Professor Layton and the Unwound Future/Puzzles 1-25

Caution! This page contains all the hints and solutions for every puzzle from 1 to 25. Scroll carefully or you might spoil the answer of a puzzle for yourself. The solutions are hidden behind spoiler tags, so only take a peek if you're desperate.

Puzzle 001

 * Name: Party Crasher (US) / A Party Crasher (UK)
 * Trigger: Talk to Smith
 * Location: Exhibition Area
 * Chapter: Prologue
 * Picarats: 10

Description: There's an uninvited guest at the event, but the guard has received a few clues as to his whereabouts. "His table is next to one with a red flower. His tablecloth is a different color than any next to it. Oh, and his table isn't decorated with a yellow flower." "Next to" means tables connected by dotted lines. Take the guard to the intruder's tables.


 * Hint 1: The clues mention the colors of the flowers and the tablecloths. Use the Memo function to mark the clues on the seating plan. It may help you visualize the situation more clearly.
 * Hint 2: Though one of the clues is that "his table is next to one with a red flower", it doesn't mean that the table in question doesn't have a red flower as well.
 * Hint 3: Pay attention to the tablecloths. If you find some tables that are a different color from their neighbors...
 * Super Hint: Look for a table with a red flower and a red tablecloth. There's only one table that fits the bill.

Puzzle 002

 * Name: The Clock Shop
 * Trigger: Automatic
 * Location: Midland Bus Stop
 * Chapter: Prologue
 * Picarats: 15

Description: Below is the map to the clock shop that accompanied the letter from future Luke. Using the times on the side of the map as clues, find the shop. Draw a circle around the letter of the correct building and then tap Submit.


 * Hint 1: To figure out the route, you need to know where to turn and in which direction to go, right?
 * Hint 2: Picture the times listed on an analog clock. The minute hand is always pointed straight up, but the hour hand points in various directions...
 * Hint 3: People who are having trouble might be thinking only about the direction in which to go. Try facing the map as you might look at a clock on a wall. Then use the Memo function to draw the direction of the hour hand directly on the map.
 * Super Hint: For each time listed, move in the direction the hour hand would point on an analog clock. At the first intersection you come to, the time is 12:00, so you have to keep going north. The next time is 3:00, so you've got to head east at the second intersection you come to. You can work out the rest from here.

Puzzle 003

 * Name: Bus Scheduling
 * Trigger: Talk to Vito
 * Location: Midland Road
 * Chapter: Prologue
 * Picarats: 10

Description: It takes you one hour to get to the office by bus. Your work takes two hours to complete, after which you catch the bus back home. Based on the departure times listed below, which bus, A, B, C, D, or E, should you take to work in order to minimize the wait for a ride home? Note: The departure times for the buses home are listed to the right.


 * Hint 1: It doesn't matter what time you get to work, so you can take any of the buses and be fine. But once you get there, you're stuck taking whatever bus leaves the soonest after you finish working. Start your thinking from there.
 * Hint 2: For example, suppose there was a bus you could take to the office at 12:30 p.m. In this case, you would arrive at 1:30 p.m. It takes two hours to finish your work, so by the time you were done, it would be 3:30 p.m. That's the soonest you could catch a bus home. So for each of the buses going to the office, figure out what time you'd be done working and ready for a ride home.
 * Hint 3: You're not overlooking any choices because they seem too late, are you? As long as you get your work done, you can show up at the office at whatever time works best for you.
 * Super Hint: Go to work late, head home first thing in the morning: this schedule is the most time effective, so which bus is it?

Puzzle 004

 * Name: Moving Day
 * Trigger: Check the staircase
 * Location: Midland Rd. (Fork)
 * Chapter: Prologue
 * Picarats: 15

Description: Two men are moving boxes from the first floor to the third. The larger man can carry two boxes at a time, and it takes him one minute to get to the third floor. The smaller man can carry only one box at a time, but it takes him just 30 seconds to make it to the third floor. For both men, the return trip to the first floor is the same as the trip up. If there were seven boxes total, how many minutes would it take the men to get all the boxes to the third floor?


 * Hint 1: You can get the answer by calculating everything out, but it's a lot easier to visualize if you use the Memo function. After one minute has passed, how many boxes have been moved? And where are the locations of the two men at that time?
 * Hint 2: After a minute is up, the larger man has carried two boxes up and the smaller man has carried one. The larger man is still upstairs though, while the little guy has made it back down to the first floor. If this is the case, what's their progress after two minutes?
 * Hint 3: At the end of two minutes, the larger fellow has made it down to the first floor again and is ready to bring up some more boxes. The little guy has brought another box upstairs, for a total of four boxes on the third floor. That means there are just three boxes left to move.
 * Super Hint: In the earlier hints, you learned that after two minutes have passed, four boxes have been brought upstairs and both men were back down on the first floor. If it takes 30 seconds for the little guy to get upstairs with one box, and the larger fellow can make it upstairs with two boxes in a minute...

Puzzle 005

 * Name: The Timepiece
 * Trigger: Check the door of the clock shop
 * Location: Clock Shop Front
 * Chapter: Prologue
 * Picarats: 20

Description: You've arrived at the clock shop, but there doesn't seem to be a way to open the door. While you're looking for the doorknob, a voice from inside calls out, "Press the panel with the timepiece." What panel do you press? Remember, you can press only one.


 * Hint 1: Look for a panel with a "timepiece." However, keep in mind that there are many different kinds of timepieces. Since the instructions tell you to "press the panel with the timepiece," you know that the entire timepiece should fit on one panel...
 * Hint 2: You're not looking for an ordinary analog or digital clock. There are other types of timepieces besides those with a lot of moving parts. Try to think of some examples.
 * Hint 3: Even though you're looking for a timepiece, that doesn't mean it will necessarily help you tell the time. Instead, the timepiece you're looking for shows you how much time has passed. These days, you'd probably just use a stopwatch to do the same thing, but what you're looking for is more of a classic type of timepiece.
 * Super Hint: You're looking for an hourglass. You probably saw it without even realizing it was there. Go ahead and try to find it now.

Puzzle 006

 * Name: Needling Needles (US) / Eye on the Needles (UK)
 * Trigger: Enter the clock shop/talk to Spring
 * Location: Back Room
 * Chapter: Prologue
 * Picarats: 15

Description: "It's so dark in the shop that I'm having trouble seeing these tiny needles and thread. Can you help me out of this jam, dearie?" There are two threads, A and B. How many needles' eyes does thread A pass through?


 * Hint 1: The secret to solving this one is just patience and careful counting. This is more a piece of advice than a hint, but try using the Memo function to mark the needles that thread A passes through. It'll make things much easier.
 * Hint 2: Use the Memo function to trace the path of thread A. Then with a different color, mark the needles that thread A passes through. You can even draw a thicker line so that it's easier to see.
 * Hint 3: You still haven't got it? Well, let's just say it's a double-digit number.
 * Super Hint: The answer is the sum of the numbers one through four.

Puzzle 007

 * Name: What's the Time?
 * Trigger: Check the giant clock
 * Location: Back Room
 * Chapter: Prologue
 * Picarats: 15

Description: This analog clock fell off the wall and hit the floor so hard that all of the numbers popped off! What a mess... The clock also stopped working when it hit the ground, but even without the numbers, you can still tell exactly what time it fell. What time is the clock showing? Don't worry about a.m. and p.m.


 * Hint 1: Pay close attention to where the hour hands and minute hands are pointing. If you have an analog clock handy, you could figure out the answer by playing around with it. But if you just think about how the hands move as the time changes, you should be able to figure it out.
 * Hint 2: Have you noticed exactly where the hour hands and minute hands are pointing? What time is it on an analog clock when the hour and minute hands are in a straight line?
 * Hint 3: The hour and minute hands are each pointing straight at one of the hour marks around the clock, so the time must be right on an hour. The hour and minute hands are also in a straight line, so what time must it be?
 * Super Hint: Even if you don't own an analog clock, you can get the answer right away if you visualize the clock hands moving around as the hours go by. First, picture the hour and minute hands pointing straight up and overlapping at 12:00. Now, as the hands move hour by hour, when is the one time when they end up pointing in a straight line.

Puzzle 008

 * Name: The Odd Clock
 * Trigger: Check the bottom right clock
 * Location: Clock Shop
 * Chapter: Prologue
 * Picarats: 15

Description: Here is a numberless clock that some prankster has rotated an unknown amount. The clock is still running normally, though, and each colored circle on its face represents an hour. Even without the numbers, you can still tell what time it is. Write down the exact hour. It doesn't matter whether it's a.m. or p.m., but your answer should be in the form of XX o'clock.


 * Hint 1: The hour hand and the minute hand are overlapping each other, aren't they?
 * Hint 2: The hour and minute hands are overlapping, and they're also pointing at one of the hours.
 * Hint 3: The hour and minute hands are overlapping, and they're also pointing at one of the hours. There's only one hour that it could be.
 * Super Hint: Imagine the two hands pointing straight up. That should give you the answer.

Puzzle 009

 * Name: Cogged Down
 * Trigger: Automatic/Talk to Cogg
 * Location: Back Room
 * Chapter: Prologue
 * Picarats: 25

Description: Your task is to make the top and bottom cogs turn clockwise, as shown by the red arrows in the diagram. In order to do this, which extra cog should be inserted, A, B, or C? Tap the letter in the center of the correct cog to submit your answer.


 * Hint 1: To find out how to make both the top and bottom cogs turn in the direction indicated by their respective arrows, try following the cogs from one end to the other, checking each one's direction. You realize that two adjacent cogs always turn in opposite directions, don't you?
 * Hint 2: You can find the answer by thinking out the direction of rotation for A, B, and C. But there's an easier way to find the answer. Try reading Hint One again.
 * Hint 3: As you know, neighboring cogs move in opposite directions. If three cogs were lined up, the second cog would move in the opposite direction from the first, but the third cog would move in the same direction as the first. Thinking along those lines, if there's an odd number of cogs between two others, those two cogs will move in the same direction. If the number of cogs between two others is even, those two cogs will move in different directions.
 * Super Hint: If you insert cog A, there will be four cogs between the top and bottom cogs. If you insert B, there will be five cogs between the two main cogs. Finally, inserting C would yield four cogs between the two main cogs, which is the same value as cog A.

Puzzle 010

 * Name: What Day Is It? 1 (US) / Day Dreaming (UK)
 * Trigger: Talk to Alfie
 * Location: Anita's Place
 * Chapter: 1
 * Picarats: 15

Description: Even though we're constantly passing through time, sometimes it can be difficult to think about the way time flows. If yesterday's day after tomorrow is Sunday, what day is tomorrow's day before yesterday? Tap your answer, then tap Submit.


 * Hint 1: Try using the Memo function to chart it out. It's a lot easier to think about if you use a visual reference.
 * Hint 2: Yesterday's day after tomorrow is Sunday, so what day is yesterday? Friday!
 * Hint 3: Tomorrow's day before yesterday is...? Yesterday! See how that works?
 * Super Hint: Hints Two and Three almost give the answer away. Since yesterday's day after tomorrow is Sunday, yesterday is Friday. Tomorrow's day before yesterday is yesterday. Do you remember what day yesterday is? You should be able to figure out the answer just fine now.