Professor Layton and the Curious Village/Puzzles 76-100

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. The answers are hidden within the spoiler tags, so don't peek in them unless you're really stuck!

Puzzle 076

 * Name: A Tile Square
 * Trigger: Talk to Pauly
 * Location: Park Road
 * Chapter: 5
 * Picarats: 30


 * Note: This Puzzle exist only in US-Version.

Description: You have at your disposal a large number of tiles like the one shown below. If you were to take these tiles and try to make a square, what is the fewest number of tiles you'd need?


 * Hint 1: Since the tiles have a different length and width, you'll need to find a number that can be divided by both dimensions. Of course, the puzzle doesn't end there. You'll need to do a little creative thinking in order to find the fewest number of tiles that allow you to form a square.
 * Hint 2: Don't forget the puzzle also gives you the thickness of the tiles.
 * Hint 3: As the sides of the tiles are 10 and 12 inches long, the smallest common multiple of the two works out to 60. Therefore, you'll need to arrange a 5x6 tile square. That's a total of 30 tiles. Simple, right? Too simple, in fact. There's a way to make a square using even fewer tiles.

Puzzle 076

 * Name: Flower Garden
 * Trigger: Talk to Pauly
 * Location: Park Road
 * Chapter: 5
 * Picarats: 30


 * Note: This Puzzle exist only in EU-Version.

Description: You decide to rent some space in a flower garden. Informing the owner of the garden that you need enough space for 12 plants, he tells you that there are four suitable allotments available, A-D. The rent for each allotment is calculated by area, but on top of the rent for the 12 plant-sized spaces, there is also a separate charge for the fence around the whole allotment. With this in mind, can you tell which allotment has the most expensive rent?


 * Hint 1: You can find the answer by adding up the length of fence around all the allotments, but there is another way...
 * Hint 2: At first glance, doesn't A look like it has the shortest length of fence? Yes, it does!
 * Hint 3: Each individual square has four sides, so an allotment of 12 square will have 48 side in total, with some shared between squares. The number of sides being shared by neighbouring squares will differ greatly depending on the shape of the allotment.

Puzzle 077

 * Name: Which Job?
 * Trigger: Talk to Adrea
 * Location: Park Road
 * Chapter: 5
 * Picarats: 20

Description: Two corporations have put out Help Wanted ads. Aside from the information below, the two companies' offers are exactly the same. From a purely financial standpoint, which one should you work for? Company A will pay you $100,000 a year a give you a $20,000 raise yearly. Company B will pay you $50,000 every six months and give you a $5,000 raise every six months.
 * Hint 1: If you take the time to add things, this puzzle can be solved in a minute. Go on, try and add up how much money you'd receive from both companies each year for a few years.
 * Hint 2: For Company A, you can just look at your yearly salary to get your total income for the year. Company B will give you a raise halfway through the year, so you'll need to calculate two six-month periods to get your yearly pay. Which one offers more money?
 * Hint 3: Let's add up how much you'd make in your first year at either company. Company A gives you $100,000 for your first year of work. Company B gives you $50,000 for your first half year and then gives you a raise. This means that for the next six-month period, you will make $55,000. Add those together and you have your yearly pay for year one: $105,000.

Puzzle 078

 * Name: Water Pitchers
 * Trigger: Talk to Crouton
 * Location: Restaurant
 * Chapter: 5
 * Picarats: 60

Description: You have one 16-quart pitcher full of water, one empty nin-quart pitcher, and one empty seven-quart pitcher. Using nothing but these three pitchers, can you divide the water evenly so that the 16-and nine-quart pitchers are each holding exactly eight quarts of water?


 * Hint 1: That's right, it's time for another good, old-fashioned pitcher puzzle. This time around, the shortest solution requires 15 moves. As always, don't try shifting the liquid back and forth aimlessly. One tip that can make this process easier is to focus on the discrepancy between how much each pitcher can hold. Other than that, just do what you've been doing all along on these puzzles, and you'll come out on top.
 * Hint 2: After you move a larger pitcher filled with water to a smaller pitcher, some water will remain in the larger pitcher. Pay attention to this leftover amount. Think about how you can use this leftover water in your pours to reach an answer.
 * Hint 3: 16. 10. 9. 6. Once you've made it this far, you're only four more moves away from the solution.

Puzzle 079

 * Name: Apples and Oranges
 * Trigger: Talk to Crouton
 * Location: Restaurant
 * Chapter: 5
 * Picarats: 40

Description: Some careless deliveryman loaded two shipments of fruit into the wrong warehouses. As you can see in the picture below, the oranges are currently in the apple warehouse and vice versa. Can you correct the mistake and put all the fruit in its proper place?


 * Hint 1: There are two small areas between the warehouses where you can stash an additional two boxes. Use these to your advantage when shifting boxes back and forth.
 * Hint 2: Find a pattern for sending boxes over and repeat it until solved. As long as you're gradually shifting the boxes to the proper warehouses, you will finish the puzzle eventually. Don't be afraid of moving a few boxes back to the wrong warehouse on occasion. Sometimes you need to go backward to go forward.
 * Hint 3: Above all, you must find a method for moving things around. This is by no means a difficult problem, but if you just send over boxes to the opposing warehouse, you'll block the entrance and get stuck. Think about how you can avoid obstructing the warehouses' entrances.

Puzzle 080

 * Name: Too Many Queens 1
 * Trigger: Talk to Flick
 * Location: Restaurant
 * Chapter: 5
 * Picarats: 20

Description: In chess, the queen can move the full length of the board diagonally, vertically, and horizontally. See if you can place four queens on this 4x4 chessboard. There's a catch though! You must arrange the pieces so that no queen blocks another's line of movement. Good luck!


 * Hint 1: It's not like you have to solve the puzzle in a limited number of moves, so go ahead and check out all the possibilities. Here's a tip: try arranging the pieces in a way that allows for a line of symmetry between them.
 * Hint 2: The four corner spaces on the board should be left unoccupied. The four pieces will form a perfectly symmetrical shape.
 * Hint 3: You don't need to place any pieces in the four center squares of the board either. Now that you've eliminated those spaces and the corner spaces, you should have a pretty good idea about where your pieces should go.

Puzzle 081

 * Name: Too Many Queens 2
 * Trigger: Talk to Flick
 * Location: Restaurant
 * Chapter: 5
 * Picarats: 40

Description: In chess, the queen can move the full length of the board diagonally, vertically, and horizontally. See if you can place five queens on this 5x5 chessboard. There's a catch though! You must arrange the pieces so that no queen blocks another's line of movement.


 * Hint 1: Here's a hint to get you started: place one queen in the dead center of the board.
 * Hint 2: Once you place one piece in the board's center, you'll only have four pieces left to place. The remaining our pieces will surround the center in a symmetrical shape.
 * Hint 3: Don't put any pieces in the four corner spaces of the board. You can also ignore the eight spaces directly surrounding the center space.

Puzzle 082

 * Name: Too Many Queens 3
 * Trigger: Talk to Flick
 * Location: Restaurant
 * Chapter: 5
 * Picarats: 60

Description: In chess, the queen can move the full length of the board diagonally, vertically, and horizontally. Let's try something a little different this time. See if you can arrange three queens on this 5x5 chessboard so that no more pieces can be placed on the board. Make sure you place the pieces so that no queen blocks another's line of movement.


 * Hint 1: This one's a bit of a puzzler, but if you check everything thoroughly, you'll find the answer sooner or later. Don't put anything in the center square. Remember that you have to arrange the pieces so that no queen blocks another's line of movement. Even if you think you've got the answer, if one of your queens turns red, it means that you haven't got the placement just right yet.
 * Hint 2: One of your three queens needs to go in a corner space.
 * Hint 3: Two of your queens need to be placed within the eight squares that directly surround the center space.

Puzzle 083

 * Name: Too Many Queens 4
 * Trigger: Talk to Flick
 * Location: Restaurant
 * Chapter: 5
 * Picarats: 80

Description: In chess, the queen can move the full length of the board diagonally, vertically, and horizontally. You have three queens positioned on an 8x8 chessboard. Place the remaining five queens on the board so that no piece blocks another's line of movement. This is a tough one!


 * Hint 1: You're sure you can't think this one out by yourself? Oh, all right. Here's a hint: leave the four corner spaces empty.
 * Hint 2: Place one queen in the space third from the top in the far-left column. Place another queen in the far-right column, three spaces from the bottom.
 * Hint 3: One queen goes in the space one to the right of the upper-left corner. Place another queen in the bottom row four spaces from the right.

Puzzle 084

 * Name: Which Boxes to Move?
 * Trigger: Talk to Stachen
 * Location: Sewer Exit
 * Chapter: 7
 * Picarats: 30

Description: In preparation for your big move, you've packed your belongings into 20 boxes and arranged them as shown below. With everything packed, you are now ready to label each box with its contents. In order to do so though, you'll need to move a few boxes around. How many of the boxes can't be labeled without rearranging the stacks?


 * Hint 1: Fourteen boxes are visible in the illustration. You have to use what you can see to visualize where the hidden boxes are. You can clearly see all the boxes in the top two levels of the pile, so you only need to worry about the two layers of boxes closest to the ground.
 * Hint 2: The boxes are stacked upon each other, so any box not directly on the ground must have another box supporting it from below. Knowing this, you can infer that there are no fewer than six boxes in the layer that's second from the bottom, and no fewer than nine boxes resting directly on the floor.
 * Hint 3: Working from the ground up, you can deduce there are nine boxes on the first layer, six boxes on the second layer, four boxes on the third layer, and then one box that rests on the entire stack. That gives you a total of 20 boxes, which is how many the puzzle says you have. With all boxes accounted for, all you need to do is figure out which of these hidden boxes are completely surrounded by other boxes on all sides.

Puzzle 085

 * Name: Weekend Getaway
 * Trigger: Tap the Laytonmobile
 * Location: Outside the Sewer
 * Chapter: 7
 * Picarats: 50


 * Note: This Puzzle exist only in US-Version.

Description: You and your girlfriend went on a road trip over the weekend. On the way to your destination, you drove 180 miles, and your girlfriend drove the rest of the way. Coming home on the exact same roads, your girlfriend drove the first 150 miles and then you got behind the wheel for the last leg of the journey. So what is the difference in miles between the distance you drove and the distance your girlfriend drove?


 * Hint 1: Distances both to and from your destination were exactly the same. On the way there, you drove 180 miles, and on the way home, you drove one way minus 150 miles.
 * Hint 2: Think about the distance your girlfriend drove. On the way there, she drove one way minus 180 miles. On the way home, she drove 150 miles. The total distance each person drove must include the trip out and the trip back. If you combine the earlier information about each leg of the trip, you'll see that your girlfriend drove a total of "one way minus 30 miles."
 * Hint 3: Using the principle in Hint Two and the information from Hint One, you can express the distance you drove as "one way plus 30 miles." with that said, the difference between the distance you drove and the distance your girlfriend drove should be clear as day.

Puzzle 085

 * Name: Train Speed
 * Trigger: Tap the Laytonmobile
 * Location: Outside the Sewer
 * Chapter: 7
 * Picarats: 50


 * Note: This Puzzle exist only in EU-Version.

Description: A train with a length of 100m takes 30 seconds to travel over a 400m bridge. Assuming that the train's speed is constant, how many kilometres per hour is it travelling at?


 * Hint 1: You're probably thinking that this is a really bothersome calculation problem. Actually, there's a really easy way to work it out. Just make sure you get all the numbers right before you start.
 * Hint 2: A 100m train travelling over a 400m bridge in 30 seconds. So you have to divide 400 by 30, right? Well, the train starts travelling over the bridge the moment the front of the train is on the bridge, and it finishes once the end of the train has moved off the bridge. How far has the train travelled in this time?
 * Hint 3: Can you see that the train must travel 500m in order to travel completely over the bridge? If so, the rest is easy. 500m is 0.5km. 30 seconds is 0.5 minutes.

Puzzle 086

 * Name: Squares and Circles
 * Trigger: Talk to Sylvain
 * Location: Sewer Dead End
 * Chapter: 7
 * Picarats: 30

Description: Sylvain brought you this diagram to see if you can help him with it. Several circles and squares are pictured in the diagram below. How many times larger is the area of the blue square when compared to that of the red square?


 * Hint 1: Do you see the circle that touches the sides of the big blue square? A smaller square sits inside the circle and touches it. Since the square is smaller than the circle, you can rotate it within the circle.
 * Hint 2: If you rotate the middle square 45 degrees, its corners will touch the sides of the large blue square. At the same time, notice that the rotation has made it so that the red square's corners now make contact with the middle square. Having trouble visualizing the rotation? Try drawing it on your screen.
 * Hint 3: From the rotation described in the second hint, draw two perpendicular lines from the outer circle through the middle to divide the squares into four quadrants. Do this and you'll see that the middle square's area is equal to half of the blue square's. Go and try it for yourself.

Puzzle 087

 * Name: Ferris Wheel Riddle
 * Trigger: Tap on the Ferris Wheel
 * Location: Ferris Wheel
 * Chapter: 7
 * Picarats: 50

Description: There are 10 two-seater cars attached to the fair's Ferris wheel. The Ferris wheel turns so that one car rotates through the exit platform every minute. The wheel began operation at 10 in the morning and shut down 30 minutes later. What's the maximum number of people that could have taken a ride on the wheel in that time period?


 * Hint 1: You may think all you have to do is add a few things up, but there's a trick to this problem that's easy to overlook. Think about the way Ferris wheels have to work. If two people catch the first ride of the day, how much time will pass before they get off the ride?
 * Hint 2: If the wheel has to stop promptly at 10:30 then the operator won't allow anyone on who can't get off the Ferris wheel by 10:30. So what does that mean? It means that when two passengers step out of their gondola at 10:30, all other gondolas on the Ferris wheel should be empty as well.
 * Hint 3: The first pair of people to board the Ferris wheel at 10:00 will get off the ride 10 minutes later. Since the ride itself takes 10 minutes, no one will get off until 10:10. Then, from 10:10 until shutdown at 10:30, people will get off the ride at a rate of two per minute. Calculate the number of people coming off the ride and you'll have your answer, but be careful, because it's easy to make a mistake.

Puzzle 088

 * Name: In a Hole
 * Trigger: Talk to Sylvain
 * Location: Shack Path
 * Chapter: 7
 * Picarats: 30


 * Note: This Puzzle exist only in US-Version.

Description: A tennis ball has rolled its way down into a hole. This particular hole is extremely deep and has a sharp bend in the middle, making the ball impossible to retrieve by hand. To make matters worse, the ground around the hole is made of hard clay, so digging the ball out isn't an option. However, you have something incredibly commonplace on hand that you can use to get the ball out. What do you use to get the ball out? Answer in five letters.


 * Hint 1: "You can't reach the bottom of the hole, so how about trying to find some tool that can," you say? No, no, that's not the way. Is there some way you can get the ball to come to the mouth of the hole?
 * Hint 2: Think about the particular characteristics of a tennis ball. It bounces, it's light... Well, it has many interesting properties, but what happens when you throw a tennis ball into a lake?
 * Hint 3: If a great rainstorm were to come along right now, you could probably retrieve your ball without doing anything at all. Think about why that is. And just what is "rain," anyway?

Puzzle 088

 * Name: Leaky Tank
 * Trigger: Talk to Sylvain
 * Location: Shack Path
 * Chapter: 7
 * Picarats: 30


 * Note: This Puzzle exist only in EU-Version.

Description: A 2.5m deep water tank has water poured into it for 8 hours, starting at 9am. The water level rises by 60cm in this time. However, it seems that water is leaking out again at night, because the next morning the water level has dropped by 20cm. If the water level continues to rise 40cm a day in this way, on what day will the tank first overflow?


 * Hint 1: The total rise in water level each day is 40cm, just as the puzzle says. But if you think about it, isn't there an important point missing? Yes, you're on the right track now.
 * Hint 2: In 8 hours starting at 9am - in other words, until 5pm - water enters the tank and the water level rises by 60cm. For the next 16 hours, water leaks out of the tank, bringing the water level down by 20cm.
 * Hint 3: At 5pm on day 1, the water level is 60cm. At 9am on day 2, it's 40cm. At 5pm on day 2, 1m. At 9am on day 3, 80cm. At 5pm on day 3, 1.4m. At 9am on day 4, 1.2m. Notice anything?

Puzzle 089

 * Name: Which Way?
 * Trigger: Tap on the Stone Tablet
 * Location: Under the Shack
 * Chapter: 7
 * Picarats: 30

Description: The path you are on forks to the left and right in front of the sign seen below. Your gut feeling tells you that this sign reveals the direction you need to go. Find an arrow within the picture like the yellow one on the side of the board. When you find it, draw a line around it as neatly as possible. Keep in mind that the arrow you are searching for may not be the same size as the one pictured below.


 * Hint 1: There's no way around it. You just have to search the picture long and hard for the answer. The puzzle mentions the directions left and right, so there's a good chance the hidden arrow won't point upward like the example, but sideways.
 * Hint 2: The arrow hidden in the picture is a bit larger than the example.
 * Hint 3: Don't bother searching the left half of the sign.

Puzzle 090

 * Name: Get the Ball Out! 2
 * Trigger: Tap on the Door
 * Location: Underground Path
 * Chapter: 7
 * Picarats: 50

Description: Can you get the red ball out of the maze? Slide obstructing blocks out of the way to clear a path for the ball. This problem can be solved in as few as 14 moves.


 * Hint 1: Sure, the puzzle looks a little daunting at first, but take heart. If you use the five open spaces in the box, you can solve the puzzle. Think about how to move things around so that you create some wiggle room for the bigger blocks.
 * Hint 2: The solution requires that you move that big yellow block into the upper-right portion of the screen. Here's what you can do to start making room for that move to take place. Move the blue block at the bottom over to the right and slide the purple block into the space that has a hole.  From here, if you move the blue block at the bottom so that it sits directly beneath the yellow block, you'll free up a space on the right that you can work with.
 * Hint 3: This hint starts from where Hint Two left off. Move the purple block into the lower-right space and then bring down the green block above it. Next, move the purple block in the upper right as far to the right as you can and move the blue block in the upper left to the far left. Now you should be able to move that big yellow block up and to the right. Whit that block out of the way, the rest should be easy.

Puzzle 091

 * Name: Pattern Matching
 * Trigger: Tap on the Picture hanging on the Right Wall
 * Location: Underground Area
 * Chapter: 7
 * Picarats: 40

Description: The large shape below is made up of a pattern. A section of the shape has been removed. Of the options A, B, C, and D, which one should you insert into the large shape to complete the pattern?


 * Hint 1: The first thing you need to do is identify the pattern within the large shape. It's a simple pattern made up of squares, Xs, and circles running diagonally down and to the right.
 * Hint 2: If you've determined what belongs in the blank spaces, you just need to find the option that matches the missing spaces. The right answer may be rotated, so check each selection from all angles to make sure you have the right one.
 * Hint 3: The correct piece has two circles, three squares, and three Xs. Armed with that knowledge, all you have to do is make sure that the piece you select matches the pattern when rotated into position.

Puzzle 092

 * Name: Wash Up
 * Trigger: Talk to Sylvain
 * Location: Sewer Dead End
 * Chapter: 8
 * Picarats: 30

Description: You need to wash your face, but all 13 water valves in the sewer piping are shut tight. You have to open the valves to get the water flowing to your sink. So here's your challenge. Direct the water all the way to your sink by opening as few valves as possible.


 * Hint 1: It goes without saying that if you open every valve in sight, the water will make it to your faucet. To keep things simple, though, let's start near the source. It's safe to say that you'll have to open one of the three valves directly surrounding the water source. Keep the number of valves you open in addition to this one as low as possible, and you'll have your answer.
 * Hint 2: There are three more valves positioned near the faucet. Work backward from each of these and see where they go. Do this right, and you'll eliminate quite a few possible valves.
 * Hint 3: You really only need to open two valves. Start from the valves near the water source and trace a route. If you don't find yourself at the faucet after opening a second valve, you made a wrong turn somewhere. This theory also works in reverse. Keep performing test runs like this and you'll find the solution.

Puzzle 093

 * Name: Over the River
 * Trigger: Talk to Ramon
 * Location: Manor Border
 * Chapter: 6
 * Picarats: 30

Description: Help Stachenscarfen move the wolf, sheep, and the cabbage from one side of the river to the other while obeying the following rules.


 * In addition to its captain, the raft can only support one animal or item at once.
 * When Stachenscarfen isn't near, the wolf will eat the sheep, and you'll have to start over.
 * The sheep will eat the cabbage when Stachenscarfen isn't around. If you let the sheep have its way, you'll have to start over.

You can shuttle the raft back and forth as many times as you like, but the shortest solution takes seven moves.


 * Hint 1: Think about your first move here. If you take the wolf over first, the sheep will eat that poor, helpless cabbage. Meanwhile, if you take the cabbage over first, the sheep will fall victim to that hungry wolf. So now do you have a better idea about which of the three to move first?
 * Hint 2: The key to solving this puzzle is being flexible in the way you go about solving it. Don't forget that you can bring a single creature or item with you when you return to the left bank of the river. When your cabbage or sheep is in danger, you can always bring it back with you.
 * Hint 3: The sheep should travel first. When you return to the left bank, you can bring the wolf or the cabbage with you. However, remember that no matter what you bring over next, you'll have to take something back to the left bank to keep your sheep or cabbage from being eaten. Now you should be able to solve this puzzle with ease.

Puzzle 094

 * Name: Get the Ball Out! 4
 * Trigger: Tap on the Gate
 * Location: Tower Floor 1
 * Chapter: 9
 * Picarats: 70

Description: This perplexing door has a device on it that contains a small red ball in the upper-left corner. If you guide the ball to the hole in the lower right, it looks like the door might open. Slide blocks out of the way and move the ball to the hole. The shortest possible route involves 21 moves.


 * Hint 1: If you're persistent in your efforts, you'll eventually get the ball to the hole, but there are tricks to streamline the process. The large block in the puzzle is relatively limited in range or movement, so you're going to have to go do more work with the smaller and more maneuverable blocks. If you focus on them and plan out a route, things should go smoothly.
 * Hint 2: If you move the green block on the right down, you can fill the space you create with a purple block from the right. If you can pull that off, you'll be able to move the blue block in the upper left, which will allow you to move the red ball out of its slot.
 * Hint 3: There is no set solution to this problem. Here's one way to start out. Move the lower-left purple blocks, then slide the lower blue block to the left. Next, drop the green block on the right down. The rest is up to you.

Puzzle 095

 * Name: A Magic Square
 * Trigger: Tap on Question Mark
 * Location: Tower Floor 2
 * Chapter: 9
 * Picarats: 60

Description: You need to solve this magic square in order to proceed. A magic square is a set of numbers organized in a square so that adding any string of three numbers, be they horizontal, vertical, or diagonal, results in the same total. One and two have already been placed on the square for you. Complete the rest of the square to open the lock.


 * Hint 1: If you have the patience to experiment with all seven numbers, you'll run across the right answer eventually. On the other hand, not everyone has the patience to do that, so here's a hint. The number five goes in the center space.
 * Hint 2: Still having trouble? All right then, here's a big hint for you. The sum of each horizontal, vertical, and diagonal pillar is 15.
 * Hint 3: You know that the number five goes in the center space. You also know that the sum of each string of numbers is 15. Fifteen minus five is 10, so each pair of numbers that surrounds five should add up to 10. Pair one with nine, two with eight, and so forth. Follow this principle as you arrange your numbers, and the answer is yours.

Puzzle 096

 * Name: Take the Stairs
 * Trigger: Talk to Pavel
 * Location: Tower Floor 3
 * Chapter: 9
 * Picarats: 30


 * Note: This Puzzle exist only in US-Version.

Description: You have business on the eighth floor of a 10-story building. It took you 48 seconds to make your way from the first floor to the fourth. If you keep moving at the same speed, how long will it take you to reach the eighth floor from the fourth.


 * Hint 1: To solve this puzzle, you must base the time it takes to climb the rest of the way on the amount of time it took to make it to the fourth floor. How many flights of stairs did you climb between the first and fourth floors again?
 * Hint 2: If you start on the first floor, you'll travel through the second-, third-, and fourth-floor stairs before you reach the fourth floor. When you continue on from the fourth floor, you'll have to climb the fifth-, sixth-, seventh-, and eighth-floor stairs before you reach the eighth floor.
 * Hint 3: There are three flights of stairs between the first and fourth floors. Between the fourth floor and the eighth floor, you have an additional four flights of stairs to climb. If you've got all that, then you just have to do the math.

Puzzle 096

 * Name: On the Stairs
 * Trigger: Talk to Pavel
 * Location: Tower Floor 3
 * Chapter: 9
 * Picarats: 30


 * Note: This Puzzle exist only in EU-Version.

Description: Jim, Mike, Steve and Tom are standing on the stairs. You know the following about them:


 * 1) Jim and Tom are not next to each other.
 * 2) Steve and Mike are one step apart.
 * 3) Tom is on a higher step than Steve.

So, which of A, B, C and D is Jim?


 * Hint 1: This puzzle is about conditions. Ask yourself: what if Jim were A? What if he were B? Start with a possible answer and see if it fits the conditions of the question.
 * Hint 2: Steve and Mike are next to each other. In other words, they are one of the groups AB, BC or CD.
 * Hint 3: Combine the information in the second hint with the fact that Tom is above Steve. You can then add the information that Jim is not next to Tom, so...

Puzzle 097

 * Name: Princess in a Box 1 (US) / Maiden's Escape (EU)
 * Trigger: Tap on the Question Mark
 * Location: Tower Floor 4
 * Chapter: 9
 * Picarats: 60

Description: Tired of leading a sheltered life, this princess is trying to escape her castle. Armed guards, however, are blocking her path. Slide the blocks out of the way to move the red one out the exit to the right. Her freedom depends on you. Can you do it?


 * Hint 1: You might think you'll get stuck within moments of starting this puzzle, but as long as you aren't repeating the same moves over and over, you'll get that block out eventually.
 * Hint 2: This trick should give you some wiggle room. Try to move the blue blocks so that both of them are directly above or below the red block. As a matter of fact, hold off on thinking about how to move the red block to the exit until you finish this step.
 * Hint 3: Here's one more trick that should help you move those blocks around. While sliding blocks around, see if you can't move two green blocks to the immediate right of the red block. Then move the purple block to the right of those.

Puzzle 098

 * Name: Card Order
 * Trigger: Talk to Martha
 * Location: Tower Floor 5
 * Chapter: 9
 * Picarats: 70

Description: You've placed on joker and four aces with different suits facedown on a table. Use the hints below to determine the position for each card.


 * 1) . The club is to the immediate right of the heart.
 * 2) . Neither the diamond nor the joker is next to the spade.
 * 3) . Neither the joker nor the diamond is next to the club.
 * 4) . Neither the diamond nor the spade is next to the heart.


 * Hint 1: If the club is to the immediate right of the heart, the heart can't be the rightmost card. Neither the diamond nor the spade are next to the heart. You know that the club is to the immediate right of the heart. So the card to the left of the heart is either the joker, or the heart is the leftmost card itself.
 * Hint 2: The heart is to the immediate left of the club, and neither the joker nor the diamond are next to the club, so either the club is the rightmost card, or the spade lies to the right of it. Don't forget that the diamond, heart, and joker can't be next to the spade. Therefore, the spade is the rightmost card, and the club lies to its immediate left.
 * Hint 3: From earlier hints, you know that from the right side, the cards appear in this order: spade, club, then heart. As for the two remaining cards, you know that the diamond can't be next to the heart, so the joker must be the fourth card from the right.

Puzzle 099

 * Name: 33333!
 * Trigger: Tap on the Question Mark
 * Location: Tower Floor 6
 * Chapter: 9
 * Picarats: 70

Description: Use each of the numbers one through nine exactly once to fill in the blanks and complete this equation: 00000-0000=33333.


 * Hint 1: At its core, this is a simple math problem, so you're just going to have to work it out if you want to solve it. However, there is a way to cut down on the amount of work you need to do. Try thinking about the first and last digits for each number. The leftmost digit in the upper number is "4."
 * Hint 2: There are two possible solutions, but some digits are located in the same place for both answers. For example, for both solutions, "7" is the leftmost digit of the bottom number.
 * Hint 3: This is the last hint you're going to get. For the top number, going from the left, the first three digits are "4," "1," and "2."

Puzzle 100

 * Name: Seven Squares
 * Trigger: Tap on the Question Mark
 * Location: Tower Floor 7
 * Chapter: 9
 * Picarats: 70

Description: Your task is to draw lines between the pins on this board to form seven squares. The seven squares do not have to be uniform in size, but you can only use each pin once. All righty then, give it a shot.


 * Hint 1: Most of the squares you make will be tilted 45 degrees to the side, and their sizes will vary as well. Start by looking for pins you can connect to create squares at a diagonal.
 * Hint 2: You want more specifics? All right, here's the location of one of the squares. Connect the four pins in the top-left corner to form a tiny square. Just so you know, this is the only square on the board that isn't tilted.
 * Hint 3: The largest square contains the pin that's third from the top on the left column and the bottom pin from the far-right column. You also need to form a small diagonal block using the two pins lined up diagonally on the bottom-left portion of the board. There are two more small squares just like this one on the board.