Deduce #50: The diner — the solution

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

The puzzle

Four people — Shane, Reba, Cody and Josie — and three things to work out about each: their order, drink and booth. The clues only ever rule things out.

1. Josie is the one in booth 5.
2. The one who ordered waffles is the one in booth 4.
3. The one who ordered pancakes is the lemonade drinker.
4. The OJ drinker is not the one in booth 4.
5. The shake drinker is exactly 3 booths after the one who ordered biscuits.
6. Shane is not the one in booth 4.
7. Reba is the one in booth 6.

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, “Josie is the one in booth 5”: booth 5 comes off Shane, Reba and Cody. That settles it: Josie is in booth 5.

Clue 2, “The one who ordered waffles is the one in booth 4”: waffles comes off Josie.

Clue 5, “The shake drinker is exactly 3 booths after the one who ordered biscuits”: biscuits comes off Josie; shake comes off Josie.

Clue 6, “Shane is not the one in booth 4”: booth 4 comes off Shane.

Clue 7, “Reba is the one in booth 6”: booth 6 comes off Shane and Cody. That settles it: Shane is in booth 3 and Reba is in booth 6.

Round 2

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

booth 3 is Shane’s, so it comes off Cody. That settles it: Cody is in booth 4.

Clue 2, “The one who ordered waffles is the one in booth 4”: waffles comes off Shane and Reba. That settles it: Cody’s order is waffles.

Clue 3, “The one who ordered pancakes is the lemonade drinker”: lemonade comes off Cody.

Clue 4, “The OJ drinker is not the one in booth 4”: OJ comes off Cody.

Clue 5, “The shake drinker is exactly 3 booths after the one who ordered biscuits”: shake comes off Shane and Cody; biscuits comes off Reba. That settles it: Cody’s drink is coffee.

Round 3

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

Nobody but Shane can still have biscuits, so Shane’s order is biscuits.

Coffee is Cody’s, so it comes off Shane, Reba and Josie.

Nobody but Reba can still have shake, so Reba’s drink is shake.

Clue 3, “The one who ordered pancakes is the lemonade drinker”: pancakes comes off Reba; lemonade comes off Shane. That settles it: Reba’s order is oatmeal, Josie’s order is pancakes, Shane’s drink is OJ and Josie’s drink is lemonade.

The answer

Previous: Deduce #49 (Fri, Oct 2)

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.