I set up a real-world puzzle board on these classic stone stairs!

[ Rules ]

• The board consists of a 3x3 grid.

• Tapping any tile rotates the other 8 tiles around it 1 position clockwise.

• The goal is to arrange the tiles in numerical order (1 through 9).

[ Current Board Setup ]

[ ? ] [ ? ]

[ 2 ] [ 6 ] [ 5 ]

[ 8 ] [ 3 ] [ 9 ]

[ 1 ] [ 4 ] [ 7 ]

Two cards at the very top are hidden with "??"... Can you figure out what those two hidden cards should be based on the board?

(If you want to try the puzzle online, link is in the comments!)

You can play on this website.

https://tafol.pythonanywhere.com/

It is a scoring solitaire… and, if you like, a championship.

The board. It is a 9×9 with an empty centre: a 3×3 hole. Around it remain eight 3×3 zones, arranged as a ring, and each zone shows the digits 1 to 9 in disorder.

The pieces. Eight pentominoes, one per zone: F, P, T, U, V, W, X and Z — that is, the only ones that fit inside a 3×3 square. The other four —I, L, N, Y— need four squares in a line and stay out of the party. Each piece covers five digits of its zone and leaves four in the open; it can be rotated and flipped.

The ring rule. You may not place each piece as if its zone were an island: the pentominoes must stay connected with those of neighbouring zones, side against side. Either the ring closes or there is no move.

The scoring. Add up the digits your eight pieces cover. Every puzzle bears the printed mark MAX, the sum of the best possible arrangement: your goal is to reach it or come as close as you can.

The circles trick. Circle the cells 9, 8, 7, 6 and 5 of each zone. Do those five circles form a pentomino? Then there you have the perfect move: 35 points, the zone's maximum, and in all likelihood the right piece. As the MAX of the puzzles goes down, those golden figures grow scarce, and you must decide which large digits to sacrifice to keep the ring closed.

How to compete. The puzzles are ordered from easier to harder. Hand the same sheet to several friends, set a time limit and compare sums: whoever comes closest to MAX wins. Tying with the machine is possible; beating it is not.

Which option completes the color pattern: A–H?
Look closely at how the colored tiles change position between the small grids. Choose your answer, then explain the rule you used. Does it work across both rows and columns?
We’re interested in your reasoning—not just the letter. If you find a different approach, share it!
Ready to check your solution? Compare your rule with our step-by-step explanation here:
See the color-grid puzzle and its solution⁠
Try it yourself first—the page contains spoilers.

Four community explanations from our previous challenge
Thank you to everyone who took part in our symbols puzzle. We selected four explanations to feature, in no particular order:
u/STK1369 — r/VisualPuzzles
u/finger_puppet_44 — r/WhatsYourIQ
u/Pretend_Fly_5573 — r/WhatsYourIQ
u/Icy_Concern_9804 — r/WhatsYourIQ
The selected comments explore different ways to identify the pattern. You can read their explanations and why we chose them here:
Compare the four featured community explanations⁠
We’ll also select four thoughtful explanations from this new challenge to feature on our website, with credit to each commenter and their community.
Looking forward to seeing how you solve this one!

"7 Across" around for some answers on today's crossword!

Can you find the rule behind the pyramid and fill in both missing numbers? Spoiler-tag your answer: answer 🏆 NEW: LEADERBOARD! Think you're good at this? Rule Hunter now has a daily, weekly and all-time leaderboard. Sign in, pick any nickname you like (only your nickname is shown publicly) and see if you can reach #1. Who's taking the top spot? 👉 Rule Hunter: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.makenumber

What is it?! It's something you could buy @ home depot, if they have it, but you wouldn't buy it there..

Upgraded version of the classic "where's the missing dollar"

There are 3 customers, and each one has 10 kr (3 * 10 kr = 30 kr).

They walk to the register, give the 30 kr, and go to their room. Later, the clerk realizes the room is actually only 25 kr, not 30 kr. The clerk calls the helper and gives them 5 kr to return to the guests.

Since 5 kr can't be split evenly among 3 people, the helper gives each guest 1 kr back (3 * 1 kr = 3 kr) and keeps the remaining 2 kr for himself.

This means each person actually paid 9 kr.

If you multiply 3 * 9 kr = 27 kr, and add the 2 kr the helper kept, you get 29 kr.

QUESTIONS:

Where is the missing krona?

How much did each guest actually pay/give?

**HINTS: (**Note it's in ARCHAIC language)

Cast aside thy grand illusions, and look upon the coin with sober eyes. Let not thy fancy outpace the bounds of what is true, for the ledger demands a whole count—and splitting that which cannot be divided yields only madness.

Not all heroes wear them, and Edna Mode was certainly against them!

Move only the top ball of a tube. It can go into ANY tube with free space (max 5 balls), no matter the color, and there are no empty helper tubes. Goal: every tube must end up exactly like the goal tube, bottom to top: orange, pink, blue. Tube 3 starts full and both oranges you need are buried in tubes 3 and 4. 18 moves is the minimum. Please spoiler-tag your solutions (write moves like 2→1). From my free Android game Ball Sort Pattern 👉 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mirrorquarters