Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask Puzzle 056: Clear-Cut Contrasts Hints and Answer

Puzzle 056 is Clear-Cut Contrasts, a Select puzzle worth up to 40 picarats in the Living Room of the Layton family home in Stansbury, in Chapter 4. Roland, Hershel's father, gives it to young Randall, who has dropped in with Angela. A classroom has a black-and-white puzzle board, and touching any square section switches its color. Right now there's more white than black, and you have to change that by touching the board just once. It's probably not mandatory.

Video: Clear-Cut Contrasts solved. It shows the answer, so skip it if you only want the hints.

This page covers story Puzzle 056 in Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask on Nintendo 3DS. The board and the answer are the same in the US and UK English versions; the UK wording differs slightly. Quotes use the North American text. If you're after Daily Puzzle 056 or Puzzle 56 from another Layton game, see Wrong Puzzle 056? below.

Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask Puzzle 056 Clear-Cut Contrasts: on the top, a classroom with a green wall and a board of 16 black and white squares, four by four, in a gold frame, a clock and a small picture on the wall, a window on the left, a child in a brown hat with a red band and red trousers with suspenders standing on the right, and two seated children seen from behind at the lower left and lower right; below, the same board on a green background — Illustration of the classroom on the top screen and the board you touch on the touch screen. The game's menu buttons aren't shown.

What Puzzle 056 is

Puzzle 056 at a glance
Name	Clear-Cut Contrasts (US and UK)
Type	Select (touch a section of the board to switch its color)
Picarats	40, 32 or 24
Location	Living Room, the Layton family home, Stansbury
Chapter	Chapter 4
Given by	Roland, Hershel's father (young Randall solves it)
Previous puzzle number	Puzzle 055, Spinning Maize 2 (Pebble Lane)
Next puzzle number	Puzzle 057, Stitching Squares (Living Room)

The question reads: "This classroom is equipped with a fancy black-and-white puzzle board. When you touch any square section on the board, its color changes between black and white. At the moment there's more white than black, but you can change that by touching the board just once. Which square section should you touch? Touch it with the stylus." The objective bar sums it up as "Touch the right square!"

How the board works

Every touch switches a color. Touch a section of the board and it turns from white to black or from black to white. Touch it again and it switches back.
Only the final board counts. When you touch Submit, the game checks how the whole board looks at that moment.
Restart puts every section back the way it started, if you've lost track of what you've touched.

Puzzle names

Puzzle 056 names
Version	Puzzle name
North America	Clear-Cut Contrasts
UK	Clear-Cut Contrasts
Japanese	白黒ボード (Shirokuro Bōdo, roughly "black-and-white board")

The UK question and hints probably differ only in small details of spelling, wording and punctuation, such as "colour" instead of "color" and "Have a closer look" instead of "Take a closer look". The board and the answer are the same in the US and UK English versions.

Wrong Puzzle 056?

Daily Puzzle 056 in Miracle Mask is a different puzzle: Ghosts 06, from the Ghouls and Guards set. There's no black-and-white board in it.
Puzzle 057, Stitching Squares, is in the same Living Room at the same time. Lucille gives you that one. If Hershel's mother handed you the puzzle, you've got the next one.
Puzzle 055, Spinning Maize 2, is the maze on Pebble Lane, just before this one.
Puzzle 56 in another Layton game is a different puzzle. If yours doesn't have a board of black and white squares, you're in the wrong game.

Where you find it

Puzzle 056 comes in Chapter 4, in the flashback to Stansbury, when young Randall and Angela call in at the Layton family home. Roland is in the Living Room, at the right-hand end of the dining table, while your objective is "Sneak out of the House!", "Go to the Forest!" or "Head to Norwell!" Go into the house and talk to him. He says, "Oh ho! Randall! Angela! Good evening!" and then, "I thought Hershel was spending the evening at your house, Randall." Randall answers, "Oh, we just decided to drop in for a minute. Spur of the moment, you know." Roland goes on, "Hershel tires of my puzzles, but maybe I can persuade you to try out this chestnut?" Then the puzzle starts.

The Layton family Living Room at night, with a green striped sofa at the lower left, a floor lamp, a curved bookcase and a tall clock on the left, a dining table with chairs in the middle and a brick fireplace on the right. A gold ring with the name plate Roland marks the right-hand end of the dining table. Numbered rings mark hint coin spots 1 on the checked cushion of the sofa, 2 on the floor lamp at the upper left and 3 on the floor near the fireplace, and a teal ring labeled Zoom sits on the arm of the sofa, at the foot of the bookcase — Illustration of the Living Room. The ring with his name marks where Roland stands, the numbers mark the three hint coins in the normal view and the teal ring marks the zoom spot. Roland isn't drawn here.

The Living Room has six hint coins, three in the normal view and three in a zoomed-in view. In the normal view they're on the checked cushion of the green sofa at the lower left, on the floor lamp at the upper left, and on the floor near the fireplace on the right. To reach the other three, tap the zoom spot at the foot of the bookcase, just above the arm of the sofa, to zoom in. Those three coins are at a bottle in a basket, on top of a chair and at a clock. Each coin can be collected only once, and this is the same room you visit in Chapter 2 for Puzzle 023 and Puzzle 024, so if you picked the coins up then, they won't be there now.

If you leave it unsolved, it probably goes to Nanna Grams (known as Elizabeth in the UK version) at the start of Chapter 5.

When you're stuck

Nothing you try seems to work. Count the black and white squares first, then read the question again, word by word. The hints below take you the rest of the way one step at a time.
You've touched more than one section. The question allows one touch. Touch the extra sections again to switch them back, or use Restart.
The game says "Too bad." Its full line is "Too bad. Are you sure you've made the board more black than white by only touching one square? Take a closer look."
You can't find the puzzle. Talk to Roland at the dining table in the Living Room of the Layton family home while your objective is "Sneak out of the House!", "Go to the Forest!" or "Head to Norwell!".

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: start by counting

Let's take this slow and steady. Start by counting the number of white squares and black squares. Then you should think about which section to touch.

Hint 2: your first impression

You might be thinking that you'll wind up with the same amounts of white and black no matter which white section you touch. If that's the case, then you're overlooking something big.

Read the puzzle again, and don't let your first impression blind you.

Hint 3: read the question again

The puzzle tells you that the square sections of the board change color when you touch them. Is there a square section that you're overlooking?

Super Hint: one more section

There are 16 small squares on the board split up into black and white. Did you notice the big square shape that frames all the little ones? Try touching that!

Answer and full solution

The answer below explains the count, the trick in the question and the one touch that solves it, with a picture of the solved puzzle. Open it when you're ready.

Show the answer

Answer: touch the big white border that frames the 16 small squares. It turns black, so the board has more black than white. Leave every small square as it is, and touch Submit.

The touch-screen board with each small square labeled B for black or W for white: top row B, B, W, B; second row W, W, B, W; third row B, W, W, W; bottom row W, B, W, B. The white border around the grid is shaded teal and outlined, with a label reading The 17th square: the big white border, and a label at the top reading 7 black + 9 white = 16 small squares — Illustration of the 16 small squares, and the big square around them.

Step by step:

Count the small squares. Of the 16, 7 are black and 9 are white.
Try the obvious move in your head. Touching one white square leaves 8 black and 8 white, which still isn't more black than white. Touching a black square makes it 6 black and 10 white, even worse. No small square works.
Look for another square section. The question says you can touch "any square section on the board". The wide white border around the grid is a square too, the big one that frames all the little ones.
Touch the border once. It turns black. The border runs all the way around the board and covers more area than three small squares put together, so with it black, black clearly outweighs white.
Touch Submit. The game answers, "Correct! The large square that makes up the border is a "square" section of the board as well."

The puzzle after it's solved: on the top, the classroom board now has a black border around the same 16 black and white squares, the children have gone, leaving their desks and chairs, the clock shows a later time and an orange sunset glows in the window; below, the touch-screen board with the same black border — Illustration of the solved board, with the border turned black.

If your answer keeps failing:

A small square has changed. The game only accepts the board when every small square is still as it started. Touch any square you changed again, or use Restart and touch only the border.
You touched the border twice. A second touch turns it white again. Touch it once more so it's black.

Picarats, hints and hint coins

Clear-Cut Contrasts shows 40 picarats when it starts. The puzzle can award 40, 32 or 24 picarats. Wrong answers may reduce the picarat value. If you get it wrong, Roland says, "Don't worry, lad. A good effort!" When you try again, he says, "How about this puzzle, then?"

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 Living Room's six coins would cover all four hints, but only if you haven't already collected them in Chapter 2. If they're gone, use coins you've saved up, or the free hints on this page.

Does it unlock anything?

No. Puzzle 056 gives no item, no rabbit play and no new location. You get the picarats, and the puzzle counts toward your total.

Versions

Nintendo 3DS family: this page covers the 3DS game. You see the classroom on the top screen and touch the board on the touch screen.
US and UK English versions: the board and the answer are the same, and so is the name. The UK question and hints probably differ only in small details of spelling, wording and punctuation.

The scene around the puzzle

Angela greets him with "Hello, Mr. Layton." After Randall's answer, Roland says, "Well, it's kind of you to stop by." It's Randall, not Hershel, who takes on the puzzle.

When it's solved, Roland says, "Good work, lad! It's nice to have a fresh audience for once." Randall replies, "I wish my father were more like you, sir. He doesn't find any fun in puzzles." and "All he ever talks about is the value of hard work." Roland laughs: "Ha ha. Well, that is just as important as enjoying a good puzzle, Randall!" Randall only says, "Hmm. Maybe." Talk to Roland again and he says, "Weren't you kids going out? If you hang around much longer, it'll be far too late."

FAQ

Where is the answer to Puzzle 056?

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 056 called?

Clear-Cut Contrasts, in both the North American and the UK version. The official Japanese title is 白黒ボード.

Where is Puzzle 056?

In the Living Room of the Layton family home in Stansbury, in Chapter 4. Talk to Roland at the dining table while your objective is "Sneak out of the House!", "Go to the Forest!" or "Head to Norwell!".

I missed Puzzle 056. Can I still get it?

A missed copy probably goes to Nanna Grams at the start of Chapter 5.

How many picarats is Puzzle 056 worth?

It shows 40 picarats when it starts. The puzzle can award 40, 32 or 24 picarats.

Is Daily Puzzle 056 the same as Puzzle 056?

No. Daily Puzzle 056 is Ghosts 06, from the Ghouls and Guards set. Story Puzzle 056 is the black-and-white board puzzle in the Layton family's Living Room.

More Miracle Mask puzzles

For the rest of the game's puzzles, see the Miracle Mask puzzle index.