Puzzle 048 is Lighting Action, a 45-picarat Arrange puzzle hidden in the Big Top. Nobody hands it to you: you find it by tapping the lights above the stage. The ringmaster wants the stage lights put in order, and you have to move and turn the loose pieces of lights until the board makes sense. It's sometimes spelled "Lightning Action", but the game's name is Lighting Action.
This page covers story Puzzle 048 in Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask on Nintendo 3DS, in the US and UK English versions. If you're after Daily Puzzle 048, one of the other puzzles in the Big Top or Puzzle 048 from another Layton game, see Wrong Puzzle 048? below.
What Puzzle 048 is
| Name | Lighting Action (the same in the US and UK English versions) |
|---|---|
| Type | Arrange |
| Picarats | 45 |
| Location | Big Top, Monte d'Or |
| How you find it | Hidden puzzle: tap the lights above the stage |
| Puzzle giver | None. You find it yourself. |
| Comes after | Puzzle 047, Trial by Tennis |
| Comes before | Puzzle 049, Floor Seats |
The puzzle says: "The ringmaster is having a word with the man in charge of lighting--an angry word. "Hey! What do you call this mess?! Put those lights in order on the double! Leave the top-left and bottom-right ones--they're all right. You need to move and rotate the rest! And they need to be in order from top left to bottom right!"" The objective bar says, "Put the lights in order!"
The touch screen shows eight places for lights, four in the top row and four in the bottom row. The white lights in the top-left and bottom-right places are fixed. The other places are covered with twelve loose pieces of red, blue and yellow lights, some of them in the wrong place and some turned the wrong way. Move and turn them, then touch Submit.
Why it looks like a mess
Up close, the board is just rows of little lamps, some lit and some dark. The ringmaster never says what "in order" means, so it's easy to start sorting the pieces by colour or by size.
The two places you're told to leave alone are the key. The hints below walk you towards what they show.
Puzzle names
The puzzle is called Lighting Action in the North American version. The name is the same in the US and UK English versions. It's sometimes spelled "Lightning Action", but it's the same puzzle.
| Version | Puzzle name |
|---|---|
| North America | Lighting Action |
| UK English | Lighting Action |
| Japanese | 舞台の照明 (Butai no Shōmei, "stage lighting") |
| German | Ärger mit dem Licht |
| Spanish | Juego de luces |
| French | Sous les projecteurs |
| Italian | Luci della ribalta |
| Dutch | Circusverlichting |
The Japanese title may be 舞台の照明. The North American release labels it 照明器具のナゾ ("light fittings puzzle").
Wrong Puzzle 048?
- Daily Puzzle 048 is Sailing 05, from the Perilous Voyage set.
- Other puzzles in the Big Top are different puzzles: Puzzle 049, Floor Seats, from the ringmaster, Puzzle 050, Kitty Solitaire, and Puzzle 122, Kitty Solitaire 3, later in the story.
- Another hidden puzzle nearby in the numbering is Puzzle 045, From Left to Right.
- Puzzle 048 in another Layton game is a different puzzle. If yours doesn't show a board of coloured stage lights, you're in the wrong game.
Where you find it
Lighting Action is in the Big Top, the circus tent in Monte d'Or. You can get in once you've solved Puzzle 047 in Chapter 3 and the story sends you to the circus. Inside the tent, look up at the lights above the stage and tap them.
Layton says, "If you look closely, you'll see the illuminations come together to form an elaborate puzzle." If you quit, he says, "Perhaps we'll shed some light on it later." Tap the lights again and he says, "It's the illumination puzzle we spotted."
The Big Top has three hint coins: on the diamond banner on the left, on the chair and on the diamond banner on the right.
You don't have to solve it. It's a hidden puzzle, and nothing in the story waits for it. The lights probably stay tappable until you solve the puzzle, so you can come back to the Big Top for it later.
When you can't see it
- You can't find the puzzle. It isn't a person. Tap the lights above the stage in the Big Top.
- You're sorting pieces by colour. Colour matters, but it isn't the whole rule. Look at the shape that the lit lamps make in the two places that are already right.
- "Too bad." That's the game's message for a wrong answer. Check each of the six middle places on its own before you touch Submit again.
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: The two that are right
The ringmaster said to put the lights in order. Look closely at the lights in the top-left and bottom-right places. Those are already right, so ask what they look like.
Hint 2: Step back
Hold your Nintendo 3DS at a distance and look at the lower screen. The two sets of lights that are already right are shapes you know well.
Hint 3: What goes in between
The top-left lights show 1 and the bottom-right lights show 8. There are eight places on the board, so the six places in between need the numbers in between, in order from top left to bottom right.
Super Hint: The colours
The game's Super Hint gives the colour of each place, from top left to bottom right: white, red, blue, yellow, yellow, blue, red, white.
Answer and full solution
The answer below shows the finished board and which pieces go where. Open it when you're ready.
Show the answer
The lights spell the numbers 1 to 8, from top left to bottom right. The top row reads 1, 2, 3, 4 and the bottom row reads 5, 6, 7, 8. Each number from 2 to 7 is made from two pieces of the same colour.
| Place | Number | Colour |
|---|---|---|
| Top row, 1st | 1 | White (already right) |
| Top row, 2nd | 2 | Red |
| Top row, 3rd | 3 | Blue |
| Top row, 4th | 4 | Yellow |
| Bottom row, 1st | 5 | Yellow |
| Bottom row, 2nd | 6 | Blue |
| Bottom row, 3rd | 7 | Red |
| Bottom row, 4th | 8 | White (already right) |
To follow the steps, here are the twelve loose pieces as they start, with letters added.
Step by step:
- 2 (red): put the square red piece C at the top of the second place, turned a quarter turn clockwise, and the short red piece F under it, as it starts.
- 3 (blue): put the tall blue piece D at the top of the third place, turned upside down, and the flat blue strip L along the bottom.
- 4 (yellow): put the tall yellow piece G in the fourth place, turned upside down, and the short yellow piece A in the top of the left-hand column.
- 5 (yellow): put the square yellow pieces H and J in the fifth place, H at the top and J at the bottom, both turned a quarter turn anticlockwise.
- 6 (blue): put the short blue piece E at the top of the sixth place, turned upside down, and the square blue piece B under it, as it starts.
- 7 (red): put the tall red piece K at the top of the seventh place, turned upside down, and the single red lamp I in the bottom-right corner.
- Touch Submit.
Two of the numbers use overlapping pieces: in 4, the short yellow piece sits over the top of the tall yellow piece's left-hand column, and in 5 the two square yellow pieces share the middle row. What counts is that the lit lamps in each place form the right number in the right colour. The game also accepts a second arrangement for 2 and for 5, with the two pieces swapping places and turned differently.
The 2 and 7 lights are sometimes called orange. The game's Super Hint calls them red.
The game's message when you're right says, "Correct! So the lights were supposed to be in the shape of the numbers one to eight! The show must go on!" The UK version writes "the numbers 1 to 8".
Picarats, hints and hint coins
Lighting Action shows 45 picarats when it starts. All three of its picarat values are 45.
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 three coins in the Big Top aren't enough for all of them on their own.
Versions and systems
- Nintendo 3DS, 3DS XL, 2DS and New 3DS: no difference. You move and turn the pieces on the touch screen.
- US and UK English versions: same puzzle name, same board, same answer. A few lines of the puzzle text, hints and correct-answer message are worded a little differently, and the UK hint calls the lower screen the Touch Screen.
After the puzzle
When you solve it, Layton says, "It isn't ideal, but at least now the stage will be lit in time for the show."
FAQ
Where is the answer to Puzzle 048?
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.
Where is Puzzle 048?
In the Big Top in Monte d'Or. Tap the lights above the stage. You can get into the tent after you solve Puzzle 047 in Chapter 3.
Is it Lighting Action or Lightning Action?
The game calls it Lighting Action. "Lightning Action" is a misspelling.
Do I have to solve Puzzle 048?
No. It's a hidden puzzle, so the story doesn't wait for it.
How many picarats is Puzzle 048 worth?
It shows 45 picarats when it starts. All three of its picarat values are 45.
Is Daily Puzzle 048 the same as Puzzle 048?
No. Daily Puzzle 048 is Sailing 05, from the Perilous Voyage set. Story Puzzle 048 is the stage lights puzzle in the Big Top.
More Miracle Mask puzzles
- Puzzle 047: Trial by Tennis
- Puzzle 045: From Left to Right
- Puzzle 044: Suit Crates
- Puzzle 122: Kitty Solitaire 3
For the rest of the game's puzzles, see the Miracle Mask puzzle index.