Professor Layton and the Curious Village/Puzzles 1-25

Caution! This guide contains information about each puzzle including all three hints and the correct answer. If you do not want to see the solution to a puzzle and spoil the fun of figuring it out, scroll down carefully.

Puzzle 001

 * Name: "Where's the Town?"
 * Trigger: Automatic
 * Location: In the Laytonmobile
 * Chapter: Introduction
 * Picarats: 10

Description: "My village is on a road that leads to no other towns. I look forward to seeing you there." Use your stylus to draw a circle around the right village, and then touch Submit.


 * Hint 1: You can use the stylus for a whole lot more than just circling the answer, you know. Try tracing a path--any path--to see if it connects to more than one town.  Try it a few times until you are confident you have the right answer.  Then just tap the submit icon.
 * Hint 2: Still stumped? Try tracing paths backward, so that you start from a village and work your way back. This will make it easy for you to see if any other towns are connected to the one you selected.
 * Hint 3: Just look for the town that's not connected to any other. In other words, any town that's connected to another can't possibly be the right answer.  If you take a look at the map, you should be able to see any corrections between towns with no trouble.

Answer: Circle the red and white town in the top left of the map. Hit SUBMIT.

Puzzle 002

 * Name: The Crank and Slot
 * Trigger: Talk to Franco
 * Location: Drawbridge
 * Chapter: Introduction
 * Picarats: 15

Description: There's no way to lower the bridge and get across without inserting the crank into the correct slot! Choose the slot that fits the crank shown below.


 * Hint 1: First, get a good, long look at the shape of the crank. How is the central axle shaped? Are the little protrusions around the edges of the crank triangular or square?  Next, look at where those funny shapes stick out of the crank.  Starting to make sense?
 * Hint 2: While you need to pay attention to the actual features of the crank and slot, you also need to remember that the shape of the slot is a mirror image of the crank. That's right, you have to stare at the crank straight on and then look for the slot that mirrors it.
 * Hint 3: The central axle on the crank has five sides. There are three shapes attached to the main axle, one triangle and two squares.  One of the small squares sits right on top of one of the central axle's five corners, while the other two shapes sit flush on two sides of the axle.  All right, now you have everything you need.  Don't forget that you need to flip the crank's shape when searching for the slot!

Answer: 1

Puzzle 003

 * Name: Strange Hats
 * Trigger: Talk to Ingrid
 * Location: Entrance
 * Chapter: Introduction
 * Picarats: 10

Description: These four top hats are all the same height, but the length of each brim is different. In other words, the hats are equally tall but vary in width. One of these four hats has a brim and height that are the same length. Which hat is it?


 * Hint 1: Don't just pick an answer based on what you see on the screen. If this puzzle could be solved with a quick glance at the screen, it wouldn't be much of a puzzle, now would it?  The human eye perceives vertical and horizontal length differently.
 * Hint 2: B is certainly not the hat you are looking for.
 * Hint 3: D isn't the right hat either.

Answer: A

Puzzle 004

 * Name: Where's My House?
 * Trigger: Talk to Percy
 * Location: Plaza
 * Chapter: 1
 * Picarats: 20

Description: Can you find my house? Go out the front door of my place and turn left. At the first intersection you come across, take a right. Turn right again at the following intersection, and you'll come face-to-face with the morning sun. Circle my house.


 * Hint 1: To face the morning sun, one must, of course, look eastward. The map shows north pointing toward the top of the screen, so which direction indicates east?
 * Hint 2: The rising sun comes from the east. On this map, that means it comes from the right.  Therefore, if you follow the directions, you should be facing to the right after you take your last turn.
 * Hint 3: Trying to follow the directions from each hose only complicates matters. Instead, why not follow the direction in reverse?  Needless to say, going backward means the directions you turn will reverse as well.  Start by facing right, then head left down the road, then take a left, the another left...

Answer: Circle the blue-roofed house in the center of the grid. Hit SUBMIT

Puzzle 005

 * Name: Digital Digits
 * Trigger: Tap the clock face on the Clock Tower
 * Location: Plaza
 * Chapter: 1
 * Picarats: 50

Description: Imagine a digital clock like the one shown below. How many times will the clock display three or more of the same number in a row over the course of one day? In case you were wondering, the clock in this puzzle displays time on a 12-hour scale, not on military time.


 * Hint 1: As mentioned earlier, this digital clock works on a 12-hour display system. This means you'll cycle through the numbers twice a day.  Therefore, before you submit your answer, you need to double the number of times you found to account for a.m. and p.m.
 * Hint 2: You probably have already picked up on combinations like 1:11 and 2:22, but finding the less obvious combinations is what makes up the real meat of this problem. Did you, for example, remember to include the time 10:00?
 * Hint 3: 12:22 is another combination that's easy to overlook. Also, have you thought about 11:12? Be sure to take a look at the various combination that follow the above time as well.

Answer: 34

Puzzle 006

 * Name: Light Weight
 * Trigger: Talk to Marco
 * Location: Manor Road
 * Chapter: 1
 * Picarats: 40

Description: Here we have eight small weights that all look the same. However, one of the weights in the group is slightly lighter than the rest. Using this scale two times, you can find out which of these weights is lighter than the rest. So, which weight is the light one?


 * Hint 1: You're not weighing two sets of four weights on your first use of the scale, are you? If you do that, you'll only have one more chance left to determine which of four weights is the light one. But you probably already know that, right?
 * Hint 2: Maybe thinking about another example will help you out here. Imagine you have three weights, one of which is lighter than the rest. To find the light weight, all you gotta do is weigh any two of the three. If one of the weights on the scale is lighter, there's your answer. If the two weights on the scale are the same, the remaining weight is the light one.
 * Hint 3: Think about the last hint. You can figure out the light weight in a group of three with one use of the scale. If you can narrow the number of weights in question to three in one use of the scale, you've got your answer.

Answer: The lightest weight changes each time. To find the correct weight, weigh any three weights on one side against another three weights. If neither side is lighter, weigh the remaining two weights to find your answer.

If one side is lighter, one of the three weights on the light side is the lightest weight. Weigh two of those three weights against each other. If one side is lighter, you have your answer. If neither side is lighter, than the weight left off the scale is the lightest.

Ex: 1,2,3 weighed against 4,5,6. The side with 4,5,6 on it is lighter. Weigh 4 against 5. They are the same weight. Therefore, weight 6 is the lightest.

Puzzle 007

 * Name: Wolves and Chicks
 * Trigger: Talk to Ramon
 * Location: Manor Border
 * Chapter: 1
 * Picarats: 50

Description: Get the three wolves and three chicks seen below to the other side of the river while obeying the following conditions. -No more than two animals can ride the raft at the same time. -There must be at least one animal on the raft in order for it to move. -If more wolves than chicks stay on either side of the river, the wolves will eat the chicks, and you'll have to start over. You can move the raft as many times as you like, but this feat can be accomplished in as few as 11 moves.


 * Hint 1: Do you find yourself moving the raft back and forth only to end up with the animals back in the start position? Somewhere within your movements, you are doing something that restores the animals to their original positions. When you've found that point, try to do something different than you have thus far. It might bring you close to the answer.
 * Hint 2: You don't necessarily have to take two animals over on every trip and then bring only one back. Sometimes you may want to bring two animals back. For starters, try getting all three of the wolves to the right side.  Then you can slowly start swapping out wolves for chicks.
 * Hint 3: Let's recap the previous hint. First, get all the wolves to the right side of the river. Then, start swapping the wolves for chicks. When you start to have too few chicks on the left bank of the river, you can bring a chick back over with a wolf to keep your remaining chick from getting eaten.

Answer: Take two wolves across, bring one back. Take two wolves across, bring one back. Take two chicks across, bring a wolf and a chick back. Bring two chicks across, take one wolf back. Take two wolves across, bring one back. Take the remaining two wolves across.

Puzzle 008

 * Name: Farm Work
 * Trigger: Touch the strip of Flowers above the River (Layton's puzzle)
 * Location: Manor Border
 * Chapter: 1
 * Picarats: 20

Description: Alfred and Roland have been hired by a farm to sow flower seeds. They've been assigned a 10-acre plor of land and split it in half so they can work independently. Roland starts from the east and Alfred from the west. Alfred can plow the land at a rate of 20 minutes per acre. Roland takes 40 minutes to plow, but sows seeds at three times the speed Alfred does. If sowing seeds on the 10-acre plot pays $100, how much of that money should go to Roland?


 * Hint 1: The two workers receive $100 for the job and divide it according to the amount of work each person did. In this case, "work" refers to the number of acres each person seeded. Read the puzzle again and think about exactly how much work each person did.
 * Hint 2: Since work refers to the number of acres each person seeded, the amount of time each person took isn't a factor in deciding payment.
 * Hint 3: Did you see the sentence that said that Roland and Alfred were assigned a 10-acre plot of land to work together and split it in half? What does that tell you about the amount of work each person did?

Answer: 50

Puzzle 009

 * Name: One Poor Pooch
 * Trigger: Enter the Reinhold Mansion (Matthew's puzzle)
 * Location: Manor Foyer
 * Chapter: Between 1 and 2
 * Picarats: 35

Description: The matches below are arranged in the shape of a dog. This poor little guy was just minding his own business when a car came barreling don the road and ran him over. Move two matches to change the picture so that it shows the dog after the accident. All puzzles are a matter of perspective, so don't assume that you'll be looking at the dog from the side by the time you're finished with this one.


 * Hint 1: The original shape shows the dog walking. Think about how that shape will change after the dog gets hit by the car.
 * Hint 2: Dogs walk on all four legs, but since this poor pooch isn't doing much walking anymore, the position of his legs must have changed.
 * Hint 3: The dog is probably sprawled out on the pavement where it got hit. To show this, you'll need to move two of his legs, or two matches. Take the two legs in the middle and bring them above.

Answer: The two matches you should move are the two that make up the dog's middle legs. Thy will move onto the dogs back so that the end picture will be from an aerial perspective. You do not need to rotate the matches. Simply move the middle-right match above the right corner of the dog's back and move the middle-left match above the left corner of the dog's back.

Puzzle 010

 * Name: Alphabet
 * Trigger: Tap the middle of the Bookcase (Layton's puzzle)
 * Location: Manor Foyer
 * Chapter: Between 1 and 2
 * Picarats: 30

Description: All right, here's a quick and easy one. The first letter of the alphabet is A, and the letter B comes after the letter A. However, the letter you need to worry about is the last one. What's the last letter of the alphabet? Here's a hint: it isn't Z.


 * Hint 1: Z isn't the answer. Though it might not seem like it, that's a very big hint.
 * Hint 2: The letter after P isn't Q. It's H.
 * Hint 3: Still nothing? Look at the title of this puzzle. It's all you really need to know.

Answer: T

Puzzle 011

 * Name: Arc and Line
 * Trigger: Talk to Simon
 * Location: Manor Parlor
 * Chapter: Between 1 and 2
 * Picarats: 20

Description: As shown in the diagram below, you have one-fourth of a circle. Within this circle is rectangle ABCD, which touches the edge of the circle at point D. Assuming that point B is located at the center of the circle, how long is diagonal line AC?


 * Hint 1: Surely somebody must have looked at the diagram and realized that the triangle formed by points A, B, and C is a right triangle. That's sharp thinking and exactly right. However, are you sure there isn't a much easier way to find the answer?
 * Hint 2: You don't need the Pythagorean theorem to answer this one. Something else in the diagram should be the exact same length as AC.
 * Hint 3: Notice that diagonal line AC within the rectangle is the same size as the diagonal line BD. Have you also noticed that BD is also the same length as another part of this diagram?

Answer: 10

Puzzle 012

 * Name:
 * Trigger:
 * Location:
 * Chapter:
 * Picarats:

Description:


 * Hint 1:
 * Hint 2:
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Answer:

Puzzle 013

 * Name: Sinking Ship
 * Trigger: Tap the Boat (Luke's Puzzle)
 * Location: Manor Border
 * Chapter: 2
 * Picarats: 30

Description: SOS! Fifteen people are trapped aboard a ship that's going to sink in exactly 20 minutes. Their only chance for survival is the five-person life rat stowed on their vessel. To make matters worse, the waters around the ship are teeming with man-eating sharks, so swimming to safety is out of the question. A round trip to the nearest island and back to the boat takes nine minutes on the raft. How many people will live to see dry land?


 * Hint 1: In 20 minutes, the raft can make two round-trips to the boat. Where is that boat located after two trips to the island and back?
 * Hint 2: After two round-trips, the raft returns to the ship. At this point, 18 minutes have passed, but since the ship hasn't sunk yet, there's no reason the raft can't pick up a few more passengers. That's right, the raft has time to pick up three loads of passengers.
 * Hint 3: You now know that the raft has time to pick up three loads of passengers, so you're probably raring to answer. Just be careful, as there is one more trick to this puzzle that you might not have picked up on. It's sad to say, but not every passenger will make it off that ship alive.

Answer: 13

Puzzle 014

 * Name: Which Chair?
 * Trigger: Tap the Brownish Chairs (Layton's Puzzle)
 * Location: General Store
 * Chapter: 2
 * Picarats: 30

Description: A new multipurpose event hall has been built in the center of your town. It will be used for everything from concerts to sporting events to conventions. With the hall complete, its time to order the chairs. Five chair designs, labeled A through E, are being considered, but of all the designs, only one chair is completely suitable for the auditorium. Which chair is it?


 * Hint 1: As stated earlier, the hall is multipurpose. Don't you think that, depending on the size and nature of a day's event, the number of chairs needed will change?
 * Hint 2: When choosing chairs for the home or office, most people base their selection on comfort and other factors that affect what the chair is like when it's in use. But for this particular application, the most important aspect of this chair is what you can do with it when it's not in use.
 * Hint 3: Naturally, when a very large group of people are using the hall, a large number of chairs are necessary. But what about smaller events? When only a smaller number of chairs are needed, storing the extra chairs can turn into a big problem. Which chair makes storage the easiest?

Answer: E

Puzzle015

 * Name: How Many Are Left?
 * Trigger: Tap the Candle (Layton's Puzzle)
 * Location: General Store
 * Chapter: 2
 * Picarats: 10

Description: Ten candles stand burning in a dining room. A strong breeze blows in through an open window and extinguishes two of them. Checking back in on the candles later, you see that one more candle has gone out. To make sure no more flames go out, you shut the window. Assuming the wind doesn't extinguish any more candles, how many candles do you have left in the end?


 * Hint 1: It may seem straightforward, but it wouldn't be a puzzle if there wasn't a trick to it. Read the problem over again. The problem want to know how many candles you "have left in the end."
 * Hint 2: The wind blows out two candles, and then shortly afterward blows out one more. So how many candles are extinguished? The candles that aren't extinguished by the wind continue to burn. What will happen to these candles if they are allowed to keep burning?
 * Hint 3: Think critically about what "have left in the end" really means. It means that an item continues to exist, doesn't it? So, what becomes of a burning candle when it's left alone?

Answer: 3

Puzzle 016

 * Name: Triangles and Ink
 * Trigger: Talk to Rodney
 * Location: Town Hall
 * Chapter: 2
 * Picarats: 40

Description: Here are two shapes, one large and one small. Each is made up of little triangles. Dipping your fountain pen into the ink, one time gives you just enough ink to draw four little triangles, as depicted by the shape on the left. So, with that in mind, how many times do you have to dip your pen in the ink in order to draw the shape on the right that's made up of 36 triangles?


 * Hint 1: To draw the smaller, four-triangle shape, you actually only need to draw three triangles. To see for yourself, trace the shape on the Touch Screen. Notice how the middle triangle (Triangle 3) in the shape is actually made up of the sides of the other triangles?
 * Hint 2: The puzzle describes the shape on the left as made of four triangles. However, you could also say that this same shape is made of three upward-pointing triangles. Try applying this way of thinking to the larger shape. Just how many triangles does it take to make this shape?
 * Hint 3: If you only count the number of upward-pointing triangles in the large triangle, you'll get a total of 21. You can draw three upward-pointing triangles with one dip into the ink, so....

Answer: 7

Puzzle 017

 * Name: Five-Card Shuffle
 * Trigger: Talk to Stachen
 * Location: Entrance
 * Chapter: 2
 * Picarats: 30

Description: Three of the four images shown below are the exact same picture rotated in a variety of ways. Can you find the odd one out?


 * Hint 1: The key to this puzzle is knowing where to look. The detail that distinguishes the one picture from the rest has something to do with the cards, that much is for sure. It's not the number of cards, though, because each picture has five cards.
 * Hint 2: Each card is marked with one of four suits, and each set of cards is oriented in a different direction. Try to track the relative shift in movement for every card in the picture.
 * Hint 3: Still stuck, huh? Here's a big hint. Look at how the cards are stacked on top of each other. Pay spectial attention to how each card overlaps with the middle card for your answer.

Answer: D

Puzzle 018

 * Name: Of Dust and Dustpan
 * Trigger: Talk to Beatrice
 * Location: Inn
 * Chapter: 2
 * Picarats: 10

Description: As you can see, what we've got here is some trash and a dustpan made of matchsticks. Can you move two matchsticks to change the picture so the dustpan is holding the trash?


 * Hint 1: Can you see how the matchsticks form a dustpan? Notice that the scoop part is pointing up in the picture. To put the trash "in" the dustpan, you need to arrange the matches so that the trash is surrounded on three sides.
 * Hint 2: Let's just keep the match farthest to the left where it is. Keeping in mind that we need to surround the trash on three sides, the topmost match in the shape starts to look ripe for rearrangement, doesn't it? Now all you need to do is figure out which other match to move.
 * Hint 3: Move the match in the upper-right side of the dustpan and the match directly above the trash. It shouldn't be hard to determine where these need to go so that the dustpan looks like it's scooping up the trash.

Answer: Four matchsticks make up the dustpan. They make up the two prongs, the handle, and the top of the dustpan. To solve this puzzle, we need to flip the dustpan upside down. First, move the horizontal toothpick to the left until it forms a corner with the bottom toothpick. Now, move the right prong to the left side of the garbage. The top of this toothpick should form a corner with the horizontal toothpick. The dustpan should now be facing downward. Hit SUBMIT.

Puzzle 019

 * Name: Parking Lot Gridlock
 * Trigger: Tap the Laytonmobile (Layton's Puzzle)
 * Location: Drawbridge
 * Chapter: 2
 * Picarats: 30

Description:The Laytonmobile, the Professor's pride and joy, is stuck behind several other cars trying to exit a crowded parking lot. Things are so tight, though, that each car can only move forward and backward with respect to the direction it's currently facing. Use your stylus to direct traffic and guide the professor's red car to the exit.


 * Hint 1: Just trying to clear the cars immediately in front of the professor's vehicle won't get you anywhere. Think about exactly what it is you'll need to do to clear a path to the lot exit.
 * Hint 2: Don't be afraid to take a step back to move ahead two steps. You may need to move some things into the way to get them out of the way in the end. When you're moving cars around, be sure to keep in mind each car's directional limitations.
 * Hint 3: To start, you'll need to move the two cars directly in front of the Laytonmobile. In order to do that, you'll first need to move the horizontally oriented car that sits right above those two vehicles. Once you've complete that task, move the Laytonmobile forward toward the exit. Then try to rearrange cars at the end of the lot opposite the exit.

Answer: This puzzle can be solved in 14 moves. First move the car above the car directly in front of the Laytonmobile to the right. Next move the car directly in front of the Laytonmobile up. Move the next car blocking the Laytonmobile's exit up. Move the Laytonmobile right. Now move the car in the bottom left corner up. This allows you to move the two horizontally oriented cars in the bottom-left to the left. Halfway there! Next move the car second-from-the-left on the top down. Move the Laytonmobile to the left. Now move the car in the middle of the top down. Of the two cars in the top-right corner, move only the lower car left. Move the two cars blocking the exit upwards, then move the Laytonmobile to the right.

Puzzle 020

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Description:


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Answer:

Puzzle 021

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Answer:

Puzzle 022

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Answer:

Puzzle 023

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Puzzle 024

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Answer:

Puzzle 025

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Description:


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Answer: