Kode #53: hints & solution
Here's the clue board for Kode #53. 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.
- 17061▲1●1
- 25261▲0●1
- 34107▲1●1
- 48142▲1●0
- 56921▲0●0
Spoiler-free hints
- 2 of the four digits are even.
- The four digits add up to 20.
- 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 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 (6 9 2 1) has no marks at all, so 6, 9, 2, and 1 are not in the code.
- Row 1 (7 0 6 1) has 2 marks still unexplained, and only 2 digits are left undecided: 7 and 0. So both are in the code.
- Row 2 (5 2 6 1) has one mark still unexplained, and only one digit is left undecided: 5. So it is in the code.
- Row 3 (4 1 0 7) has 2 marks, already accounted for by 0 and 7. That rules out 4.
- Row 4 (8 1 4 2) has one mark still unexplained, and only one digit is left undecided: 8. So it is in the code.
- That makes all four digits of the code: 0, 5, 7, and 8. Every other digit is out, which also rules out 3.
- Row 4 (8 1 4 2) has one digit in the right spot, and the 8 in position 1 is its only digit in the code, so it's locked in.
- Row 1 (7 0 6 1) has one digit in the right spot. Since position 1 is already 8, it has to be the 0 in position 2.
- Row 3 (4 1 0 7) has one digit in the right spot. Since the 0 is already in position 2, it has to be the 7 in position 4.
- That leaves the 5 for position 3.
That cracks it: the code is 8057.