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Kode #122: hints & solution

Here's the clue board for Kode #122. 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.

  • 12386▲1●1
  • 29346▲0●1
  • 35960▲0●2
  • 47961▲0●0
  • 52675▲1●0

Spoiler-free hints

  • 2 of the four digits are even.
  • The four digits add up to 16.
  • 2 of the digits are 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 (7 9 6 1) has no marks at all, so 7, 9, 6, and 1 are not in the code.
  2. Row 3 (5 9 6 0) has 2 marks still unexplained, and only 2 digits are left undecided: 5 and 0. So both are in the code.
  3. Row 5 (2 6 7 5) has one mark, already accounted for by 5. That rules out 2.
  4. Row 1 (2 3 8 6) has 2 marks still unexplained, and only 2 digits are left undecided: 3 and 8. So both are in the code.
  5. Row 2 (9 3 4 6) has one mark, already accounted for by 3. That rules out 4.
  6. Row 1 (2 3 8 6) has one digit in the right spot. Since row 2 rules out the 3 in position 2, it has to be the 8 in position 3.
  7. Row 5 (2 6 7 5) has one digit in the right spot, and the 5 in position 4 is its only digit in the code, so it's locked in.
  8. The 3 has only one spot left: position 1 (row 2 rules out position 2, position 3 is already 8, and position 4 is already 5).
  9. That leaves the 0 for position 2.

That cracks it: the code is 3085.

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