartan bag is earlier than the one with the almanac”: almanac comes off Ana.

Clue 4, “The one with the velvet bag is exactly 2 hours after the one with the cookbook”: cookbook comes off Finn. That settles it: Finn’s book is atlas.

Round 4

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

Atlas is Finn’s, so it comes off Vic, Sam and Ana. That settles it: Sam’s book is almanac and Ana’s book is cookbook.

Nobody but Vic can still have songbook, so Vic’s book is songbook.

The answer

Previous: Deduce #24 (Mon, Sep 7) · Next: Deduce #26 (Wed, Sep 9)

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.