Puzzle 035 is Guess Stars, a 40-picarat puzzle from Nils at Ledore Mansion Gate in Chapter 3. If your game calls it Twinkle Tops, you have the UK English version and you're in the right place. A bartender turns five bottle caps over 25 times at random, then covers one with her hand. You choose whether its star logo is facing up (A) or down (B).
This page covers story Puzzle 035 in Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask on Nintendo 3DS, in the US and UK English versions. If you're after Daily Puzzle 035 or Puzzle 035 from another Layton game, see Wrong Puzzle 035? below.
What Puzzle 035 is
| Name | Guess Stars (Twinkle Tops in the UK version) |
|---|---|
| Type | Multiple Choice (A or B) |
| Picarats | 40 |
| Location | Ledore Mansion Gate, Monte d'Or |
| Chapter | Chapter 3 |
| Puzzle giver | Nils |
| Comes after | Puzzle 034, The Cat's Trophy |
| Comes before | Puzzle 036, Going Dough-Nuts! |
The puzzle says: "The bartender places five bottle caps on the bar, with the star logos facing up. She closes her eyes and starts turning caps over at random, counting every turn. Once she reaches 25, she suddenly slams her hand onto the bar, covers up one of the caps, and asks you, 'Is the logo on this cap facing up or down?'" The objective bar says, "Which way up is it?"
In the game, the top screen shows the bar after the 25th turn. Four caps are still visible: two with the star facing up and two facing down. The fifth is under the bartender's hand. The touch screen shows a star-up cap above button A and a face-down cap above button B. Tap A or B to answer.
Why you don't need to flip 25 times
"At random" makes it sound like a guess. Any cap can be turned at any time, so you can't follow the caps one by one, and acting out 25 flips only gives you one possible ending.
You don't need to know which caps were turned. One thing changes in the same way every time a cap is turned over, whichever cap it is. The game's hints point you to it, and once you see it, the number 25 is all you need.
Puzzle names
The puzzle is called Guess Stars in the North American version. The UK English version calls it Twinkle Tops. The caps, the 25 flips and the answer are the same in the US and UK English versions.
| Version | Puzzle name |
|---|---|
| North America | Guess Stars |
| UK English | Twinkle Tops |
| Japanese | キャップの裏表 (Kyappu no Ura-Omote, "cap heads or tails") |
The Japanese title is キャップの裏表. The North American version labels it チップの裏表.
Wrong Puzzle 035?
- Daily Puzzle 035 in Miracle Mask is a different puzzle: Big Block Box 04.
- Puzzle 035 in another Layton game is a different puzzle. If yours doesn't show bottle caps with stars on them, you're in the wrong game.
Where you get it
In Chapter 3, after you look around Henry's Study in Ledore Mansion and talk to Angela, leave the mansion. Nils is standing at Ledore Mansion Gate. He says, "Psst... How's it going?" He offers to tell you about a "dirty power struggle going on beneath the surface" of Monte d'Or, but only if you solve his puzzle first.
If you quit, Nils says, "If you don't want the truth behind what's going on, no skin off my back." Talk to him again and he says, "I've got this puzzle here. If you want my info, you better solve it."
Ledore Mansion Gate has four hint coins: in the planter, on the ivy, in the tree and at the base of the street lamp.
If you leave Puzzle 035 unsolved, it should go to Nanna Grams (known as Elizabeth in the UK version) at the start of Chapter 5. Missed puzzles can be picked up later, but not every hidden puzzle is, so it's safest to solve it while you're there.
When the answer comes back wrong
- "Do you notice anything as you keep flipping caps over and over?" That's the game's message for a wrong answer. It's telling you to look for a pattern, not to guess.
- You acted out 25 flips and got the other answer. A random run only matches the puzzle if the four caps you can see also end the way the picture shows them: two up and two down. Count every turn as one flip, even when the same cap is turned twice in a row.
- You can't find Nils. He's outside the mansion, at the gate, once you've finished in the study. He isn't inside Ledore Mansion.
Hints, one at a time
These hints follow the game's own hints. 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: Try it with real objects
Find five things you can turn over, like coins, and try it. Once you spot a rule, you won't need to flip anything 25 times.
Hint 2: Count after each flip
All five caps start facing up. Flip one and four are facing up. Flip another and three are facing up. Flip another and two are facing up. Do you see a pattern?
Hint 3: Flips and caps facing up
Compare the number of flips with the number of caps facing up. After an even number of flips, an odd number of caps are facing up.
Super Hint: Now try an odd number
After an odd number of flips, an even number of caps are facing up. 25 is an odd number, and two of the caps you can see are facing up.
Answer and full solution
The answer below says which way the covered cap faces and explains why. Open it when you're ready.
Show the answer
The answer is B: the covered cap is facing down. Tap B.
Step by step:
- Watch what one flip does. Each turn changes the number of caps facing up by exactly one. It goes up by one if the cap was face down, and down by one if it was face up.
- So each flip switches odd and even. At the start, five caps are up, an odd number. After one flip the count is even, after two it's odd again, and so on.
- 25 flips is an odd number. So after the 25th flip, an even number of caps are facing up.
- Count the caps you can see. Two of the four visible caps are facing up. Two is already even, so the covered cap can't be facing up, or the total would be three.
- That leaves down. The covered cap is facing down, so the answer is B.
The game's message when you're right says, "If you flip the caps an odd number of times, the number of caps facing up will be even, and vice versa."
Picarats, hints and hint coins
Guess Stars shows 40 picarats when it starts. The puzzle can award 40, 20 or 10 picarats. Wrong answers may reduce the picarat value. With only two buttons, a wrong guess costs a lot here, so work it out before you tap.
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. The four coins at the gate don't quite cover all of them, so use the free hints on this page and save your coins.
Does it unlock anything?
Guess Stars probably gives no separate item or minigame reward. You get the picarats and Nils's information about the town.
Versions and systems
- Nintendo 3DS, 3DS XL, 2DS and New 3DS: no difference. You tap a button to answer.
- US and UK English versions: different puzzle name, same caps, same answer.
After the puzzle
When you solve it, Nils says, "As promised, I'll spill the beans. But you gotta promise to pick 'em up." He tells you Mr. Ledore built Monte d'Or with money he found treasure hunting, that Dalston built many of the town's hotels, and that the recent "miracles" seem to be hurting Mr. Ledore's work. Layton points out that Dalston would gain if the Ledore holdings lost their value. Nils says, "I'm no conspiracy theorist, but I think there's a conspiracy here." He doubts Alphonse Dalston is the Masked Gentleman, "But it can't hurt to talk to him."
Talk to him again afterwards and he says, "Power struggles are bad news. Even the winners end up losing something."
FAQ
Where is the answer to Puzzle 035?
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.
Is Twinkle Tops the same puzzle as Guess Stars?
Yes. Guess Stars is the North American name and Twinkle Tops is the UK English name for the same Puzzle 035. In Japanese it's キャップの裏表.
Where is Puzzle 035?
At Ledore Mansion Gate in Chapter 3. Talk to Nils there after you've looked around Henry's Study.
How many picarats is Puzzle 035 worth?
It shows 40 picarats when it starts. The puzzle can award 40, 20 or 10 picarats. Wrong answers may reduce the picarat value.
Is Daily Puzzle 035 the same as Puzzle 035?
No. Daily Puzzle 035 is Big Block Box 04. Story Puzzle 035 is Nils's bottle cap puzzle.
More Miracle Mask puzzles
- Puzzle 034: The Cat's Trophy
- Puzzle 033: Chained Circle
- Puzzle 032: Target Practice
- Puzzle 60: Dangerous Holes
- Puzzle 100: Gate to the Ruins!
For the rest of the game's puzzles, see the Miracle Mask puzzle index.