The characters are playing the icebreaker game, Two Truths and a Lie. As such, each gives two true statements and one lie. Given that restriction, Ari’s first statement must be the lie, so the nine people are all standing in a straight line. Solving the puzzle requires putting them in order. One logical path is shown here:
Ari’s first statement is the lie, so Ari must be in the first or ninth position.
Tom’s first and second statements contradict each other, so one must be true and the other must be false. Therefore Tom cannot be in the fourth through sixth positions (and must be next to Tim).
Lou’s second and third statements are mutually exclusive, so Lou must be either second or sixth in line.
Lea’s first and second statements contradict, so Lea must be in first, third, fifth, seventh, or ninth position.
Since Tom is not fourth or sixth in line, and neither is Lea, Jen’s third statement must be the lie. Therefore Jen is between Lea and Tom in line. Since Jen is next to Lea, she must be in second, fourth, sixth, or eighth.
Since Tom must be directly between Jen and Tim, he cannot be in an end position, which limits him to second, third, seventh, and eighth. Since he is next to Jen, he must be in an odd position, either third or seventh.
At this point, there are two pretty well-defined options. Since Lou cannot be next to Tom, either Lou is second and Tom is seventh or Lou is sixth and Tom is third.
If Lou is sixth, Tom is third. Since Jen and Tim are next to him, they are second and fourth in some order. Likewise, since Lea is next to Jen, she must be first or fifth. However, Hal is behind exactly one of Lou, Mac, and Tim. If Hal is first, he is in front of all three; if he is seventh or later, he is behind both Tim and Lou. Therefore, Hal must be fifth, so the first six in line are Lea, Jen, Tom, Tim, Hal, and Lou, in that order. There is nowhere left for Kat to stand where she can be either next to Hal or with two people between her and Tom. Therefore, since Kat cannot have two lies, we know that Lou is not sixth.
Therefore, Lou is second and Tom is seventh. This means that Jen and Tim are sixth and eighth in some order, and Lea is next to Jen in fifth or ninth.
Since Ari is either first or ninth and Tom is seventh, one of Kat’s last two statements must be the lie. If the second is true, Ari must be first and Kat must be third. If her third statement is true, she is fourth. Kat must be third or fourth.
Since Lou is second, Hal must be in front of both Mac and Tim. The only available spaces for Hal are third and fourth. (If he is fifth, there is no space remaining behind him for Mac.)
Since Hal is in front of Mac, and Hal and Kat are third and fourth in some order, Mac must be fifth or ninth. Since Lea is also fifth or ninth, Ari must be first.
Since Ari is first and Lou is second, and Lea and Jen are also next to each other, Tim’s second statement must be a lie. Therefore Kat cannot be next to Mac. If Mac is fifth, Kat must be third and Hal fourth. However, this would make all three of Mac’s statements true, so Mac must be ninth.
Mac being ninth means Lea is fifth, Jen is sixth, Tom is seventh, and Tim is eighth. It also means that his third statement is the lie, so Hal must be fourth in line, with Kat in third.
Here are the participants in line order:
| Position | Name | Which is the Lie? |
| 1 | ARI | 1st |
| 2 | LOU | 3rd |
| 3 | KAT | 3rd |
| 4 | HAL | 1st |
| 5 | LEA | 2nd |
| 6 | JEN | 3rd |
| 7 | TOM | 1st |
| 8 | TIM | 2nd |
| 9 | MAC | 3rd |
The final step requires noticing that each of the people in the puzzle has a three-letter name. The final answer comes from reading either the first, second, or third letter of each name based on which statement was a lie. For example, Ari’s first statement was the lie, so the first letter of the answer is the first letter of Ari, A. Continuing this process through the line gives the answer AUTHENTIC.