Deduce #73: The talent show — the solution

The Deduce puzzle from October 26, 2026, worked through clue by clue: 7 clues, 3 rounds of crossing off, and no guessing anywhere.

The puzzle

Four people — Sarah, Riley, Andre and Diego — and three things to work out about each: their act, guest and order. The clues only ever rule things out.

1. Diego is the one going 5th.
2. Andre is on earlier than the one doing ballet.
3. The one whose brother came is the one going 5th.
4. The one doing beatbox is the one whose teacher came.
5. Riley is the one doing ballet.
6. Andre is not the one doing stand-up.
7. The one doing tap is exactly 3 acts after the one whose coach came.

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, “Diego is the one going 5th”: 5th comes off Sarah, Riley and Andre. That settles it: Diego is going 5th.

Clue 2, “Andre is on earlier than the one doing ballet”: ballet comes off Andre.

Clue 3, “The one whose brother came is the one going 5th”: brother comes off Sarah, Riley and Andre. That settles it: Diego’s guest is brother.

Clue 4, “The one doing beatbox is the one whose teacher came”: beatbox comes off Diego.

Clue 5, “Riley is the one doing ballet”: ballet comes off Sarah and Diego. That settles it: Riley’s act is ballet.

Clue 6, “Andre is not the one doing stand-up”: stand-up comes off Andre.

Clue 7, “The one doing tap is exactly 3 acts after the one whose coach came”: tap comes off Sarah and Andre. That settles it: Andre’s act is beatbox.

Round 2

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

Beatbox is Andre’s, so it comes off Sarah. That settles it: Sarah’s act is stand-up.

Nobody but Diego can still have tap, so Diego’s act is tap.

Clue 2, “Andre is on earlier than the one doing ballet”: 2nd comes off Riley; 4th comes off Andre.

Clue 4, “The one doing beatbox is the one whose teacher came”: teacher comes off Sarah and Riley. That settles it: Andre’s guest is teacher.

Clue 7, “The one doing tap is exactly 3 acts after the one whose coach came”: coach comes off Riley; 3rd and 4th come off Sarah. That settles it: Riley’s guest is dad and Sarah is going 2nd.

Round 3

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

Dad is Riley’s, so it comes off Sarah. That settles it: Sarah’s guest is coach.

2nd is Sarah’s, so it comes off Andre. That settles it: Andre is going 3rd.

3rd is Andre’s, so it comes off Riley. That settles it: Riley is going 4th.

The answer

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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.