#128 · Monday, 13 April 2026

Ladder answer

• PANEL 5 letters
• PENALTY 7 letters — adds two letters to the rung below
• PLANETARY 9 letters — adds two letters to the rung below

PANEL sits inside PENALTY, which sits inside PLANETARY — the two letters added at each rung are the whole puzzle. Scrambles shown that day: APENL · PTLAYEN · LRNATAYPE.

LockCode answer: 9265

The clues and what each one tells you:

1. 2569 has every digit of the code — only the order is wrong.
2. 1782: 0 in the right place, 1 in the wrong place — 1 of 1, 7, 8, 2 are in the code.
3. 3801 scored nothing, so 3, 8, 0, 1 are all out.
4. 8204: 1 in the right place, 0 in the wrong place — 1 of 8, 2, 0, 4 are in the code.
5. After all clues, 2 codes remain possible.

With 2 candidates left, a good second guess splits them by feedback so the third guess is forced. Read the LockCode strategy guide for the method.