Deduce #58: The county fair — the solution

The Deduce puzzle from October 11, 2026, worked through clue by clue: 6 clues, 4 rounds of crossing off, and no guessing anywhere.

The puzzle

Four people — Rudy, Jorge, Megan and Dana — and three things to work out about each: their animal, treat and time. The clues only ever rule things out.

1. Jorge is exactly 3 hours after the one with the corn dog.
2. The one with the brownie is earlier than the one showing the pony.
3. Megan is the one showing the hen.
4. Rudy is the one with the corn dog.
5. The one showing the duck is not the one with the corn dog.
6. The one with the taffy is earlier than Megan.

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, “Jorge is exactly 3 hours after the one with the corn dog”: corn dog comes off Jorge; 10am, 11am and noon come off Jorge. That settles it: Jorge is judged at 1pm.

Clue 2, “The one with the brownie is earlier than the one showing the pony”: brownie comes off Jorge.

Clue 3, “Megan is the one showing the hen”: hen comes off Rudy, Jorge and Dana. That settles it: Megan’s animal is hen.

Clue 4, “Rudy is the one with the corn dog”: corn dog comes off Megan and Dana. That settles it: Rudy’s treat is corn dog.

Clue 5, “The one showing the duck is not the one with the corn dog”: duck comes off Rudy.

Clue 6, “The one with the taffy is earlier than Megan”: taffy comes off Jorge and Megan; 10am comes off Megan; 1pm comes off Dana. That settles it: Jorge’s treat is churro.

Round 2

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

Churro is Jorge’s, so it comes off Megan and Dana. That settles it: Megan’s treat is brownie.

Brownie is Megan’s, so it comes off Dana. That settles it: Dana’s treat is taffy.

1pm is Jorge’s, so it comes off Rudy and Megan.

Clue 1, “Jorge is exactly 3 hours after the one with the corn dog”: 11am and noon come off Rudy. That settles it: Rudy is judged at 10am.

Clue 2, “The one with the brownie is earlier than the one showing the pony”: pony comes off Rudy. That settles it: Rudy’s animal is goose.

Clue 6, “The one with the taffy is earlier than Megan”: noon comes off Dana.

Round 3

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

Goose is Rudy’s, so it comes off Jorge and Dana.

10am is Rudy’s, so it comes off Dana. That settles it: Dana is judged at 11am.

11am is Dana’s, so it comes off Megan. That settles it: Megan is judged at noon.

Clue 2, “The one with the brownie is earlier than the one showing the pony”: pony comes off Dana. That settles it: Dana’s animal is duck.

Round 4

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

Duck is Dana’s, so it comes off Jorge. That settles it: Jorge’s animal is pony.

The answer

Previous: Deduce #57 (Sat, Oct 10)

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.