Pegs

Hard Pegs codes

Hard codes are five pegs of seven colors, repeats allowed: 16,807 codes it could be, in ten rows. Every guess has to fit all the scores before it, so keep them all in mind, or in your notes. Five or six guesses is good going.

Practice gives you codes you haven't played yet, as many as you like, and keeps your best time without hints. Every code can be cracked from the scores your guesses get, and once a game is over, a review shows how well each guess did.

How to play Pegs

1. A code of four or five colored pegs is hidden at the top of the board.
2. Guess a row of pegs. Its score is two numbers: how many pegs are the right color in the right slot (by the solid dot), and how many more are a right color in the wrong slot (by the ring). On easy codes, each peg also wears its mark, and a peg whose color isn't in the code fades; from medium on, the score doesn't say which pegs they are.
3. Crack the code in as few guesses as you can, before the rows run out.

Tap a color to put it in the slot that's next, tap a slot to choose it, and press Guess. In easier levels every peg of the code is a different color, and so is every guess; in the others a color can come twice or more. Notes is a grid of every color in every slot: cross off what you've ruled out, the way you would on paper. On a keyboard, 1 to 8 pick colors, Backspace takes one out and Enter guesses. Everyone gets the same code each day, and you're ranked by guesses, then time. Once it's over, a review shows how many codes each guess left, and how well the best guess could have done.

Solving tips

• Spread out early. A first guess with two or three colors, like two reds and two blues, tells you more than four of one color.
• Add up the score. Its two numbers together count the right colors, wherever they are. A score of 0 and 0 rules every color in the guess out.
• Guess what could be it. Before you guess, check the row against every score so far. A guess that can't be the code can still teach you something, but one that could be might win.
• Stuck? A hint says how many codes still fit every score, what they all share, and a good next guess.