Kode #48: hints & solution
Here's the clue board for Kode #48. 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.
- 17801▲1●1
- 27341▲0●1
- 30815▲1●1
- 45604▲0●2
- 59021▲0●0
Spoiler-free hints
- 2 of the four digits are even.
- The four digits add up to 26.
- 4 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 10 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.
- Row 5 (9 0 2 1) has no marks at all, so 9, 0, 2, and 1 are not in the code.
- Row 1 (7 8 0 1) has 2 marks still unexplained, and only 2 digits are left undecided: 7 and 8. So both are in the code.
- Row 2 (7 3 4 1) has one mark, already accounted for by 7. That rules out 3 and 4.
- Row 3 (0 8 1 5) has one mark still unexplained, and only one digit is left undecided: 5. So it is in the code.
- Row 4 (5 6 0 4) has one mark still unexplained, and only one digit is left undecided: 6. So it is in the code.
- Row 1 (7 8 0 1) has one digit in the right spot. Since row 2 rules out the 7 in position 1, it has to be the 8 in position 2.
- Row 3 (0 8 1 5) has only one digit in the right spot, already accounted for by the 8 in position 2. So the 5 isn't in position 4.
- The 5 has only one spot left: position 3 (row 4 rules out position 1, row 3 rules out position 4, and position 2 is already 8).
- The 7 has only one spot left: position 4 (row 2 rules out position 1, position 2 is already 8, and position 3 is already 5).
- That leaves the 6 for position 1.
That cracks it: the code is 6857.