Deduce #46: The race — the solution

The Deduce puzzle from September 29, 2026, worked through clue by clue: 7 clues, 3 rounds of crossing off, and no guessing anywhere.

The puzzle

Four people — Finn, Kit, Marco and Dan — and three things to work out about each: their jersey, club and place. The clues only ever rule things out.

1. Kit is the Owls runner.
2. The Striders runner is the one in 4th.
3. Dan is the one in the white jersey.
4. Dan is exactly 2 places after the Harriers runner.
5. The one in the green jersey is the one in 4th.
6. Marco is ahead of the Pacers runner.
7. The one in the black jersey is not the Harriers runner.

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, “Kit is the Owls runner”: Owls comes off Finn, Marco and Dan. That settles it: Kit’s club is Owls.

Clue 2, “The Striders runner is the one in 4th”: 4th comes off Kit.

Clue 3, “Dan is the one in the white jersey”: white comes off Finn, Kit and Marco. That settles it: Dan’s jersey is white.

Clue 4, “Dan is exactly 2 places after the Harriers runner”: Harriers comes off Dan; 1st and 2nd come off Dan.

Clue 5, “The one in the green jersey is the one in 4th”: green comes off Kit; 4th comes off Dan. That settles it: Dan is in 3rd.

Clue 6, “Marco is ahead of the Pacers runner”: Pacers comes off Marco; 4th comes off Marco.

Round 2

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

3rd is Dan’s, so it comes off Finn, Kit and Marco.

Nobody but Finn can still have 4th, so Finn is in 4th.

Clue 2, “The Striders runner is the one in 4th”: Striders comes off Marco and Dan. That settles it: Finn’s club is Striders, Marco’s club is Harriers and Dan’s club is Pacers.

Clue 4, “Dan is exactly 2 places after the Harriers runner”: 2nd comes off Marco. That settles it: Marco is in 1st.

Clue 5, “The one in the green jersey is the one in 4th”: green comes off Marco. That settles it: Finn’s jersey is green.

Clue 7, “The one in the black jersey is not the Harriers runner”: black comes off Marco. That settles it: Marco’s jersey is red.

Round 3

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

Red is Marco’s, so it comes off Kit. That settles it: Kit’s jersey is black.

1st is Marco’s, so it comes off Kit. That settles it: Kit is in 2nd.

The answer

Previous: Deduce #45 (Mon, Sep 28)

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.