Deduce #61: The drive-thru — the solution

The Deduce puzzle from October 14, 2026, worked through clue by clue: 8 clues, 3 rounds of crossing off, and no guessing anywhere.

The puzzle

Four people — Leroy, Kyle, Emmy and Zach — and three things to work out about each: their order, radio and spot. The clues only ever rule things out.

1. The one ordering a burger is ahead of Zach.
2. The one listening to R&B is ahead of the one ordering a hot dog.
3. Emmy is the one ordering a wrap.
4. Zach is the one listening to R&B.
5. Leroy is the one ordering a burger.
6. The one ordering a wrap is ahead of the one listening to hip-hop.
7. The one ordering a hot dog is not the one listening to jazz.
8. The one ordering a wrap is ahead of the one listening to jazz.

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, “The one ordering a burger is ahead of Zach”: a burger comes off Zach; 3rd comes off Zach.

Clue 3, “Emmy is the one ordering a wrap”: a wrap comes off Leroy, Kyle and Zach. That settles it: Emmy’s order is a wrap.

Clue 4, “Zach is the one listening to R&B”: R&B comes off Leroy, Kyle and Emmy. That settles it: Zach’s radio is R&B.

Clue 5, “Leroy is the one ordering a burger”: a burger comes off Kyle. That settles it: Leroy’s order is a burger.

Clue 6, “The one ordering a wrap is ahead of the one listening to hip-hop”: hip-hop comes off Emmy; 6th comes off Emmy.

Clue 8, “The one ordering a wrap is ahead of the one listening to jazz”: jazz comes off Emmy. That settles it: Emmy’s radio is sports.

Round 2

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

Sports is Emmy’s, so it comes off Leroy and Kyle.

Clue 1, “The one ordering a burger is ahead of Zach”: 6th comes off Leroy.

Clue 2, “The one listening to R&B is ahead of the one ordering a hot dog”: a hot dog comes off Zach; 3rd and 4th come off Kyle; 6th comes off Zach. That settles it: Zach’s order is nuggets.

Clue 7, “The one ordering a hot dog is not the one listening to jazz”: jazz comes off Kyle. That settles it: Kyle’s radio is hip-hop.

Clue 8, “The one ordering a wrap is ahead of the one listening to jazz”: 3rd comes off Leroy; 5th comes off Emmy.

Round 3

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

Nuggets is Zach’s, so it comes off Kyle. That settles it: Kyle’s order is a hot dog.

Hip-hop is Kyle’s, so it comes off Leroy. That settles it: Leroy’s radio is jazz.

Nobody but Emmy can still have 3rd, so Emmy is 3rd in line.

Nobody but Kyle can still have 6th, so Kyle is 6th in line.

Clue 1, “The one ordering a burger is ahead of Zach”: 5th comes off Leroy; 4th comes off Zach. That settles it: Leroy is 4th in line and Zach is 5th in line.

The answer

Previous: Deduce #60 (Tue, Oct 13) · Next: Deduce #62 (Thu, Oct 15) · All Deduce solutions

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.