#67 · Wednesday, 11 February 2026

Ladder answer

• IDEAL 5 letters
• LEADING 7 letters — adds two letters to the rung below
• DETAILING 9 letters — adds two letters to the rung below

IDEAL sits inside LEADING, which sits inside DETAILING — the two letters added at each rung are the whole puzzle. Scrambles shown that day: DAEIL · LIAGDNE · EINGALDTI.

LockCode answer: 0198

The clues and what each one tells you:

1. 9180 has every digit of the code — only the order is wrong.
2. 4236 scored nothing, so 4, 2, 3, 6 are all out.
3. 4769: 0 in the right place, 1 in the wrong place — 1 of 4, 7, 6, 9 are in the code.
4. 7983: 0 in the right place, 2 in the wrong place — 2 of 7, 9, 8, 3 are in the code.
5. After all clues, 4 codes remain possible.

With 4 candidates left, a good second guess splits them by feedback so the third guess is forced. Read the LockCode strategy guide for the method.