Professor Layton and the Curious Village/Puzzles 76-100

Puzzle 076

 * Name: A Tile Square
 * Trigger: Talk to Pauly
 * Location: Park Road
 * Chapter: 5
 * Picarats: 20

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.

Answer: 20

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.

Answer: B

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.

Answer: It takes 15 moves to complete this puzzle. Starting out, you have (16, 0, 0) First, pour the 16 pitcher into the 9 (7, 9, 0). Then the 9 pitcher goes into the 7 (7, 2, 7). Next, pour the 7 into the 16 pitcher (14, 2, 0). Now pour the 9 into the 7 again (14, 0, 2). The 16 goes into the 9 pitcher (5, 9, 2). Again, pour the 9 pitcher into the 7 (5, 4, 7). Now pour the 7 pitcher back into the 16 (12, 4, 0). The 9 goes into the 7 (12, 0, 4), followed by the 16 pitcher into the 9 (3, 9, 4). Next, the 9 pitcher is poured into the 7 (3, 6, 7). Now pour the 7 back into the 16 (10, 6, 0), followed by the 9 into the 7 (10, 0, 6). Almost there! Pour the 16 into the 9 (1, 9, 6). Now the 9 goes into the 7 (1, 8, 7). Finally, the 7 goes back into the 16 (8, 8, 0).

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.

Answer:

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.

Answer: There are several solutions to this problem. Here's one: Place a queen in the 1st column, 3rd row. Another queen goes in the 2nd column, 1st row. A third queen goes in the 3rd column, 4th row. The last queen goes in the 4th column, 2nd row.

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.

Answer: There are several ways to solve this problem. Here's one: Place a queen in the 1st column, 1st row. Another queen goes in the 2nd column, 3rd row. The 3rd column queen goes in the 5th row. The 4th column queen is placed in the 2nd row. The final queen goes in the 5th column and 4th row.

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 throughly, 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.

Answer: There are several ways to solve this problem. Here's one: One queen goes in the 2nd column, 3rd row. The second queen goes in the 3rd column, 1st row. The final queen goes in the 5th column, 5th row.

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.

Answer: One queen goes in the 1st column, 3rd row. Another queen goes in the 2nd column, 1st row. The next queen goes in the 3rd column, 7th row. The 5th column has a queen in the 8th row. The last queen goes in the 8th column, 6th row.

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.

Answer: 3

Puzzle 085

 * Name: Weekend Getaway
 * Trigger: Tap the Laytonmobile (Layton's Puzzle)
 * Location: Outside the Sewer
 * Chapter: 7
 * Picarats: 50

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.

Answer: 60

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.

Answer: 4

Puzzle 087

 * Name: Ferris Wheel Riddle
 * Trigger: Tap on the Ferris Wheel (Layton's Puzzle)
 * 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.

Answer: 42

Puzzle 088

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

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?

Answer: WATER

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.

Answer: The arrow points left and is a bit bigger than the example. The base of the arrow is right up against the right edge of the sign. On this right side, there are several rectangles. The fourth rectangle from the top makes up the base of the arrow. The top of the arrow is made up by the first vertical line from the right and the two diagonal lines that reach all the way to the right side.

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.

Answer: The shortest solution to this puzzle has 14 moves. First, move the bottom blue block all the way to the right (1). Then, move the bottom-most purple block into the space with the hole (2). Next, slide the bottom blue block all the way to the left (3). The right-most purple block can now slide down and to the right in one move (4). The green block now moves all the way down (5). The top-most purple block moves all the way to the right (6). The top blue block moves to the left (7). Now the yellow block can move all the way up and to the right (8). Move the red ball all the way down and to the right (9), then move the left-most purple block right and up (10). This allows you to now move the left green block up (11) and the bottom blue block to the left (12). Move the purple block up and left (13), and finally move the red ball out (14).

Puzzle 091

 * Name: Pattern Matching
 * Trigger: Tap on the Picture hanging on the Right Wall (Luke's puzzle)
 * 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.

Answer: B

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.

Answer: You only need to open two valves. Follow the start of the pipe to the first intersection and turn left, the turn right at the next intersection. The first valve you come to needs to be opened. The other valve is by the end of the pipes. From the end of the pipe, go straight up and turn left. The valve here needs to be opened as well. Hit SUBMIT.

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.

Answer: This puzzle is solvable in seven moves. First, take the sheep across. Then return to the left bank empty handed. Take the cabbage to the right bank. Exchange the cabbage for the sheep and return the sheep to the left bank. Now take the wolf to the right bank and leave it with the cabbage. Return to the left bank empty handed. Last, take the sheep back over to the right bank.

Puzzle 094

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Puzzle 095

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Puzzle 096

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Puzzle 097

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Puzzle 098

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Puzzle 099

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Puzzle 100

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