#42 · Saturday, 17 January 2026

Ladder answer

• POSED 5 letters
• SPOTTED 7 letters — adds two letters to the rung below
• PROTESTED 9 letters — adds two letters to the rung below

POSED sits inside SPOTTED, which sits inside PROTESTED — the two letters added at each rung are the whole puzzle. Scrambles shown that day: EPDOS · ETOTSDP · TTROESEDP.

LockCode answer: 1578

The clues and what each one tells you:

1. 5871 has every digit of the code — only the order is wrong.
2. 2697: 0 in the right place, 1 in the wrong place — 1 of 2, 6, 9, 7 are in the code.
3. 0937: 0 in the right place, 1 in the wrong place — 1 of 0, 9, 3, 7 are in the code.
4. 9326 scored nothing, so 9, 3, 2, 6 are all out.
5. After all clues, 6 codes remain possible.

With 6 candidates left, a good second guess splits them by feedback so the third guess is forced. Read the LockCode strategy guide for the method.