#208 · Thursday, 2 July 2026

Ladder answer

• ALIEN 5 letters
• IRELAND 7 letters — adds two letters to the rung below
• UNRIVALED 9 letters — adds two letters to the rung below

ALIEN sits inside IRELAND, which sits inside UNRIVALED — the two letters added at each rung are the whole puzzle. Scrambles shown that day: ILENA · RADIELN · IDLERVNUA.

LockCode answer: 5194

The clues and what each one tells you:

1. 4591 has every digit of the code — only the order is wrong.
2. 8706 scored nothing, so 8, 7, 0, 6 are all out.
3. 6032 scored nothing, so 6, 0, 3, 2 are all out.
4. 6435: 0 in the right place, 2 in the wrong place — 2 of 6, 4, 3, 5 are in the code.
5. After all clues, 5 codes remain possible.

With 5 candidates left, a good second guess splits them by feedback so the third guess is forced. Read the LockCode strategy guide for the method.