Deduce #82: The sandlot — the solution

The Deduce puzzle from November 4, 2026, worked through clue by clue: 6 clues, 3 rounds of crossing off, and no guessing anywhere.

The puzzle

Four people — Ramon, Terry, Earl and Dana — and three things to work out about each: their position, cap and batting. The clues only ever rule things out.

1. Dana is the one playing catcher.
2. The one in the gray cap is the one batting 3rd.
3. The one playing first base is earlier in the order than the one in the pink cap.
4. The one in the purple cap is earlier in the order than the one playing left field.
5. Earl is the one batting 4th.
6. Terry is exactly 2 spots after the one playing left field.

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, “Dana is the one playing catcher”: catcher comes off Ramon, Terry and Earl. That settles it: Dana’s position is catcher.

Clue 5, “Earl is the one batting 4th”: 4th comes off Ramon, Terry and Dana. That settles it: Earl is batting 4th.

Clue 6, “Terry is exactly 2 spots after the one playing left field”: left field comes off Terry and Earl; 2nd comes off Ramon and Terry; 5th comes off Ramon; 3rd comes off Terry. That settles it: Ramon is batting 3rd and Terry is batting 5th.

Round 2

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

Nobody but Ramon can still have left field, so Ramon’s position is left field.

3rd is Ramon’s, so it comes off Dana.

5th is Terry’s, so it comes off Dana. That settles it: Dana is batting 2nd.

Clue 2, “The one in the gray cap is the one batting 3rd”: gray comes off Terry, Earl and Dana. That settles it: Ramon’s cap is gray.

Clue 3, “The one playing first base is earlier in the order than the one in the pink cap”: pink comes off Earl and Dana; first base comes off Terry. That settles it: Terry’s position is center.

Clue 4, “The one in the purple cap is earlier in the order than the one playing left field”: purple comes off Terry and Earl. That settles it: Earl’s cap is red.

Round 3

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

Center is Terry’s, so it comes off Earl. That settles it: Earl’s position is first base.

Red is Earl’s, so it comes off Terry and Dana. That settles it: Terry’s cap is pink and Dana’s cap is purple.

The answer

Previous: Deduce #81 (Tue, Nov 3) · Next: Deduce #83 (Thu, Nov 5) · 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.