#49 · Saturday, 24 January 2026

Ladder answer

• THINK 5 letters
• KITCHEN 7 letters — adds two letters to the rung below
• SKETCHING 9 letters — adds two letters to the rung below

THINK sits inside KITCHEN, which sits inside SKETCHING — the two letters added at each rung are the whole puzzle. Scrambles shown that day: KNTIH · KHETNCI · NEITKCGSH.

LockCode answer: 4617

The clues and what each one tells you:

1. 6741 has every digit of the code — only the order is wrong.
2. 0253 scored nothing, so 0, 2, 5, 3 are all out.
3. 0549: 0 in the right place, 1 in the wrong place — 1 of 0, 5, 4, 9 are in the code.
4. 9375: 0 in the right place, 1 in the wrong place — 1 of 9, 3, 7, 5 are in the code.
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.