Deduce #41: The library — the solution

The Deduce puzzle from September 24, 2026, worked through clue by clue: 7 clues, 4 rounds of crossing off, and no guessing anywhere.

The puzzle

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

1. Tess is exactly 2 hours after the one with the atlas.
2. The one with the diary is the one with the velvet bag.
3. Dan is not the one with the plastic bag.
4. Quinn is the one with the velvet bag.
5. The one with the songbook is earlier than Quinn.
6. The one with the tartan bag is earlier than Dan.
7. Dan is the one with the songbook.

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, “Tess is exactly 2 hours after the one with the atlas”: atlas comes off Tess; 10am and 11am come off Tess.

Clue 3, “Dan is not the one with the plastic bag”: plastic comes off Dan.

Clue 4, “Quinn is the one with the velvet bag”: velvet comes off Dan, Vic and Tess. That settles it: Quinn’s bag is velvet.

Clue 5, “The one with the songbook is earlier than Quinn”: songbook comes off Quinn; 10am comes off Quinn.

Clue 6, “The one with the tartan bag is earlier than Dan”: tartan comes off Dan; 10am comes off Dan. That settles it: Dan’s bag is string.

Clue 7, “Dan is the one with the songbook”: songbook comes off Vic and Tess. That settles it: Dan’s book is songbook.

Round 2

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

String is Dan’s, so it comes off Vic and Tess.

Nobody but Vic can still have 10am, so Vic is at 10am.

Clue 2, “The one with the diary is the one with the velvet bag”: diary comes off Vic and Tess. That settles it: Quinn’s book is diary and Tess’s book is cookbook.

Clue 5, “The one with the songbook is earlier than Quinn”: 1pm comes off Dan; 11am comes off Quinn.

Clue 6, “The one with the tartan bag is earlier than Dan”: tartan comes off Tess. That settles it: Tess’s bag is plastic.

Round 3

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

Cookbook is Tess’s, so it comes off Vic. That settles it: Vic’s book is atlas.

Plastic is Tess’s, so it comes off Vic. That settles it: Vic’s bag is tartan.

Nobody but Dan can still have 11am, so Dan is at 11am.

Clue 1, “Tess is exactly 2 hours after the one with the atlas”: 1pm comes off Tess. That settles it: Tess is at noon.

Round 4

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

noon is Tess’s, so it comes off Quinn. That settles it: Quinn is at 1pm.

The answer

Previous: Deduce #40 (Wed, Sep 23)

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.