Deduce #33: The library — the solution

The Deduce puzzle from September 16, 2026, worked through clue by clue: 8 clues, 4 rounds of crossing off, and no guessing anywhere.

The puzzle

Four people — Rosa, Ana, Vic and Lena — 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 canvas bag is exactly 3 hours after Rosa.
2. The one with the songbook is the one with the plastic bag.
3. Vic is the one with the diary.
4. Ana is the one at 1pm.
5. Vic is the one at 11am.
6. The one with the cookbook is not the one with the canvas bag.
7. Rosa is not the one with the velvet bag.
8. Vic is not the one with the velvet bag.

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 with the canvas bag is exactly 3 hours after Rosa”: canvas comes off Rosa; 11am, noon and 1pm come off Rosa. That settles it: Rosa is at 10am.

Clue 3, “Vic is the one with the diary”: diary comes off Rosa, Ana and Lena. That settles it: Vic’s book is diary.

Clue 4, “Ana is the one at 1pm”: 1pm comes off Vic and Lena. That settles it: Ana is at 1pm.

Clue 5, “Vic is the one at 11am”: 11am comes off Lena. That settles it: Vic is at 11am.

Clue 7, “Rosa is not the one with the velvet bag”: velvet comes off Rosa.

Clue 8, “Vic is not the one with the velvet bag”: velvet comes off Vic.

Round 2

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

10am is Rosa’s, so it comes off Lena. That settles it: Lena is at noon.

Clue 1, “The one with the canvas bag is exactly 3 hours after Rosa”: canvas comes off Vic and Lena.

Clue 2, “The one with the songbook is the one with the plastic bag”: plastic comes off Vic. That settles it: Vic’s bag is string.

Clue 6, “The one with the cookbook is not the one with the canvas bag”: cookbook comes off Ana.

Round 3

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

String is Vic’s, so it comes off Rosa, Ana and Lena. That settles it: Rosa’s bag is plastic.

Nobody but Ana can still have canvas, so Ana’s bag is canvas.

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

Clue 2, “The one with the songbook is the one with the plastic bag”: songbook comes off Ana and Lena. That settles it: Rosa’s book is songbook and Ana’s book is almanac.

Round 4

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

Almanac is Ana’s, so it comes off Lena. That settles it: Lena’s book is cookbook.

The answer

Previous: Deduce #32 (Tue, Sep 15) · Next: Deduce #34 (Thu, Sep 17)

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.