Safecracker

How to play Safecracker

Every day there's a safe with a secret code: three digits on weekdays, and a bigger four-digit safe at the weekend. No digit appears twice. You're given a few clues, each a code somebody tried, with dots telling you how close it was:

• A filled dot: one of its digits is in the code and in the right place.
• A ring: one of its digits is in the code, but in a different place.
• A small grey dot: a digit that isn't in the code.

The dots never say which digits they mean. Working that out is the puzzle. Every safe has exactly one answer, and you can always reach it by reasoning: no luck needed.

You've got three tries. A wrong try isn't wasted: it joins the clues with its own dots, so you learn something. A clock runs while you play, so you can race your friends.

A safe, step by step

5 0 9   1 elsewhere
9 2 4   nothing right
7 4 8   2 elsewhere
0 4 7   1 elsewhere

1. 924 gets nothing, so 9, 2 and 4 are out.
2. 748 has two right digits, and 4 is out, so 7 and 8 are both in, just not where 748 puts them: 7 isn't first and 8 isn't last.
3. 047 has a 7 at the end. If the code ended in 7, that would be a dot (in place), but 047 got a ring. So 7 isn't last, and it isn't first: 7 is in the middle. That's 047's one ring, so 0 is out.
4. 8 isn't last and the middle is taken, so 8 is first.
5. 509 has one digit elsewhere. 0 and 9 are out, so it's the 5, and the only spot left is the end.

The code is 875. Click! As you go, tap a digit in any clue to mark it out ✗ (faded) or in ✓ (green). Your marks show in every clue and on the keypad, so the code starts to appear by itself.

Questions

Is Safecracker free?

Yes. It's free to play in your browser on a phone, tablet or computer, with nothing to download and no sign-up.

Do I need to be good at maths?

Not at all. The digits are just symbols: there's no adding up, only careful thinking about which digit could go where.

When is there a new safe?

Every day at midnight, your time. Everyone gets the same safe, so you can compare with friends. Saturday and Sunday bring a bigger four-digit safe.

Can I play more than once a day?

The daily safe is one go each. Once you're done, you can practise on earlier days' safes.

Do you keep any of my data?

No. Your games and stats are saved only on your own device, in your browser, and there's no account. It's free because it shows adverts from Google; see privacy and cookies for how those work.

More daily puzzles from Hypergeek Games: Lockword, Latchword, Dialword and Floodfill.