#37 · Monday, 12 January 2026

Ladder answer

• AGENT 5 letters
• ELEGANT 7 letters — adds two letters to the rung below
• GENTLEMAN 9 letters — adds two letters to the rung below

AGENT sits inside ELEGANT, which sits inside GENTLEMAN — the two letters added at each rung are the whole puzzle. Scrambles shown that day: NTEAG · LANEETG · LMNTENGAE.

LockCode answer: 1790

The clues and what each one tells you:

1. 9750: 2 in the right place, 1 in the wrong place — 3 of 9, 7, 5, 0 are in the code.
2. 1482: 1 in the right place, 0 in the wrong place — 1 of 1, 4, 8, 2 are in the code.
3. 4018: 0 in the right place, 2 in the wrong place — 2 of 4, 0, 1, 8 are in the code.
4. 9357: 0 in the right place, 2 in the wrong place — 2 of 9, 3, 5, 7 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.