Professor Layton and the Curious Village/Puzzles 101-120

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 101

 * Name: Splitting It Up
 * Trigger: Tap the Big Column
 * Location: Market
 * Chapter: 3
 * Picarats: 40

Description: You have a big wooden cube that's painted red on all six sides. After splitting the cube into smaller parts as shown below, you are left with 27 cubes identical in size but varying in the number of red sides per cube. How many of these 27 small cubes have just one of their six sides painted red?


 * Hint 1: Take another look at the picture. When this big cube is divided, which of the small cubes do you think will have one side painted? At the very least, the corner boxes won't fall into this category. Every corner box has three painted sides.
 * Hint 2: As stated in the previous hint, all the corner pieces of the big cube have three painted sides. Additionally, with the exception of corner boxes, all the small cubes that touch another face of the big cube have two painted sides.
 * Hint 3: As shown in the diagram, the only small cubes that have one side painted are the ones located in the dead center of each face of the big cube. Each face of the big cube has only one of these.

Puzzle 102

 * Name: Aces and the Joker
 * Trigger: Talk to Martha
 * Location: Tower Road
 * Chapter: 6
 * Picarats: 40

Description: You've scattered a deck of 52 cards over one joker facedown on a table so that you don't know which card is where. Next you start turning the cards over one by one. Assuming that you can't flip the same card twice, what are the percentage odds that you will turn over all four aces before you turn over the joker?


 * Hint 1: Out of 53 cards, four are aces. Each time you flip a card, the probability of turning over an ace increases...but you really don't need to work out any of that. Think about what you can do to eliminate other variables to consider.
 * Hint 2: If you distill this question down to its simplest form, it's just asking you how likely it is you'll flip over four aces in any order before you turn over the joker. The other 48 cards have nothing to do with the problem.
 * Hint 3: OK, let's lay it all out on the table, so to speak. There are five cards that actually matter in this puzzle. Of those five, the joker has to come last. What's the probability of flipping the joker after the other four cards?

Puzzle 103

 * Name: Wood Cutouts
 * Trigger: Talk to Gordon
 * Location: Manor Parlor
 * Chapter: Between 4 and 5
 * Picarats: 40

Description: You have a single sheet of balsa wood, as shown in the diagram below. Your job is to cut the wood along the dotted lines so that you end up with four identical pieces. The pieces may face different directions, but they must not be mirrored versions of each other. Go on and get chopping!


 * Hint 1: This puzzle would be a lot easier if you were allowed to use mirror versions of the shape as well. Since you can't though, here's a hint to get you started on the right track. Don't start off by dividing the wood into two pieces straight through the middle.
 * Hint 2: Have you ever seen a standard office staple? Well, that's the shape you are looking to cut out here, except it'll be a bit longer in the middle than your standard staple.
 * Hint 3: The board is shaped like a large H. First, cut a staple-shaped piece out of both of the vertical lines that make up the sides of the H. Then, draw a line through the middle of the horizontal line that remains to separate the last two pieces.

Puzzle 104

 * Name:A Sweet Treat
 * Trigger: Talk to Prosciutto
 * Location: Prosciutto's
 * Chapter: 6
 * Picarats: 30

Description: On the way home from the store, you unwrap a perfectly square block of chocolate. Much to your dismay, you find that only four of the 16 chocolate squares have an almond in them. You and your three friends want to divide the chocolate evenly along the lines between the squares. However, just to make things interesting, you've decided to divide it so that each piece is the same shape and contains an almond in a different location. Good luck!


 * Hint 1: To satisfy all the conditions set forth by the puzzle, you need to cut the chocolate into four L-shaped pieces. Now, how to divide it up?
 * Hint 2: It's easy enough to cut the chocolate into four L-shaped pieces. The problem is getting those stubborn almonds into the right places! Try working it out a few times. If you almonds keep ending up in the same piece of chocolate, you know you've got to rework your strategy for dividing up that section.
 * Hint 3: As you can see, there are a total of 16 squares of chocolate that you'll divide up into four sections of four squares. There are only so many ways to arrange four L-shaped pieces of chocolate into a perfect square. See if you can brainstorm a few before you begin cutting.

Puzzle 105

 * Name: Rolling a Three
 * Trigger: Talk to Martha
 * Location: Tower Road
 * Chapter: Between 8 and 9
 * Picarats: 30

Description: When you roll a die, the chances of rolling a three are one in six. The chances of rolling a three twice in a row are one in 36,and the chances of rolling a three three times in a row are a jaw-dropping one in 216. Let's assume you roll a die three times and get a three each time. Your chances of rolling a three on your next roll are one in how many?


 * Hint 1: Doesn't it seem like the longer a puzzle explanation is, the more likely you are to find a trick in the wording? Read the explanation carefully and pay attention to what exactly it is that you're being asked to answer. You shouldn't need to calculate anything to find your answer.
 * Hint 2: Don't bother multiplying 216 by six again. You don't need to do anything like that to find your answer. That's right, this puzzle is THAT simple.
 * Hint 3: It doesn't matter what numbers appeared in the three previous rolls. The puzzle is asking you what the probability is of a three showing up in the next roll.

Puzzle 106

 * Name: How Many Glasses?
 * Trigger: Tap the Bottle on the Bottom Shelf
 * Location: Crumm's Cafe
 * Chapter: 4
 * Picarats: 20

Description: On the top row of the picture shown below, you have three cups of juice followed by three empty cups. Your objective is to change things around so that the cups are arranged as shown in the bottom row of the picture. Assuming you can only move one cup at a time and that all rearrangement has to be done by hand, how many cups will you have to pick up?


 * Hint 1: if it weren't against the rules for this puzzle, it would be easy to just switch the second and fourth glasses with each other. But since you can only pick up one glass at a time, that idea is right out.
 * Hint 2: You have to move things around so that there is juice in every other glass. Surely there's a way to do this that doesn't involve switching the glasses themselves around.
 * Hint 3: You don't need to change the positions of the actual cups. You can achieve the same goal by just moving the liquid from one cup to another. If you are just moving liquid, how many cups do you need to pick up to complete the puzzle?

Puzzle 107

 * Name: A Worm's Dream (US) / Worm in the Apple (EU)
 * Trigger: Tap the left Doorway
 * Location: Clock Tower
 * Chapter: 3
 * Picarats: 30

Description: This worm's life dream is to make it to the center of the apple. Complete this slide puzzle and help him realize his dream! With only eight pieces to manage, this task might seem easy, but it's probably harder than you suspect.


 * Hint 1: This slide puzzle only has eight movable parts, so don't be intimidated. Take your time with it. If you aren't seeing much progress, try something new with each move. Don't get stuck moving pieces in the same pattern again and again.
 * Hint 2: Have you noticed that a few of the pieces look very similar to some others? Focus your attention on those.
 * Hint 3: If you are still having trouble, start by moving the piece in the upper-left corner out of its starting location. You can't finish the puzzle without doing so.

Puzzle 108

 * Name: Not Knots?
 * Trigger: Tap the Bookcase
 * Location: Archibald's
 * Chapter: 5
 * Picarats: 50

Description: In front of you are four tangled lengths of rope. Mark the ones you think will form a knot when you grab them by their ends and pull them taut.


 * Hint 1: It's difficult to work out all the tangles and turns of a rope in one glance. You'll have better luck if you keep the shape of a simple knot in mind and inspect each part of the rope individually.
 * Hint 2: Take a look at Rope B. If you start from the right end of the rope and examine the first loop you encounter, you'll notice that the two strands of rope are just lying on top of each other. The same goes for the loop on the left side of the rope. There's no way this rope will knot up.
 * Hint 3: Only one of the four ropes will actually knot up when pulled from both ends. Rope B is already out. Now, which one will you choose?

Puzzle 109

 * Name: Laziest Man on Earth
 * Trigger: Talk to Archibald
 * Location: Archibald's
 * Chapter: 6
 * Picarats: 30

Description: Behold! Before you sits the laziest man in the entire world! Known far and wide for his aversion to physical activity, this slug has designed his house so that he can grab anything without leaving the comfort of his recliner. Using an elaborate set of tools, including a fishing rod, extendo-arm, and high-energy magnets, this legendary loafer has put everything in the room within reach. However, despite his efforts, there's one place he can't reach without getting off his duff.


 * Hint 1: Usually one has to stand to reach something high up and away. But this ingenious loafer has tools to do that for him. Don't go looking for the answer in high places.
 * Hint 2: There are several places within the room that the average person couldn't reach without getting off the recliner, but our friend here has no trouble moving books and opening cupboards from across the room. Where can't those tools reach?
 * Hint 3: It may seem like Mr. Lazybones has all his bases covered, but rest assured that there is a place he can't reach while sitting down. Ponder this. Can you reach under the bottom of your feet while standing up? Well, its technically possible if you stand on one foot, but you get the idea.

Puzzle 110

 * Name: The Vanishing Cube
 * Trigger: Tap the Chandelier above Gordon's head
 * Location: Manor Parlor
 * Chapter: Between 1 and 2
 * Picarats: 20

Description: On the table below are four cubes made up of matches. Can you change four cubes to three by moving a single match?


 * Hint 1: The matches are arranged so that they appear to form four adjoining cubes. How can you rearrange things to make one of these cubes disappear?
 * Hint 2: The four cubes appear to be arranged in two rows. The first row has one cube, and the row behind it has three. You need to get rid of the middle cube in the back row.
 * Hint 3: All you need to do is reposition one of the diagonal matches so that it points straight up and down. You have quite a few to choose from.

Puzzle 111

 * Name: Mystery Item
 * Trigger: Tap the Restaurant's Sign
 * Location: Park Road
 * Chapter: 2
 * Picarats: 40


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

Description: One of the four shapes below has one less match than the rest of them. While studying these four small shapes, your friend approaches you with a riddle. "I'm thinking of something that is necessary for human life. It appears in just about every house you've ever visited and decreases in amount gradually the longer it is around. What am I thinking of?" Move one match in the picture to form your answer to your friend's puzzle.


 * Hint 1: The item you are after is necessary for human life, is found in most homes, and disappears gradually over time. You have to answer with the matches provided, but don't worry about arranging them into a picture. It's the idea you're after.
 * Hint 2: The last of the four shapes seems to be missing a match. Someone must have made off with it to light the stove and get dinner ready. Say, are you getting hungry at all?
 * Hint 3: Have you heard the expression "three square meals a day"? Judging by the matches here, someone was trying to make a fourth but got full before finishing the task. By the way, have you noticed how much that final cluster of matches looks like an uppercase D?

Puzzle 111

 * Name: Making a Square
 * Trigger: Tap the Restaurant's Sign
 * Location: Park Road
 * Chapter: 2
 * Picarats: 40


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

Description: Three of the four parts A-D shown can be combined to form a square. Circle the one that isn't used. You are allowed to rotate the parts freely when combining them.


 * Hint 1: Each side of the square formed will be four smaller square long.
 * Hint 2: With four on each side, the large square will be made up of 15 smaller squares. B contains six squares, and the others all contain five. So the unused part must be one of A, C or D.
 * Hint 3: You'll definitely need to use A. So, the anwer must be either C or D.

Puzzle 112

 * Name: My Beloved
 * Trigger: Tap the Painting above Beatrice's head
 * Location: Inn
 * Chapter: 2
 * Picarats: 50

Description: A work from a famous artist was recently discovered. The painting is a self-portrait of the painter in his later years and is entitled "My Beloved." Assuming the artist wasn't a huge narcissist and referring to himself, his beloved should appear in the painting somewhere. Can you find his beloved?


 * Hint 1: You're looking for an outline of the artist's lover. Yes, you read that correctly, search for her silhouette.
 * Hint 2: The black background of the portrait can be reconfigured to form the silhouette of a woman.
 * Hint 3: Rearrange the pieces of the painting to form a silhouette of a woman from the waist up.

Puzzle 113

 * Name: The Pet Hotel
 * Trigger: Tap the Sign for the Inn
 * Location: Entrance
 * Chapter: 4
 * Picarats: 30


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

Description: A town not far from your home recently opened a ritzy hotel for pets. Can you guess what kind of animal is currently relaxing in Room 097? Move two matches to form the answer on the screen below.


 * Hint 1: Move two matchsticks and the name of the animal staying in the hotel room will appear. The word is three letters long.
 * Hint 2: The animal staying in room 097 is one you should be very familiar with. You might even have one yourself.
 * Hint 3: What animals can you spell with three letters? Dog? Well, yes, dog has three letters, but it's not the answer.

Puzzle 113

 * Name: Pet Menagerie
 * Trigger: Tap the Sign for the Inn
 * Location: Entrance
 * Chapter: 4
 * Picarats: 30


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

Description: This young man is boasting about the many and varied pets he keeps. "I have 10 pets. Not just canaries and dogs, but tortoises and even snakes! I can't tell you how many of each animal I have, but there are six wings, three shells and 26 legs between all of them!" Can you work out how many snakes he has?


 * Hint 1: Birds have two wings and two legs. Since only the canaries have wings, you know that there must be three canaries to make a total of six wings. That means canaries account for six of the legs, too.
 * Hint 2: Tortoises have four legs. With a total of three shells, there can only be three tortoises, which means another 12 legs. Added to the six canary legs, that's 18 legs accounted for.
 * Hint 3: The boy states that he has 10 pets with a total of 26 legs. Canaries and tortoises together make up six pets with 18 legs, so there are four pets and eight legs left. Dogs, as you know, have four legs...

Puzzle 114

 * Name: Tetrahedron Trial
 * Trigger: Tap the Hanging Meat
 * Location: Prosciutto's
 * Chapter: 4
 * Picarats: 10

Description: The image below is of a tetrahedron that has been disassembled so that each of its four faces lie flat. Which of the triangles should you insert in place of the ? so that when the tetrahedron is put together, both the red and the blue lines continue unbroken from one face to the next?


 * Hint 1: Look at how the red and blue lines cross over each edge of the tetrahedron. Note that three lines, one blue and two red, cross over the edges of the center triangle in the collapsed tetrahedron.
 * Hint 2: The missing triangle's right side connects with the top triangle's right side. You can see a red line and two blue lines here.
 * Hint 3: The bottom side of the missing triangle connects with the bottom of the leftmost triangle. Only a single red line passes over this edge. Read previous hints and check with lines cross where. Do that, and the answer is yours.

Puzzle 115

 * Name: Odd Box Out
 * Trigger: Tap on the Right Open Section of the Drink Stand
 * Location: Abandoned Tent
 * Chapter: 7
 * Picarats: 40

Description: Of the four boxes below, three are the exact same box viewed from different angles. The fourth box has a slightly different design. Can you spot the odd box out?


 * Hint 1: Each side of a box is in direct contact with four others. Pay attention to how each side connects to four other sides of the cube and in what arrangement. Do this for other sides of the cube and you'll find an inconsistency that differentiates the odd cube out.
 * Hint 2: From what you can see in boxes A and C, you know that the star is connected to the square, sun, heart, and diamond. It doesn't touch the X. According to boxes B and D, the X touches the sun, heart, square, and diamond. Hey, wait a second! There's something fishy about one of those arrangements!
 * Hint 3: Box A is one of the three identical boxes. The face with the X is directly opposite the face with the star. Use these two clues to see if they apply to boxes B, C, and D. They won't hold true for one of these boxes.

Puzzle 116

 * Name: The Largest Total
 * Trigger: Tap on the Bottom-Right Corner of the Shack
 * Location: Shack Path
 * Chapter: 7
 * Picarats: 50

Description: Nine squares are carved into a piece of wood. Arrange nine unique numbers between one and 51 so that any three numbers have the same sum when added vertically, horizontally, or diagonally. While several combinations are possible, your task is to find the number that occupies the center square when you arrange the numbers to yield the highest possible total.


 * Hint 1: There are 51 numbers you can choose from, but since you're trying to get the largest total possible, you might want to try the bigger numbers first.
 * Hint 2: As stated in Hint One, you should place large numbers in your square. Use the numbers 43 through 51 when formulating your answer.
 * Hint 3: It might not seem obvious at first, but the center number is used in every single tabulation. Since you're trying to get the largest sums possible, doesn't it make sense to put the largest number right in the middle?

Puzzle 117

 * Name: Painting a Cube
 * Trigger: Tap on the Window on the Right
 * Location: Tower Road
 * Chapter: 6
 * Picarats: 30

Description: In front of you sits a blank paper cube that you've decided to paint. You need to paint the cube so that all faces that touch are different colors. Using three colors of paint, how many ways can you paint the cube so that it satisfies the above condition? Each painting scheme should be a different pattern, not just the same pattern with the colors rearranged. Also, assume that you can't leave any sides of the square blank.


 * Hint 1: As you know, all cubes have six sides. Because of this structure, every face of the cube touches four others, meaning that only one of the five other faces doesn't touch any given face.
 * Hint 2: Taking Hint One a step further, in order to paint the cube three colors and have no two connecting faces be of the same color, you should use each color to paint opposing faces.
 * Hint 3: You need to paint two opposing faces of the cube each color. Count how many different ways there are of doing that and you've solved the puzzle. Just remember, simply reconfiguring which colors go where doesn't count as an entirely new arrangement.

Puzzle 118

 * Name: Red and Black Cards
 * Trigger: Tap the bottom of the Bedside Window
 * Location: Town Hall
 * Chapter: 2
 * Picarats: 50

Description: A jokerless deck of 52 cards sits on the table. The cards are shuffled thoroughly and divided into two stacks of 26 cards labeled A and B. If you divide the cards as described above and check the contents of each pile 1,000 times, how many times could you expect the number of red cards in one pile to match the number of black cards in the other?


 * Hint 1: How many red cards and black cards are there in a deck of 52 cards?
 * Hint 2: There are a total of 26 black cards and 26 red cards in a 52-card deck.
 * Hint 3: The number of red cards in pile A is equal to 26 minus the number of black cards in Pile A. You can also reverse this statement and apply it to the black cards, so…

Puzzle 119

 * Name: Red and Blue 1
 * Trigger: Tap on the Red Sign
 * Location: Path Entrance
 * Chapter: 6
 * Picarats: 40

Description: The box below holds blue and red balls. As you can see, the color of the balls and the color of their respective areas don't match. Slide the balls around the box so that red balls are in the red area and blue balls are in the blue area.


 * Hint 1: In slide puzzles such as this one, if you move things around without a clear idea of what you'll move next, you'll end up back where you started before you know it. Move the pieces so that you are constantly forming new configurations for the pieces.
 * Hint 2: To complete this puzzle, you'll need to utilize the space in the corridor connecting the two columns of balls. For example, you could try moving the red ball that's third from the top into the small pocket above the middle square of the corridor. Then move two blue balls all the way over so that one occupies the space the red ball formerly sat in. Move the red ball out of the corridor into the blue balls' column in the spot second from the top.
 * Hint 3: While it may seem counterintuitive, you need to move some balls back out of the correct field to solve this puzzle. As detailed in Hint One, move two balls to the opposite side, move the ball hidden in the small central pocket over to the space created, then move two balls over the other way. Repeat, and see what develops.

Puzzle 120

 * Name: Get the Ball Out! 3
 * Trigger: Tap on the Sewer Opening
 * Location: Sewer
 * Chapter: 7
 * Picarats: 60

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 20 moves.
 * Hint 1: There are five empty spaces to work with here, but when you start, you have some bothersome long blocks in the way. To remedy this, first you should move the lower-right blue block and slide the purple block formerly to the left of it down into the space with the hole. Now you should be able to move the big yellow block down.
 * Hint 2: Move the purple block in the top row down into the space you created from moving down the yellow block, then line the two blue blocks up end to end in the row directly under the red ball. Next, slide the purple block, below the two blue blocks over to the far left so that the green block in the lower left and the big yellow block can move back up.
 * Hint 3: Align the two blue blocks in the lower right so that they sit end to end on the far-left side of the row directly above the hole. Then drop the green block in the upper right down. Now all you need to do is create a path for the ball to use to get to the hole. You should have an easy time of it.