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Kode #114: hints & solution

Here's the clue board for Kode #114. Start with the spoiler-free hints. If you're still stuck, the full step-by-step solution is below, hidden until you open it.

The clue board

Each row is a guess that's already been graded. ▲ means a right digit in the right spot; ● means a right digit in the wrong spot.

  • 16705▲1●1
  • 26739▲0●1
  • 38916▲0●2
  • 43948▲0●0
  • 59072▲0●2

Spoiler-free hints

  • 3 of the four digits are even.
  • The four digits add up to 9.
  • Just one digit is 5 or higher.

Try the hints first. The solution below walks through every deduction.

Step-by-step solution

Every Kode can be cracked by pure deduction, with no guessing. This board falls in 9 logical steps. Open the solution to follow them one at a time.

Show the solution · reveals the code

When a row "rules out" a position, it shows that digit there but its ▲ marks are already used up (or it has none), so the digit can't sit there.

  1. Row 4 (3 9 4 8) has no marks at all, so 3, 9, 4, and 8 are not in the code.
  2. Row 3 (8 9 1 6) has 2 marks still unexplained, and only 2 digits are left undecided: 1 and 6. So both are in the code.
  3. Row 2 (6 7 3 9) has one mark, already accounted for by 6. That rules out 7.
  4. Row 5 (9 0 7 2) has 2 marks still unexplained, and only 2 digits are left undecided: 0 and 2. So both are in the code.
  5. Row 1 (6 7 0 5) has 2 marks, already accounted for by 6 and 0. That rules out 5.
  6. Row 1 (6 7 0 5) has one digit in the right spot. Since row 2 rules out the 6 in position 1, it has to be the 0 in position 3.
  7. The 6 has only one spot left: position 2 (row 2 rules out position 1, row 3 rules out position 4, and position 3 is already 0).
  8. The 2 has only one spot left: position 1 (row 5 rules out position 4, position 2 is already 6, and position 3 is already 0).
  9. That leaves the 1 for position 4.

That cracks it: the code is 2601.

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