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Kode #33: hints & solution

Here's the clue board for Kode #33. 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.

  • 10259▲1●1
  • 20958▲0●2
  • 38703▲0●2
  • 46341▲1●0
  • 52014▲0●0

Spoiler-free hints

  • All four digits are odd.
  • The four digits add up to 24.
  • 3 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 5 (2 0 1 4) has no marks at all, so 2, 0, 1, and 4 are not in the code.
  2. Row 1 (0 2 5 9) has 2 marks still unexplained, and only 2 digits are left undecided: 5 and 9. So both are in the code.
  3. Row 2 (0 9 5 8) has 2 marks, already accounted for by 9 and 5. That rules out 8.
  4. Row 3 (8 7 0 3) has 2 marks still unexplained, and only 2 digits are left undecided: 7 and 3. So both are in the code.
  5. Row 4 (6 3 4 1) has one mark, already accounted for by 3. That rules out 6.
  6. Row 1 (0 2 5 9) has one digit in the right spot. Since row 2 rules out the 5 in position 3, it has to be the 9 in position 4.
  7. Row 4 (6 3 4 1) has one digit in the right spot, and the 3 in position 2 is its only digit in the code, so it's locked in.
  8. The 5 has only one spot left: position 1 (row 2 rules out position 3, position 2 is already 3, and position 4 is already 9).
  9. That leaves the 7 for position 3.

That cracks it: the code is 5379.

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