Deduce #67: The parade — the solution

The Deduce puzzle from October 20, 2026, worked through clue by clue: 7 clues, 4 rounds of crossing off, and no guessing anywhere.

The puzzle

Four people — Janet, Micah, Mandy and Heidi — and three things to work out about each: their ride, throw and place. The clues only ever rule things out.

1. The one throwing balloons is ahead of the one riding the tractor.
2. The one throwing frisbees is the one 3rd in the parade.
3. Mandy is the one 6th in the parade.
4. Micah is the one 5th in the parade.
5. The one riding the float is the one 3rd in the parade.
6. The one riding the bike is exactly 3 places after Heidi.
7. The one throwing stickers is exactly 3 places after Heidi.

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 3, “Mandy is the one 6th in the parade”: 6th comes off Janet, Micah and Heidi. That settles it: Mandy is 6th in the parade.

Clue 4, “Micah is the one 5th in the parade”: 5th comes off Janet and Heidi. That settles it: Micah is 5th in the parade.

Clue 5, “The one riding the float is the one 3rd in the parade”: float comes off Micah and Mandy.

Clue 6, “The one riding the bike is exactly 3 places after Heidi”: bike comes off Janet, Micah and Heidi; 4th comes off Heidi. That settles it: Heidi is 3rd in the parade.

Clue 7, “The one throwing stickers is exactly 3 places after Heidi”: stickers comes off Janet, Micah and Heidi.

Round 2

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

Nobody but Mandy can still have bike, so Mandy’s ride is bike.

Nobody but Mandy can still have stickers, so Mandy’s throw is stickers.

3rd is Heidi’s, so it comes off Janet. That settles it: Janet is 4th in the parade.

Clue 1, “The one throwing balloons is ahead of the one riding the tractor”: tractor comes off Heidi; balloons comes off Micah.

Clue 2, “The one throwing frisbees is the one 3rd in the parade”: frisbees comes off Janet and Micah. That settles it: Micah’s throw is gum and Heidi’s throw is frisbees.

Clue 5, “The one riding the float is the one 3rd in the parade”: float comes off Janet. That settles it: Heidi’s ride is float.

Round 3

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

Gum is Micah’s, so it comes off Janet. That settles it: Janet’s throw is balloons.

Clue 1, “The one throwing balloons is ahead of the one riding the tractor”: tractor comes off Janet. That settles it: Janet’s ride is unicycle.

Round 4

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

Unicycle is Janet’s, so it comes off Micah. That settles it: Micah’s ride is tractor.

The answer

Previous: Deduce #66 (Mon, Oct 19) · Next: Deduce #68 (Wed, Oct 21) · 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.