Case 33 · code-breaking / path · Medium · About 8–12 minutes
The keeper of a winter garden uses four-letter route cards. A card’s outside letters connect it to other cards; its second letter carries a fragment of the destination password.
Several cards lead somewhere useful eventually. Tonight, however, the gate accepts a journey of one exact length.
Choose and order exactly five different cards from this tray:
VJWE · KTWS · ARPM · KSYP · LFXA · EVXA · QUMV · ESVK · AIZQ · MOQE
- The first card must begin with L.
- The last card must end with S.
- The last letter of each card must equal the first letter of the following card.
- No card may be used twice. Cards cannot be reversed or altered.
For example, a card ending in Q may be followed by a card beginning with Q. The cards need not spell ordinary words.
Once you have a valid five-card route, read the second letter of each card in route order. What five-letter password opens the gate?
All tray entries are distinct. You must obey the exact route length even if a longer journey also reaches an S-ending card. There are no invisible cards between the printed ones.
Hint 1 - reveal when you want a nudge
Only LFXA can start. After it, the two A-starting cards create the first real choice.
Hint 2 - reveal when you want a nudge
AIZQ forces QUMV and then VJWE. After four cards that route ends at E, with only one card remaining. Can any E-starting card finish at S?
Reveal the solution and explanation
The route is LFXA → ARPM → MOQE → ESVK → KTWS. Its second letters give FROST.
LFXA is forced by the starting rule. If AIZQ follows it, QUMV and VJWE are forced next. Four cards have then been used and the route reaches E. Neither ESVK nor EVXA ends in S, so that branch cannot finish in one more card.
Taking ARPM second instead forces MOQE third. At E, choosing EVXA would leave the route at A after four cards. Neither available A-starting card ends in S. Therefore ESVK must be fourth. It leads to K, where KTWS completes the route and KSYP does not.
That branch analysis considers every choice reachable under the rules. It establishes uniqueness without assuming the password must be a recognizable word. In particular, the longer route through Q and V is not a rival solution: it needs six cards to reach KTWS. Counting cards rather than connections is essential. Five cards contain four joins.
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