Deduce #44: The café — the solution

The Deduce puzzle from September 27, 2026, worked through clue by clue: 7 clues, 4 rounds of crossing off, and no guessing anywhere.

The puzzle

Four people — Finn, Pia, Ben and Iris — and three things to work out about each: their drink, pastry and time. The clues only ever rule things out.

1. Iris is the one at 11am.
2. The one with the bagel is earlier than Ben.
3. The water drinker is exactly 3 hours after the one with the scone.
4. The juice drinker is the one at noon.
5. The one with the tart is the one at 11am.
6. The one with the brownie is exactly 2 hours after the cocoa drinker.
7. Pia is the one at 10am.

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 11am”: 11am comes off Finn, Pia and Ben. That settles it: Iris is at 11am.

Clue 2, “The one with the bagel is earlier than Ben”: bagel comes off Ben; 10am comes off Ben.

Clue 3, “The water drinker is exactly 3 hours after the one with the scone”: scone comes off Ben and Iris; water comes off Iris.

Clue 4, “The juice drinker is the one at noon”: juice comes off Iris.

Clue 5, “The one with the tart is the one at 11am”: tart comes off Finn, Pia and Ben. That settles it: Ben’s pastry is brownie and Iris’s pastry is tart.

Clue 6, “The one with the brownie is exactly 2 hours after the cocoa drinker”: cocoa comes off Ben.

Clue 7, “Pia is the one at 10am”: 10am comes off Finn. That settles it: Pia is at 10am.

Round 2

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

Brownie is Ben’s, so it comes off Finn and Pia.

Clue 3, “The water drinker is exactly 3 hours after the one with the scone”: water comes off Pia; scone comes off Finn. That settles it: Finn’s pastry is bagel.

Clue 4, “The juice drinker is the one at noon”: juice comes off Pia.

Clue 6, “The one with the brownie is exactly 2 hours after the cocoa drinker”: cocoa comes off Finn.

Round 3

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

Bagel is Finn’s, so it comes off Pia. That settles it: Pia’s pastry is scone.

Clue 2, “The one with the bagel is earlier than Ben”: 1pm comes off Finn; noon comes off Ben. That settles it: Finn is at noon and Ben is at 1pm.

Clue 3, “The water drinker is exactly 3 hours after the one with the scone”: water comes off Finn.

Clue 4, “The juice drinker is the one at noon”: juice comes off Ben. That settles it: Finn’s drink is juice.

Clue 6, “The one with the brownie is exactly 2 hours after the cocoa drinker”: cocoa comes off Pia. That settles it: Pia’s drink is coffee.

Round 4

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

Coffee is Pia’s, so it comes off Ben and Iris. That settles it: Ben’s drink is water and Iris’s drink is cocoa.

The answer

Previous: Deduce #43 (Sat, Sep 26)

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.