Puzzle 038 is Pattern Pending, a 25-picarat Arrange puzzle from Puck, the balloon-toting jester outside the circus tent at the One-Ring Circus in Chapter 3. It's optional. A teacher shows his class five patterns, each made from two paper L shapes. None of them is a turned or mirrored copy of another, but all five have something in common. You slide and turn two red L pieces on a 4 by 3 grid to make a sixth pattern that shares that feature, then tap Submit.
This page covers story Puzzle 038 in Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask on Nintendo 3DS (US and UK English), using the North American text. If you're after Daily Puzzle 038, the Japanese version's Puzzle 038 or Puzzle 38 from another Layton game, see Wrong Puzzle 038? below.
What Puzzle 038 is
| Name | Pattern Pending (the same in the US and UK English versions) |
|---|---|
| Type | Arrange (move and turn pieces, then tap Submit) |
| Picarats | 25 |
| Location | One-Ring Circus, outside the circus tent, Monte d'Or |
| Chapter | Chapter 3 |
| Given by | Puck |
| Required for the story? | No |
| Previous puzzle number | Puzzle 037, Spin Shenanigans (City Monument) |
| Next puzzle number | Puzzle 039, A Hat of Tiles (Reception) |
Reading the question
The puzzle says: "A schoolteacher called a bright pupil up to the front of the class and asked him this: "Do you see these five patterns? Each one is made using two paper L shapes. None are rotations or mirrored versions of any other, yet they all have something in common. Using these two L shapes, can you make another pattern that shares the common feature of the other five?" Move and rotate the pieces to form a sixth pattern that shares the common feature." The objective bar says, "Make the missing pattern!"
The top screen shows the blackboard: blue, yellow, green, purple and orange patterns, and a red question mark in the top middle frame, where the sixth one belongs. Each pattern covers six squares of a 4 by 3 grid, three squares for each L. On the touch screen, the two red L pieces start in the upper left and the lower right of an empty 4 by 3 board.
Drag a piece with the stylus to slide it. The pieces can also be turned, a quarter turn at a time, but they can't be flipped over. They start on the grid; if you move one, line it back up with the squares before you tap Submit.
Puzzle names
| Version | Puzzle name |
|---|---|
| North America | Pattern Pending |
| UK English | Pattern Pending |
| Japanese | Puzzle 038 is 水族館のナゾ (Suizokukan no Nazo, "The Aquarium Puzzle"), a different puzzle |
The name is the same in the US and UK English versions. The UK English text writes "L-shapes" with a hyphen and has a few small punctuation changes, but the patterns and the pieces are the same.
The Japanese version's Puzzle 038 isn't this puzzle. It's probably 水族館のナゾ, a word riddle about a big aquarium tank that you answer by writing a word. At the same spot, the North American game has Pattern Pending instead, and it still carries the Japanese label 水族館のナゾ. So a Japanese walkthrough's answer for Puzzle 038 won't help you here.
Wrong Puzzle 038?
- Daily Puzzle 038 in Miracle Mask is a different puzzle: Rabbit 05, from the Food Chain set.
- Puzzle 038 in the Japanese version is 水族館のナゾ, the aquarium riddle described above, not the L-shape puzzle.
- Puzzle 051, Dandy Bears, is also at the One-Ring Circus in Chapter 3. If your puzzle is about bears, you've got that one.
- Puzzle 38 in another Layton game is a different puzzle. If yours doesn't show five patterns on a blackboard and two red L pieces, you're in the wrong game.
Where you get it
Puzzle 038 comes in Chapter 3, once the second day of the investigation in Monte d'Or begins. Puck is standing outside the circus tent at the One-Ring Circus. This page's route picks him up after Humbert's puzzle at the City Monument, on the way to Dalston's house. He says an old man at his hotel called the Masked Gentleman's miracles the real deal, "But that's nonsense. You just gotta look for the patterns in the magic!" and then hands over the puzzle.
If you quit, Puck says, "I guess I was wrong. Maybe some puzzles don't have a solution." Talk to him again and he asks, "Oi! Wanna solve this puzzle?"
The One-Ring Circus has four hint coins, all in the main view: by the palm tree on the left, at the ticket booth, on the pink neon sign and on the arch on the right.
Puck's puzzle isn't required to move the story on. If you leave it unsolved, it probably goes to Nanna Grams (known as Elizabeth in the UK version) at the start of Chapter 5. It's simplest to solve it while you're at the circus.
When the answer comes back wrong
- "Too bad. Each pattern has a different shape, but they all form something similar. Think about it." That's the game's message for a wrong answer. Copying the outline of one of the five, or just making a new shape, isn't enough. The sixth pattern needs the feature the five have in common.
- Your pattern repeats one of the five. A turned or mirrored copy of a pattern on the blackboard doesn't count as new. Compare yours with all five before you submit.
Hints, one at a time
These are the game's own hints, word for word from the North American version and in the same order. 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: Look at the whole pattern
At first glance, the five patterns don't seem to have any relation to each other whatsoever. Try to ignore the fact that they are made of L-shaped pieces, and consider each pattern as a whole.
Hint 2: Treat it like paper
Each pattern looks very flat, but like origami, they should be properly expressed on a three-dimensional plane. What would you get if you put the two L shapes together and folded along each square segment?
Hint 3: What the five have in common
Each of these patterns is a net that can be used to make a six-sided cube. Excluding mirrored or rotated patterns, there are only six possible ways to form a cube using the two L shapes. You've already seen five, so this last one is up to you.
Super Hint: The shape of the sixth
Here's your final hint: Arrange the L shapes to make a staircase pattern that has two squares of paper in each row. How does that look?
Answer and full solution
The answer below covers where each piece goes, with pictures of the finished pattern. Open it when you're ready.
Show the answer
The answer is a staircase: two squares in each row, each row one square to the left of the row above. You don't need to turn either piece. Slide the upper-left piece to the top right and the lower-right piece to the bottom left, then tap Submit.
| Piece | Squares it covers |
|---|---|
| The piece that starts in the upper left (two squares across the top, one hanging down on the left) | Row 1, columns 3 and 4, and row 2, column 3 |
| The piece that starts in the lower right (two squares across the bottom, one sticking up on the right) | Row 2, column 2, and row 3, columns 1 and 2 |
Step by step:
- Find what the five share. Each pattern is six squares that fold up into a cube: a cube net.
- Count the possibilities. Of all the ways to join six squares, eleven fold into a cube, and exactly six of those can be cut into two L shapes of three squares. The blackboard shows five of the six.
- Build the missing one. The sixth is the staircase from the Super Hint: two squares in the top row, two in the middle row moved one square to the left, and two in the bottom row moved one more square to the left.
- Place the pieces. Put the upper-left piece on row 1, columns 3 and 4, and row 2, column 3. Put the lower-right piece on row 2, column 2, and row 3, columns 1 and 2. Neither piece needs turning.
- Tap Submit. The game says, "Excellent! They're all fine examples of an unfolded cube! That's why this pattern would work even if it was mirrored."
The mirror image should be accepted too: row 1, columns 1 and 2; row 2, columns 2 and 3; row 3, columns 3 and 4. To build it you have to turn both pieces, so the version above, with no turning, is quicker.
If your answer keeps failing:
- Check that each row has exactly two red squares and that each row overlaps the one above by exactly one square. Two rows side by side with no overlap won't fold into a cube.
- Make sure both pieces are fully on the board and sitting squarely on the grid squares, not slightly off them.
- Don't copy the blue, yellow, green, purple or orange pattern, even turned around. The answer has to be the one cube net that isn't on the blackboard yet.
Picarats, hints and hint coins
Pattern Pending shows 25 picarats when it starts. The puzzle can award 25, 23 or 20 picarats. Wrong answers may reduce the picarat value.
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 One-Ring Circus don't quite cover all of them, so use the free hints on this page and save your coins.
Versions
- Nintendo 3DS family: this page covers the 3DS game. You move the pieces with the stylus on the touch screen.
- US and UK English versions: same name, same patterns, same answer. The UK text is punctuated a little differently, and the UK English text probably calls the place the Stellar Circus.
- Japanese version: Puzzle 038 is a different puzzle, 水族館のナゾ.
The scene around the puzzle
Puck greets you with "Oi! Checked out the circus yet? You've never seen anything like it! Unless you've seen clowns before...or tigers." Layton asks whether the recent events are "the result of some sort of magic trick," and Puck answers, "All I know is that I've never seen a miracle in my life...but I've seen plenty of magic." Emmy suggests, "There might be more to it than that. The world is full of mysterious things."
When it's solved, Puck says, "See? Every puzzle can be solved. And so can every magic trick." Emmy answers, "Every puzzle may have a solution, but some mysteries are beyond explanation." Puck replies, "So there's no unsolvable puzzles, but there are unexplained mysteries? I don't buy it," and Layton says, "You raise an interesting point, my boy." Talk to him again afterwards and he says, "I'm not so sure about how adults think. You're all very confusing sometimes."
FAQ
Where is the answer to Puzzle 038?
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 038 called?
Pattern Pending, in both the North American and UK English versions.
Where is Puzzle 038?
At the One-Ring Circus in Chapter 3. Talk to Puck outside the circus tent on your way to Dalston's house.
Why do Japanese walkthroughs give a different Puzzle 038?
Because the Japanese version's Puzzle 038 is a different puzzle, 水族館のナゾ, a word riddle about an aquarium tank. At the same spot, the North American game has Pattern Pending instead, so the Japanese answer doesn't apply here.
Do I have to solve Puzzle 038?
No. It's optional. If you skip it, it probably goes to Nanna Grams at the start of Chapter 5.
How many picarats is Puzzle 038 worth?
It shows 25 picarats when it starts. The puzzle can award 25, 23 or 20 picarats. Wrong answers may reduce the picarat value.
Is Daily Puzzle 038 the same as Puzzle 038?
No. Daily Puzzle 038 is Rabbit 05, from the Food Chain set. Story Puzzle 038 is Puck's L-shape puzzle.
More Miracle Mask puzzles
- Puzzle 036: Going Dough-Nuts!
- Puzzle 037: Spin Shenanigans
- Puzzle 039: A Hat of Tiles
- Puzzle 040: Crossed Connections
- Puzzle 044: Suit Crates
- Puzzle 035: Guess Stars
- Puzzle 034: The Cat's Trophy
- Puzzle 041: From the Sidelines
- Puzzle 042: Couple at the Café
- Puzzle 043: Evenly Matched
- Puzzle 045: From Left to Right
- Puzzle 100: Gate to the Ruins!
For the rest of the game's puzzles, see the Miracle Mask puzzle index.