#35 · Saturday, 10 January 2026

Ladder answer

• ENTRY 5 letters
• CENTURY 7 letters — adds two letters to the rung below
• CURRENTLY 9 letters — adds two letters to the rung below

ENTRY sits inside CENTURY, which sits inside CURRENTLY — the two letters added at each rung are the whole puzzle. Scrambles shown that day: YRNET · CERTYUN · URNETLCRY.

LockCode answer: 3268

The clues and what each one tells you:

1. 7568: 2 in the right place, 0 in the wrong place — 2 of 7, 5, 6, 8 are in the code.
2. 6512: 0 in the right place, 2 in the wrong place — 2 of 6, 5, 1, 2 are in the code.
3. 9340: 0 in the right place, 1 in the wrong place — 1 of 9, 3, 4, 0 are in the code.
4. 7198: 1 in the right place, 0 in the wrong place — 1 of 7, 1, 9, 8 are in the code.
5. After all clues, 7 codes remain possible.

With 7 candidates left, a good second guess splits them by feedback so the third guess is forced. Read the LockCode strategy guide for the method.