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Kode #92: hints & solution

Here's the clue board for Kode #92. 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.

  • 13961▲1●1
  • 20781▲0●2
  • 35134▲0●2
  • 48947▲0●1
  • 57325▲0●0

Spoiler-free hints

  • 3 of the four digits are even.
  • The four digits add up to 11.
  • Just one digit is 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 (7 3 2 5) has no marks at all, so 7, 3, 2, and 5 are not in the code.
  2. Row 3 (5 1 3 4) has 2 marks still unexplained, and only 2 digits are left undecided: 1 and 4. So both are in the code.
  3. Row 4 (8 9 4 7) has one mark, already accounted for by 4. That rules out 8 and 9.
  4. Row 1 (3 9 6 1) has one mark still unexplained, and only one digit is left undecided: 6. So it is in the code.
  5. Row 2 (0 7 8 1) has one mark still unexplained, and only one digit is left undecided: 0. So it is in the code.
  6. Row 1 (3 9 6 1) has one digit in the right spot. Since row 2 rules out the 1 in position 4, it has to be the 6 in position 3.
  7. The 1 has only one spot left: position 1 (row 3 rules out position 2, row 2 rules out position 4, and position 3 is already 6).
  8. The 4 has only one spot left: position 2 (row 3 rules out position 4, position 1 is already 1, and position 3 is already 6).
  9. That leaves the 0 for position 4.

That cracks it: the code is 1460.

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