Deduce #48: The market — the solution

The Deduce puzzle from October 1, 2026, worked through clue by clue: 8 clues, 3 rounds of crossing off, and no guessing anywhere.

The puzzle

Four people — Ben, Tess, Hugo and Kit — and three things to work out about each: their fruit, hat and stall. The clues only ever rule things out.

1. Hugo is the one at stall 1.
2. The cherries seller is at a lower stall than Tess.
3. The damsons seller is the one at stall 2.
4. Hugo is at a lower stall than the apples seller.
5. Hugo is not the one in the leather hat.
6. The one in the felt hat is the one at stall 2.
7. The cherries seller is the one at stall 3.
8. Kit is the one in the wool hat.

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, “Hugo is the one at stall 1”: stall 1 comes off Ben, Tess and Kit. That settles it: Hugo is at stall 1.

Clue 2, “The cherries seller is at a lower stall than Tess”: cherries comes off Tess.

Clue 3, “The damsons seller is the one at stall 2”: damsons comes off Hugo.

Clue 4, “Hugo is at a lower stall than the apples seller”: apples comes off Hugo.

Clue 5, “Hugo is not the one in the leather hat”: leather comes off Hugo.

Clue 6, “The one in the felt hat is the one at stall 2”: felt comes off Hugo.

Clue 7, “The cherries seller is the one at stall 3”: cherries comes off Hugo; stall 3 comes off Tess. That settles it: Hugo’s fruit is figs.

Clue 8, “Kit is the one in the wool hat”: wool comes off Ben, Tess and Hugo. That settles it: Hugo’s hat is cloth and Kit’s hat is wool.

Round 2

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

Figs is Hugo’s, so it comes off Ben, Tess and Kit.

Cloth is Hugo’s, so it comes off Ben and Tess.

Clue 2, “The cherries seller is at a lower stall than Tess”: stall 2 comes off Tess. That settles it: Tess is at stall 4.

Clue 3, “The damsons seller is the one at stall 2”: damsons comes off Tess. That settles it: Tess’s fruit is apples.

Clue 6, “The one in the felt hat is the one at stall 2”: felt comes off Tess; stall 2 comes off Kit. That settles it: Ben’s hat is felt, Tess’s hat is leather and Ben is at stall 2.

Clue 7, “The cherries seller is the one at stall 3”: cherries comes off Ben. That settles it: Kit’s fruit is cherries and Kit is at stall 3.

Round 3

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

Apples is Tess’s, so it comes off Ben. That settles it: Ben’s fruit is damsons.

The answer

Previous: Deduce #47 (Wed, Sep 30)

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.