Deduce #89: The drive-thru — the solution

The Deduce puzzle from November 11, 2026, worked through clue by clue: 8 clues, 4 rounds of crossing off, and no guessing anywhere.

The puzzle

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

1. Dolly is the one 4th in line.
2. Abby is not the one 2nd in line.
3. The one listening to reggae is the one 4th in line.
4. The one ordering a pie is exactly 2 places after the one listening to techno.
5. Toby is the one listening to techno.
6. The one ordering wings is the one 1st in line.
7. The one listening to polka is not the one 3rd in line.
8. Dolly is the one ordering tacos.

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, “Dolly is the one 4th in line”: 4th comes off Abby, Zach and Toby. That settles it: Dolly is 4th in line.

Clue 2, “Abby is not the one 2nd in line”: 2nd comes off Abby.

Clue 3, “The one listening to reggae is the one 4th in line”: reggae comes off Abby, Zach and Toby. That settles it: Dolly’s radio is reggae.

Clue 5, “Toby is the one listening to techno”: techno comes off Abby and Zach. That settles it: Toby’s radio is techno.

Clue 6, “The one ordering wings is the one 1st in line”: wings comes off Dolly.

Clue 8, “Dolly is the one ordering tacos”: tacos comes off Abby, Zach and Toby. That settles it: Dolly’s order is tacos.

Round 2

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

Clue 4, “The one ordering a pie is exactly 2 places after the one listening to techno”: a pie comes off Toby; 2nd and 3rd come off Toby. That settles it: Toby is 1st in line.

Round 3

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

1st is Toby’s, so it comes off Abby and Zach. That settles it: Abby is 3rd in line.

Nobody but Zach can still have 2nd, so Zach is 2nd in line.

Clue 4, “The one ordering a pie is exactly 2 places after the one listening to techno”: a pie comes off Zach.

Clue 6, “The one ordering wings is the one 1st in line”: wings comes off Abby and Zach. That settles it: Zach’s order is fries and Toby’s order is wings.

Clue 7, “The one listening to polka is not the one 3rd in line”: polka comes off Abby. That settles it: Abby’s radio is gospel.

Round 4

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

Fries is Zach’s, so it comes off Abby. That settles it: Abby’s order is a pie.

Gospel is Abby’s, so it comes off Zach. That settles it: Zach’s radio is polka.

The answer

Previous: Deduce #88 (Tue, Nov 10) · Next: Deduce #90 (Thu, Nov 12) · 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.