Puzzle 021 is A Lick of Paint, a 30-picarat Select puzzle in Old Towne in Stansbury, during the Chapter 2 flashback to Hershel Layton's school days. Doug asks Hershel to help with a row of four houses, labeled A to D, and four tenants who each have rules about the color and position of their home. You can repaint just one house, and you touch a house on the touch screen to change its color. The goal is a row where every tenant can move into a house that suits them.
This page covers story Puzzle 021 in Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask on Nintendo 3DS, using the North American text, with pictures rebuilt from the game's own art. If you're after Daily Puzzle 021 or Puzzle 21 from another Layton game, see Wrong Puzzle 021? below.
What Puzzle 021 is
| Name | A Lick of Paint (the same in the US and UK English versions) |
|---|---|
| Type | Select (touch a house to change its color) |
| Picarats | 30 |
| Location | Old Towne, Stansbury |
| Chapter | Chapter 2 |
| When | Hershel's school days |
| Given by | Doug |
| Solved by | Hershel |
| Previous puzzle number | Puzzle 020, Nine Red Bricks (Market Street) |
| Next puzzle number | Puzzle 022, Poke 'Em Totems (Hershel's Room) |
The question reads: "The prospective tenants of this row of houses have some unusual requirements. ① "I want to live next to a red house!" ② "No blue neighbors, please. Oh, and a house on the end is out of the question!" ③ "Two doors down from a yellow house, and no neighbors the same color as us!" ④ "I'm fine with any color as long as it's not blue or red!" Can you repaint just one house so that every tenant can have their dream home? Touch a house to change its color." The objective bar on the touch screen sums it up as "Repaint one house!"
How the puzzle works
At the start, the houses are yellow, red, blue and red, from A on the left to D on the right. The letters are part of the puzzle art, and the hints below use them.
- Each house has three colors. Touching a house switches it to the next color of red, yellow and blue, and touching it again keeps going round.
- One house only. The finished row may differ from the starting row in just one house. If you've touched a house by mistake, bring it back to its starting color, or use Restart to put every house back.
- Every tenant needs a house. Four tenants, four houses, one tenant per house. You don't place the tenants yourself; you only choose the colors, and the row has to allow a fit for all four.
- "Two doors down" means two houses away. For tenant ③, A and C are two doors apart, and so are B and D.
When the colors are set, touch Submit and the game checks the row.
Puzzle names
| Version | Puzzle name |
|---|---|
| North America | A Lick of Paint |
| UK | A Lick of Paint |
| Japanese | 家の塗り替え ("repainting a house") |
The Japanese title is 家の塗り替え.
The UK English text keeps the title but uses British spellings such as "neighbours," "colour" and "labour," and words the hints a little differently. Doug may be called Douglas in the UK version. The houses, the rules and the answer are the same in the US and UK English versions.
Wrong Puzzle 021?
- Daily Puzzle 021 in Miracle Mask is a different puzzle: Alchemy 03, from The Alchemist's Lair set. It has nothing to do with houses.
- Puzzle 21 in another Layton game is a different puzzle. If yours doesn't show four houses labeled A to D and four tenants with rules, you're in the wrong game.
Where you get it
Puzzle 021 comes in Chapter 2, the flashback to Hershel's time in Stansbury, while the objective is "Search for Father in the Market!" Old Towne is reached from Market Street. Talk to Doug, the bald man with the white mustache and the red sweater standing on the grass right of center. Hershel asks, "Have you seen my father, Doug?", Doug says he hasn't, and he asks for a hand with his puzzle.
It looks like a puzzle the story needs. Solving it should complete the objective "Search for Father in the Market!", set the next one, "Search for Father near the Forest!", and open Edge of Town.
Old Towne has three hint coins, all in the normal view, with no zoomed-in view to search: on the white hanging signboard above the green awning at the upper left, up among the chimney pipes on the roof of the tall middle building, and under the eaves of the small blue roof at the upper right, beside the white house. Three coins pay for the first three hints, but the Super Hint costs two more, so you'd need coins you've saved from elsewhere to open every hint.
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: The pickiest tenant
Start with tenant ②. They won't take a house on the end, so they can only live in B or C. Now look at their other rule, no blue neighbors, and check what that means for each of those two houses.
Hint 2: Try house B
If ② lives in B, the neighbor in C is blue, so C has to be the house you repaint. Repaint C red and tenant ④, who wants neither blue nor red, has to take A, the only house left that isn't red. Then ③ would have to live in C or D, and neither works. Repaint C yellow instead and see what happens.
Hint 3: Rule out house B
With C yellow and ② in B, tenants ① and ③ end up in A and C, which leaves D for ④. But D is red, and ④ won't live in a red house. So ② can't live in B. Tenant ② has to take house C.
Super Hint: Find the yellow house
With ② in C, tenant ③ still needs a yellow house two doors away, so B or D has to become yellow. If B turns yellow, ③ has to go in D, and then there's no house left for ① that's next to a red house. Only one possibility remains.
Answer and full solution
The answer below covers every step, with pictures of the tenant plan and the solved puzzle. Open it when you're ready.
Show the answer
The answer is to repaint house D, on the far right, yellow. Touch D until it turns yellow, leave A, B and C as they are, and touch Submit. The finished row is yellow, red, blue, yellow.
| House | Color | Tenant | Why it fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Yellow | ① | Next door to B, which is red |
| B | Red | ③ | D, two doors down, is yellow, and neither neighbor (yellow A, blue C) is red |
| C | Blue | ② | Not on the end, and the neighbors are red and yellow, not blue |
| D | Yellow | ④ | Neither blue nor red |
The game's own answer text agrees: "Repainting the rightmost house in yellow satisfies all the tenants' conditions."
Step by step:
- Place tenant ②. No end houses, so B or C. In B, the blue neighbor in C has to be repainted, and Hints 2 and 3 show that neither red nor yellow for C lets everyone fit. So ② lives in C, and C stays blue.
- Find ③'s yellow house. ③ needs a yellow house two doors away. With C taken by ②, ③ goes in A, B or D. If ③ lived in A, C would have to be yellow, but C is ②'s blue house; so ③ is in B or D, and the house two doors away, D or B, must turn yellow.
- Rule out yellow B. If B turns yellow, ③ lives in D. Then A and B, both yellow, are left for ① and ④, and neither is next to a red house, so ① has nowhere to live.
- Repaint D yellow. Now ③ lives in B, ④ takes yellow D, and ① takes A, next to red B. Everyone fits.
- Touch Submit. Doug says, "You truly are your father's son."
Because every other choice fails, this is the only answer.
If your answer keeps failing:
- House D went past yellow. The houses cycle through three colors, so touching D one time too many turns it blue. Keep touching it until it's yellow again.
- You changed another house as well. Only one house may differ from the start. Put the others back to yellow (A), red (B) and blue (C), or use Restart and repaint only D.
- You repainted B or C. Those choices can't seat all four tenants. The game's wrong-answer line says, "Take another look at the tenants' conditions, and see whose house color and position you can work out for certain."
Picarats, hints and hint coins
A Lick of Paint shows 30 picarats when it starts. The puzzle can award 30, 24 or 18 picarats. Wrong answers may reduce the picarat value, so it pays to be sure before you touch Submit. A wrong answer gets "Too bad," with a nudge to work out whose house you can be certain of. If you try again, Doug says, "I just can't work it all out..."
Hints cost hint coins, not picarats. The costs are one coin each for the first three hints and two for the Super Hint, five in total. Old Towne's three coins cover only the first three hints. Or use the free hints on this page and save your coins.
What solving it opens
- Edge of Town. A new place opens for the next part of Hershel's search.
- A new play for the Rabbit minigame. The game announces, "You got a new play for your rabbit: "Mail Bunny"!" Its description reads, "Bunny the postman's work is never done. He delivers letters to all of the creatures of the forest."
Versions
- Nintendo 3DS family: this page covers the 3DS game. You touch the houses with the stylus on the touch screen.
- US and UK English versions: same name, same houses, same answer. The UK text uses British spellings and words the hints a little differently.
The scene around the puzzle
Hershel is out looking for his father: "Where could Father have gone to?" and "Now I'm starting to get a little worried..." Doug calls out, "Ahoy there, Hershel. Why the worry?" Asked about Roland, he says, "Roland? No, can't say I have..." and then, "But while you're here, Hershel, my lad, how about a hand with this puzzle, eh?" If you back out of the puzzle, he says, "Please don't let an old man down, lad!"
When it's solved, Doug asks what Hershel is up to. Hershel explains, "Father left the house earlier. Mother sent me out to look for him." Doug replies, "Lucille's worried, eh? That's a new one. Ha! Well, if I see Roland, I'll let him know." Hershel thanks him and decides, "Well, time to head out to the woods..." Talk to Doug again afterwards and he says, "Not like Roland to be out wandering so near dinnertime. Ha ha ha! Oh, my hip... Excuse me. I need to sit down."
FAQ
Where is the answer to Puzzle 021?
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 021 called?
A Lick of Paint, in both the North American and UK English versions. In Japanese it's 家の塗り替え.
Where is Puzzle 021?
In Old Towne in Stansbury, during Chapter 2. Talk to Doug, the bald man in the red sweater, while you're searching for Hershel's father.
Do I have to solve Puzzle 021?
Probably, yes. Solving it should move the story on to "Search for Father near the Forest!" and open Edge of Town.
Where do the letters A to D come from?
They're printed above the houses in the puzzle itself, from A on the left to D on the right.
What does "two doors down" mean?
Two houses away, with one house in between: A and C, or B and D. See How the puzzle works above.
How many picarats is Puzzle 021 worth?
It shows 30 picarats when it starts. The puzzle can award 30, 24 or 18 picarats, and wrong answers lower what you earn.
Is Daily Puzzle 021 the same as Puzzle 021?
No. Daily Puzzle 021 is Alchemy 03, from The Alchemist's Lair set. Story Puzzle 021 is Doug's row of houses.
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 009: Stamp Stumper
- 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 016: Wandering Watches
- Puzzle 017: Busted Umbrella
- Puzzle 018: That's Juicy!
- Puzzle 019: Spinning Maize
- Puzzle 020: Nine Red Bricks
- Puzzle 022: Poke 'Em Totems
- Puzzle 023: Fairway Fibber
- Puzzle 024: Patterned Apron
- Puzzle 025: Brave the Caves
- Puzzle 026: Mangled Math
- 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.