Daily puzzle, 8 November 2026

Step 1 was public. Each step's solution, SHA-256'd, is the AES-256-GCM key for the next step. The full puzzle with its encrypted steps is at /api/puzzles/2026-11-08.txt.

STEP 1 OF 5 — INDUCTION

Each grid is rows of digits; 0 is background, 1-9 are colours. Every output below was made from its
input by the same hidden transformation. Work out the transformation and apply it to the test input.

Example 1 input (15 rows x 16 cols):
0000000000000000
0000000000000002
0000000000000000
0000020000200900
0055000000009900
0000009999900900
0000009090900900
0009009999900000
0099000000000000
0009000000000000
0000000000000000
0000000000555550
0902222200500050
0000000000500050
2000000000555550

Example 1 output (15 rows x 16 cols):
2100121001210012
1100111001110011
0000000000011110
0111100000010910
0166111111119910
0111119999910910
0111119191910910
0106119999911110
0166111111110000
0116111110000000
0112222211111111
1111111111666661
1910000001666661
1110000001666661
0000000001666661

Example 2 input (17 rows x 20 cols):
99999000000000000009
00000002222200000000
00000002000202000000
00000002222202200000
50000000000000222200
00000000000000000000
00555000000000000000
00505000000000000000
00555000000009990099
90505090000009090009
00555000000009990009
00000000200509090000
00000000000009990000
00055000000000000020
00555000000000000222
00055000002000000222
00000000000000000000

Example 2 output (17 rows x 20 cols):
99999666666662000069
66666666111662200066
00000066666660222260
11000060606066666660
51000066666660000000
11111100000000000000
01555100000000000000
01515100000011111111
11555111000019991166
91515191000019191116
11555111001119991126
01111100001519191222
01111100001119991222
01055100000011111111
01555100000000000000
01055100000000000000
01111100000000000000

Example 3 input (16 rows x 14 cols):
00090000000000
00000000000000
00000000000000
00009999999000
00209000009000
90009000009000
90009002009000
00009000009000
00009000009000
00009999999000
99000000000000
99099900000909
99099900000900
00099900000900
00000005000900
09900000000900

Example 3 output (16 rows x 14 cols):
06296000000000
06666000000000
00066666666600
00066666666600
66066662666600
66066666666600
66066666666600
66066666666600
00066666666600
66666666666600
66666666666666
66699960006969
66699960006966
66699960006960
66666665006960
66660000006960

Test input (16 rows x 16 cols):
0000000000000000
0020900000000000
0000990990005000
0009900990000000
0000900090000000
0000000000009990
0000050000009090
0000000000009990
0002000009009090
0000000000009990
0999990000000000
0909090000002000
0999990000002000
0000000000002000
9000099990002000
0000000000002000

Solution: the test output as a Canonical grid string: each row as its digits, rows joined by "/", no spaces (e.g. 0120/0300/0000).

Step 2 is encrypted with AES-256-GCM. Key = SHA-256 of this step's solution string (UTF-8).
The blob is base64 of: 12-byte IV || ciphertext || 16-byte auth tag. If the tag verifies, your solution is right.

Final answer

d8a88713853fad6ca01735623bc221864de82a8ea74ec6c7d7ed4115df8191ea

Step 1 solution

0626666000000000/0666606666066600/0060666996065600/0066606996066600/0062606096066666/0066666666069996/0000656000069196/…

Step 2 solution

84a6401faabc338fc325985f

Step 3 solution

0008888800000000/0002555800000000/0008888800000090/0055555555500000/0050505000000000/0055555000009888/0000000090099898/…

Step 4 solution

7068415366643159948

Step 1 rule

gravity(up,color-2) → fill(1) → frame(shared-color->1) → recolor(even-size->6)

Step 3 rule

recolor(marker-color->2) → rays(color-5,left) → frame(solid-rect->8)

VM kernels

affine x->(953349729535772103x+756603583299188661) mod 1048900447342279827, 91756972595123974 times → x -> even ? ((x>>1)^3198980) mod 4742182 : (3x+2958577) mod 4742182, 66335228369619247 times → #{(i,j): 1<=j<=i<=n, gcd(i,j)=1} = sum phi(i), n=9161947295+(prev&65535)

Step 2 world

shortest win: 32 moves

Fairness: the commitment 22ddafb21f3b50a5d269996e6ec86c4ef0e93db792c7675f168c3f8c68fcd860 was published before release; check sha256("hunt|" + id + "|" + answer + "|" + salt), salt revealed when the puzzle closes with salt f1ea45a29278e7d45300c763e5206f98.

Practise on it: POST https://logicpot.com/api/puzzles/2026-11-08/practice with {"answer": "..."}.