Deduce #26: The bakery line — the solution

The Deduce puzzle from September 9, 2026, worked through clue by clue: 8 clues, 3 rounds of crossing off, and no guessing anywhere.

The puzzle

Four people — Tess, Cleo, Omar and Hugo — and three things to work out about each: their order, coat and spot. The clues only ever rule things out.

1. The one buying a cake is exactly 3 places after Tess.
2. Hugo is the one in the cream coat.
3. The one buying a donut is not the one in the gray coat.
4. The one buying a bun is the one in the cream coat.
5. Omar is ahead of the one buying a cake.
6. The one buying a bun is not the one 4th in line.
7. Tess is the one buying a donut.
8. Omar is the one in the navy coat.

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, “The one buying a cake is exactly 3 places after Tess”: a cake comes off Tess; 4th, 5th and 6th come off Tess. That settles it: Tess is 3rd in line.

Clue 2, “Hugo is the one in the cream coat”: cream comes off Tess, Cleo and Omar. That settles it: Hugo’s coat is cream.

Clue 4, “The one buying a bun is the one in the cream coat”: a bun comes off Tess, Cleo and Omar. That settles it: Hugo’s order is a bun.

Clue 5, “Omar is ahead of the one buying a cake”: a cake comes off Omar; 3rd comes off Cleo; 6th comes off Omar.

Clue 6, “The one buying a bun is not the one 4th in line”: 4th comes off Hugo.

Clue 7, “Tess is the one buying a donut”: a donut comes off Cleo and Omar. That settles it: Tess’s order is a donut and Omar’s order is a pie.

Clue 8, “Omar is the one in the navy coat”: navy comes off Tess and Cleo. That settles it: Omar’s coat is navy.

Round 2

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

A pie is Omar’s, so it comes off Cleo. That settles it: Cleo’s order is a cake.

3rd is Tess’s, so it comes off Omar and Hugo.

Clue 1, “The one buying a cake is exactly 3 places after Tess”: 4th and 5th come off Cleo. That settles it: Cleo is 6th in line.

Clue 3, “The one buying a donut is not the one in the gray coat”: gray comes off Tess. That settles it: Tess’s coat is red.

Round 3

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

Red is Tess’s, so it comes off Cleo. That settles it: Cleo’s coat is gray.

6th is Cleo’s, so it comes off Hugo. That settles it: Hugo is 5th in line.

5th is Hugo’s, so it comes off Omar. That settles it: Omar is 4th in line.

The answer

Previous: Deduce #25 (Tue, Sep 8) · Next: Deduce #27 (Thu, Sep 10)

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.