Deduce #86: The county fair — the solution

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

The puzzle

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

1. Mitch is the one judged at 11am.
2. Megan is the one with the lemonade.
3. Wyatt is not the one judged at noon.
4. Wyatt is the one with the popcorn.
5. The one showing the lamb is not the one judged at 1pm.
6. The one with the nachos is the one judged at 1pm.
7. The one showing the goat is the one judged at noon.
8. The one showing the mule 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, “Mitch is the one judged at 11am”: 11am comes off Megan, Wyatt and Molly. That settles it: Mitch is judged at 11am.

Clue 2, “Megan is the one with the lemonade”: lemonade comes off Wyatt, Molly and Mitch. That settles it: Megan’s treat is lemonade.

Clue 3, “Wyatt is not the one judged at noon”: noon comes off Wyatt.

Clue 4, “Wyatt is the one with the popcorn”: popcorn comes off Molly and Mitch. That settles it: Wyatt’s treat is popcorn.

Clue 6, “The one with the nachos is the one judged at 1pm”: 1pm comes off Megan and Wyatt; nachos comes off Mitch. That settles it: Molly’s treat is nachos, Mitch’s treat is slushie, Wyatt is judged at 2pm and Molly is judged at 1pm.

Clue 7, “The one showing the goat is the one judged at noon”: goat comes off Wyatt, Molly and Mitch. That settles it: Megan’s animal is goat and Megan is judged at noon.

Clue 8, “The one showing the mule is earlier than Megan”: mule comes off Wyatt and Molly.

Round 2

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

Nobody but Mitch can still have mule, so Mitch’s animal is mule.

Clue 5, “The one showing the lamb is not the one judged at 1pm”: lamb comes off Molly. That settles it: Molly’s animal is rooster.

Round 3

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

Rooster is Molly’s, so it comes off Wyatt. That settles it: Wyatt’s animal is lamb.

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.