Puzzle 009 is Stamp Stumper, a hidden 35-picarat Multiple Choice puzzle in Madame Lapushka's costume shop. Nobody hands it to you: you find it by examining the golden sun mask above the doorway on the far right, and then Luke sets the puzzle for Emmy. The top screen shows a wooden stamp carved with a blazing sun and four paper prints, A to D. You have to work out which print the stamp would make if you pressed it onto paper. The hints below open one at a time, and the answer stays hidden until you choose to show it.
This page covers story Puzzle 009 in Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask on Nintendo 3DS, using the North American text. If you're after Daily Puzzle 009 or the Curious Village puzzle with the same name, see Wrong Puzzle 009? below.
What Puzzle 009 is
| Name (North America) | Stamp Stumper |
|---|---|
| Name (UK) | Stamp Stumper |
| Type | Multiple Choice (tap A, B, C or D) |
| Picarats | 35 |
| Location | Madame Lapushka's, Monte d'Or |
| Chapter | Chapter 1 |
| How you get it | Examine the golden sun mask above the doorway on the far right |
| Who solves it | Emmy. Luke sets the puzzle |
| Required for the story? | Probably not: it's a hidden puzzle that the story doesn't send you to |
| Hints | Three hints and a Super Hint |
| Previous / next puzzle | 008 Carnival Colors (Carnival Square) / 010 The Place to Be! (Ludmilla, in the same shop) |
The question says the stamp is "adorned with a blazing-sun motif" and asks you to picture how the design will look after you "plonk the stamp down onto a piece of paper." The stamp's face is on the left of the top screen: a spiral in the middle with a ring of spiky rays around it. The four prints, A and B on the top row and C and D below, all look alike at a glance. Tap the letter of the print you think the stamp makes on the touch screen, then submit.
Stamp Stumper and other names
The puzzle is called Stamp Stumper in the US and UK English versions, and the picture and the answer are the same in both. In Japanese it's 太陽のスタンプ. The North American release also carries an internal Japanese label for it, かしましい会話 ("a noisy chat"), which doesn't describe it and differs from the released title.
| Version | Puzzle name |
|---|---|
| English (North America) | Stamp Stumper |
| English (UK) | Stamp Stumper |
| Japanese | 太陽のスタンプ (Taiyō no Sutanpu, "the sun stamp") |
Wrong Puzzle 009?
- Daily Puzzle 009 in Miracle Mask is a different puzzle: Mural 01, from the Vault of the Ancients set (Tomb 01, from the Tomb of the Ancients set, in the UK version). It has nothing to do with stamps.
- Stamp Stumper in Professor Layton and the Curious Village is a different puzzle with the same English name. That one is Puzzle 044, and it's about dividing a sheet of postage stamps into groups. If you have a sheet of priced stamps in front of you, you're in the wrong game.
- Puzzle 010 is the one Ludmilla gives you in the same shop: The Place to Be! (The Long Wait in the UK). Puzzle 009 comes from the mask on the wall, not from talking to anyone.
Where to find the sun mask
Madame Lapushka's is the costume and mask shop in Monte d'Or, and you can go in during Chapter 1 after talking to Nils outside. Inside, look at the far right of the room. A golden mask shaped like a sun hangs above the doorway with the red curtain. Tap it while you're examining the scene. Emmy says it looks a bit like the Mask of Chaos, Luke agrees, and then he brings out a puzzle he's been meaning to show someone. That's Stamp Stumper.
If you back out without solving it, you can come back to the mask and try again. The mask probably keeps the puzzle until you solve it. It's safest to solve it the first time you find it.
Madame Lapushka's has three hint coins, all in the normal view of the shop. There's no zoomed-in view with extra coins here.
- Normal view: the bottom-left drawer, the box on top of the tall cabinet on the left and the candle on the stand on the right side of the room. The item further right, on the far wall, is a pen, not a coin.
The shop also hides a collectible: the Warped Mirror is in the large urn in the back-left corner. Puzzles 047 and 068 turn up here later in the game.
Hints, one at a time
These follow the game's own hints, in the same order, with a little more explanation. Open only the next one you need. In the game, Hints 1 to 3 cost one hint coin each and the Super Hint costs two.
Hint 1: think about printing
When you press a stamp onto paper, the print isn't the same as the face of the stamp. It comes out as a mirror image.
Keep that in mind and compare each option with the stamp very carefully. Every part of the design has to be flipped, not just some of it.
Hint 2: the spiral and the rays
The design has two parts: the spiral in the middle and the rays around the outside.
In Option A, the rays are mirrored, but the spiral isn't. A half-flipped design can't be the print, so you can rule out A.
Hint 3: the copy
Put Option B next to the stamp face. They're exactly the same.
That's what the stamp looks like, not what it prints, so B is out too.
Super Hint: the last two
Option C looks new, but it's just Option B turned around. Rotating a design doesn't mirror it, so you can exclude C.
That leaves only one option. Check it against the stamp to be sure.
Answer and full solution
The answer below names the right print and explains why, with pictures of the solved puzzle. Open it when you're ready.
Show the answer
The answer is D. Tap D on the touch screen and submit. The game's explanation: "The spiral in the middle and the rays around the outside will both be mirrored when you press the stamp."
| Option | Spiral | Rays | What it is | The print? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | Not mirrored | Mirrored | Half flipped (from the game's Hint 2) | No |
| B | Not mirrored | Not mirrored | The stamp face itself | No |
| C | Not mirrored | Not mirrored | B turned upside down | No |
| D | Mirrored | Mirrored | The stamp face flipped over | Yes |
Step by step:
- Remember how stamps work. The face of a stamp is pressed against the paper, so the print is its mirror image. Every part of the design flips: the spiral in the middle and the rays around it.
- Rule out A. Its rays are mirrored but its spiral isn't. Half flipped isn't a print.
- Rule out B. It's identical to the stamp face. That's the stamp, not the print.
- Rule out C. Turn B upside down and you get C. Turning a design doesn't mirror it, so C isn't the print either.
- Check D. Picture the stamp face flipped over. In the North American art, D lines up with the stamp face flipped top to bottom, with the spiral winding the other way and the rays reversed. You may also see the flip described as left-to-right.
- Tap D and submit. The game confirms it with "You'll get D," and A, B and C are crossed out on the top screen.
If your answer keeps failing:
- You picked A. Look at the spiral in the middle, not just the rays. In A it still winds the same way as on the stamp.
- You picked B. B is a perfect copy of the stamp face. A print has to be the reverse of the face.
- You picked C. C is B rotated, and rotating isn't mirroring. Compare C with B turned upside down.
- You can't see a difference. Follow the spiral from its center outward on the stamp and on each print, and check which way it turns.
Picarats, hints and hint coins
Stamp Stumper is worth 35 picarats, and wrong answers can drop it to 26 and then 18. How many misses lead to each drop isn't clear, so it pays to check before you submit. A wrong answer gets "Too bad," with the advice not to rush and to compare each of the options carefully, and you can try again.
Hints cost hint coins, not picarats: one coin each for the first three hints and two for the Super Hint, five in total. The three coins in Madame Lapushka's cover the first three hints but not the Super Hint. Or use the free hints on this page and save your coins.
Versions and systems
- Nintendo 3DS, 3DS XL, 2DS and New 3DS: no difference. It's a tap-to-choose puzzle with no motion controls.
- US and UK English versions: the same name, the same picture and the same answer.
- Miracle Mask Plus: this puzzle appears to be unchanged.
- Other systems: Miracle Mask is a 3DS game. There's no Switch, mobile or PC version of it as of October 2026.
The scene around the puzzle
Emmy spots the mask first: "Doesn't that mask look a little bit like the Mask of Chaos to you? I wonder if it's supposed to symbolize the sun?" Luke agrees that the Masked Gentleman's mask has the same kind of symbol, and then says, "I've been meaning to show someone this puzzle. Would you like to have a look?" If you quit, Emmy says, "I'm not sure of the answer..." and if you try again, Luke says, "I was hoping you'd shed some light on this one, Emmy!" When you solve it, Emmy says, "You had a bright idea with that puzzle, Luke," and Luke answers, "Thanks. I'm glad you warmed up to the idea!"
FAQ
Where is the answer to Puzzle 009?
It's in the Answer and full solution section above, hidden until you open it. If you only want a push, open the hints one at a time first.
What is Puzzle 009 called?
Stamp Stumper, in both the North American and UK versions. In Japanese it's 太陽のスタンプ.
Where is Puzzle 009?
In Madame Lapushka's. Examine the golden sun mask above the doorway on the far right. Talking to Ludmilla in the same shop gives you Puzzle 010 instead.
Can you miss Puzzle 009?
It's hidden, so you can walk past it. It probably stays on the mask until you solve it. It's safest to solve it the first time you find it.
How many picarats is Puzzle 009 worth?
35 picarats if you get it right the first time.
Is this the same Stamp Stumper as in Curious Village?
No. Curious Village has its own Stamp Stumper, Puzzle 044, about a sheet of postage stamps. Miracle Mask's Puzzle 009 is about a rubber-stamp style print.
Is Daily Puzzle 009 the same as Puzzle 009?
No. Daily Puzzle 009 is Mural 01, from the Vault of the Ancients set (Tomb 01, from the Tomb of the Ancients set, in the UK version). Story Puzzle 009 is the sun stamp.
More Miracle Mask puzzles
- Puzzle 001: Stumble's Balloons
- Puzzle 002: Where's Mother?
- Puzzle 003: Stumble's Banners
- Puzzle 004: Bumper Perspective
- Puzzle 005: Robot Factory
- Puzzle 006: Bunny-Hop Swap
- Puzzle 007: A Toasty Toast
- Puzzle 008: Carnival Colors
- Puzzle 010: The Place to Be!
- Puzzle 011: Backstage Blunder
- Puzzle 012: Sharing the Burden
- Puzzle 013: Ancient Arti-facts
- Puzzle 014: Bite of Bygone Days
- Puzzle 015: Fix the Fossil
- Puzzle 60: Dangerous Holes
- Puzzle 100: Gate to the Ruins!
- Puzzle 113: Chip Champions
- Puzzle 118: Evenly Matched 3
- Puzzle 122: Kitty Solitaire 3
For the rest of the game's puzzles, see the Miracle Mask puzzle index.