#7 · Saturday, 13 December 2025

Ladder answer

• CRUDE 5 letters
• SECURED 7 letters — adds two letters to the rung below
• SCHEDULER 9 letters — adds two letters to the rung below

CRUDE sits inside SECURED, which sits inside SCHEDULER — the two letters added at each rung are the whole puzzle. Scrambles shown that day: ECDUR · CDUSEER · ERHUCLSED.

LockCode answer: 6713

The clues and what each one tells you:

1. 3715: 2 in the right place, 1 in the wrong place — 3 of 3, 7, 1, 5 are in the code.
2. 0482 scored nothing, so 0, 4, 8, 2 are all out.
3. 0896: 0 in the right place, 1 in the wrong place — 1 of 0, 8, 9, 6 are in the code.
4. 3501: 0 in the right place, 2 in the wrong place — 2 of 3, 5, 0, 1 are in the code.
5. After all clues, 8 codes remain possible.

With 8 candidates left, a good second guess splits them by feedback so the third guess is forced. Read the LockCode strategy guide for the method.