Kode #76: hints & solution
Here's the clue board for Kode #76. 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.
- 17109▲1●1
- 27904▲0●2
- 30163▲1●1
- 45376▲0●2
- 54768▲0●0
Spoiler-free hints
- Exactly one of the four digits is even.
- The four digits add up to 17.
- 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 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 (4 7 6 8) has no marks at all, so 4, 7, 6, and 8 are not in the code.
- Row 2 (7 9 0 4) has 2 marks still unexplained, and only 2 digits are left undecided: 9 and 0. So both are in the code.
- Row 1 (7 1 0 9) has 2 marks, already accounted for by 0 and 9. That rules out 1.
- Row 3 (0 1 6 3) has one mark still unexplained, and only one digit is left undecided: 3. So it is in the code.
- Row 4 (5 3 7 6) has one mark still unexplained, and only one digit is left undecided: 5. So it is in the code.
- That makes all four digits of the code: 0, 3, 5, and 9. Every other digit is out, which also rules out 2.
- Row 1 (7 1 0 9) has one digit in the right spot. Since row 2 rules out the 0 in position 3, it has to be the 9 in position 4.
- Row 3 (0 1 6 3) has one digit in the right spot. Since position 4 is already 9, it has to be the 0 in position 1.
- The 3 has only one spot left: position 3 (row 4 rules out position 2, position 1 is already 0, and position 4 is already 9).
- That leaves the 5 for position 2.
That cracks it: the code is 0539.