Professor Layton and the Last Specter/Puzzles 126-156

Caution! This page contains all the hints and solutions for every puzzle from 126 to 156. 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 148

 * Name: Glass Boxes
 * Trigger: Repeatedly tap the left brick wall
 * Location: Closed Factory
 * Chapter: 6
 * Picarats: 45

Description: Twenty-seven glass boxes have been stacked together to form a cube. Some of the glass boxes have a gemstone inside. Image A shows a view of the cube from above, B shows a view from the side, and C shows a view from the front. How many of the boxes contain gems?


 * Hint 1: If you try to consider the entire cube at once, you'll just end up in a muddle. Try taking it one row at a time, starting from the view that shows the fewest gems for that particular row.
 * Hint 2: Views B and C look at the cube from the side. When working out how many gems there are in the topmost row, you only need to consider the top rows of these views. Try comparing them with view A. In views B and C, there is one gem in the central column of each. These views can't contradict one another, so there can only be one gem, right in the center of the row. This corresponds with the central gem in view A.
 * Hint 3: For the second row from the top, you only need to consider the middle row of views B and C. From view B you can see two gems. While for view C you can see one. For these views to agree, there can only be two gems. This doesn't contradict view A either.
 * Super Hint: When working out how many gems are in the bottommost row, look at the bottom rows of views B and C. In view C, two gems can be seen, but in view B, only one can. The only way views A, B, and C can agree is if there are two gems in this row. How many are there in total?

Puzzle 149

 * Name: Marble Thirds
 * Trigger: Repeatedly tap shrubs
 * Location: Market East
 * Chapter: 4
 * Picarats: 30

Description: The diameter of the circle below is divided into three equal lengths, and those lengths are used to make the marble-like design that splits the circle into three different-colored sections.

The areas of sections I and III are equal, but what about the area of section II? Is it less than, greater than, or equal to the area of I?


 * Hint 1: Bear in mind the following three sizes of semicircle: The biggest semicircles in the diagram. The medium-sized semicircles, with a length two-thirds the circle's diameter. The smallest semicircles, with a length one-third the circle's diameter. Use these different-sized semicircles to help you solve the puzzle.
 * Hint 2: Think of the area of the smallest semicircle as one. The diameter of the medium semi-circle is twice that of the small semicircle, so its area will be four times as large. The big semicircle has a diameter three times as big as the small one, so the area will be nine times as large.
 * Hint 3: To figure out the area of sections I or III, use the semicircles as follows: Big - Medium + Small = . Replacing these with the areas we found in Hint 2 gives us: 9 - 4 + 1 = 6. This should help you figure out how to determine the area of section II.
 * Super Hint: If you've followed along with all of the previous hints, the rest is easy. The big semicircle has an area of nine. Since it's a semicircle, the area of the whole circle is twice that, or 18. From this, subtract the size of the areas of sections I and III, and you're left with the area of II. All right then. What is it?

Puzzle 150

 * Name: Lily Pad Leapfrog
 * Trigger: Repeatedly tap the water
 * Location: Tunnel
 * Chapter: 4
 * Picarats: 50

Description: The green frog is trying to make his way to his purple girlfrog. The only way to get to her is by leaping across the lily pads floating in the river. The frog can go horizontally or vertically, but once he leaps, he cannot change directions, and he will leap the number of spaces that is on the lily pad he is jumping from. To impress his girlfrog, he must laso land on every lily pad before reaching her. What are you waiting for? Hop to it!


 * Hint 1: There is more than one way to get to the goal. After landing on the first lily pad, try jumping down.
 * Hint 2: Following on from Hint 1, jump from the bottom-left pad up to the top-left corner. You should still have 12 pads to go!
 * Hint 3: From the top-left corner, jump right, down, down, and then up. You're halfway there! Ribbit!
 * Super Hint: Following on from Hint 3, jump left, down, and then right. Now it's only a few short leaps till the frog is reunited with his girlfrog!

Puzzle 151

 * Name: Coax the Kitty!
 * Trigger: Repeatedly tap the large window on Greppe's house
 * Location: Twisted Light
 * Chapter: 5
 * Picarats: 30

Description: A cat has gotten stuck and needs to be rescued. She won't come when called, so you will have to coax her out with some fish. She's so hungry, she will head toward any fish she spots in her direct line of sight and eat it before looking around for the next fish. Get the cat to the star using only seven fish.


 * Hint 1: It's easiest to work backward from the star to the cat. How many fish are needed near the star alone?
 * Hint 2: It takes quite a few fish to coax the cat around the last couple of bends. Working backward from the star, you'll need one fish on the star itself, one to its left, one on the square below that, and then one to the left.
 * Hint 3: After deducting the four fish you'll need to use near the star, you'll have only three fish left to work with. You need to make the cat travel quite far with each remaining fish. Maybe there's a good spot up and to the right of the cat.
 * Super Hint: Continuing from Hint 3, you'll have just two fish left. One needs to be placed to the far left of the fish described in Hint 3. After that, the place for the remaining fish should be obvious.

Puzzle 152

 * Name: Either Oar...
 * Trigger: Repeatedly tap the trees on the right
 * Location: Dam
 * Chapter: 5
 * Picarats: 20

Description: A weary old sailor is describing a special tool he uses when he's out in his boat: "Sometimes when I'm out in my boat on a fine, warm day, I get tired. So I dig out a special tool, and suddenly I don't have to lift a finger to move my boat. You might think it's unfair, but nobody minds helping out an old man like me." What tool is he talking about?


 * Hint 1: "With those other tools, I'd have to paddle myself, and that's just more work for me! The tool you're looking for--I wouldn't have to paddle my boat at all to get it moving!"
 * Hint 2: "What do you use Tool A for? It looks like it belongs in your ear, not in a boat. I can't see why you'd bother with that when you're out on the water."
 * Hint 3: "Tool D looks familiar, but I wouldn't touch one of those if I didn't have to. Too much work for an old man like me. I mean, sure it'll move a boat, but only if you put your back into it!"
 * Super Hint: "You know what's the best kind of tool for boating? One where you just hook one end over your boat and the other end over someone else's, and then you let the other person do all the work, tugging you along while you catch forty winks!"

Puzzle 153

 * Name: Two Pictures
 * Trigger: Upper portion of the tower's pillar
 * Location: Upper Tower
 * Chapter: 5
 * Picarats: 40

Description: A rich man has the strange habit of hanging the paintings in his house in such a way that it's possible to tell how much the paintings are worth. In section 1, the two paintings have a total value of two million dollars. In 2, the paintings have a combined value of six million dollars. How many millions of dollars are the two paintings hung in section 3 worth?


 * Hint 1: The rich man says, "I can't think of a simpler way of showing the value." What could he mean?
 * Hint 2: It might help to try looking at it from a distance.
 * Hint 3: If the two paintings in section 1 were worth a total of three million dollars, the bottom picture would have to be moved to the left.
 * Super Hint: Try looking again from a distance, and concentrate on the areas of the bare wall around the pictures. Are you sure you can't see any clues?

Puzzle 155

 * Name: One Way
 * Trigger: Repeatedly tap the upper part of the sediment in the middle
 * Location: Descending Path
 * Chapter: 7
 * Picarats: 30

Description: This board consists of nine panels with arrows on them. By swapping just two of the arrows, you may enter the board via an arrow, follow the directions around the whole board, and exit the board with the final arrow. Which arrows should you swap?


 * Hint 1: Decide on an arrow to start from, and keep going until you end up on a panel that points you in the wrong direction. Try swapping this with other arrows until you find the correct route.
 * Hint 2: You need to swap the top-center panel with another. Keep trying until you find the right one.
 * Hint 3: The exit should be to the bottom left. It may help to work backward.
 * Super Hint: You need to start from the top-left panel and swap the panel to its right with an arrow that will point to the top-right panel. That should point you down the correct path.