The Locked Library
You were so lost in a good book that you didn't hear the librarian lock up for the night. The big oak door has a five-digit combination lock, and a note taped beside it reads: 'Five puzzles, five digits. Solve them in order and you can go home.' The reading lamps are still on, so let's get started.
Solve each puzzle to reveal one digit of the code. Type your answer and press Check. Stuck? Take a hint, or show the answer.
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Puzzle 1Solved
A riddle is scratched into the front desk: 'One word fits after all three of these: FACE____, NOTE____, COOK____.' The number of letters in that word is your first digit.
Hint: You're surrounded by thousands of them right now.AnswerBookFacebook, notebook and cookbook all end in BOOK, which has 4 letters, so the first digit is 4. -
Puzzle 2Solved
A sticky note on the mystery shelf says: 'This morning I lent out 3 mystery novels. Then I lent out half of the ones still on the shelf. Then one reader returned a novel, and now there are only 3 here.' How many mystery novels were on this shelf when the day began? That number is your second digit.
Hint: Work backward from the 3 at the end, undoing each step in reverse order.Answer7Start at 3 and undo each step: before the return there were 2, before lending out half there were 4, and before lending out 3 there were 7, so the second digit is 7. -
Puzzle 3Solved
Five books are stacked on the return cart. From top to bottom: 'Tigers of the Night,' 'Hidden Harbor,' 'Rainy Road,' 'Echo Lake' and 'Every Last Star.' A bookmark in the top book reads: 'A number is hiding on this cart. Judge these books by their covers, starting from the top.' What is the number? It's your third digit.
Hint: Only how each title begins matters.AnswerThreeThe first letters of the titles, top to bottom, spell T-H-R-E-E, so the third digit is 3. -
Puzzle 4Solved
Inside the card catalog is a card with a coded question: 'IPX NBOZ MFHT EPFT B TQJEFS IBWF.' The librarian's code moves every letter one step forward in the alphabet (A becomes B, B becomes C). Decode the question and answer it. The answer is your fourth digit.
Hint: Move each letter one step back: I becomes H, P becomes O.Answer8The question decodes to 'HOW MANY LEGS DOES A SPIDER HAVE,' and a spider has 8 legs, so the fourth digit is 8. -
Puzzle 5Solved
Five books stand on the last shelf in spots numbered 1 to 5 from left to right: an atlas, a cookbook, a diary, a dictionary and a poetry book. The atlas is in the middle spot. The dictionary is at the far right. The poetry book is right next to the dictionary, on its left. The cookbook is not at the far left. Which numbered spot holds the cookbook? That spot number is your final digit.
Hint: Place the atlas, dictionary and poetry book first. Then only two spots are left.Answer2The atlas is in spot 3, the dictionary in 5, the poetry book in 4, and since the cookbook can't be in spot 1, it's in spot 2, so the final digit is 2.
The lock clicks open!
You spin the dial to 4-7-3-8-2 and the lock clicks open. You slip out into the cool night air, and yes, you still checked out that book.