Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask Puzzle 071: Evenly Matched 2 Hints and Answer

Puzzle 071 is Evenly Matched 2 (Pawn Portions 2 in the UK version), a 45-picarat Draw Line puzzle in Reception at City Hall in Monte d'Or, during Chapter 5. Mayor Billson gives it to Professor Layton after the arrest, because he can't get it out of his head. You cut a 6 x 6 chessboard with six white and six black pawns into four sections that have the same shape and the same area, with three pawns in each section and at least one white and one black pawn in every one. Sections may be rotated but not mirrored, and you answer by drawing the cut lines on the touch screen. The story doesn't need it.

Video: Evenly Matched 2 solved. It shows the answer, so skip it if you only want the hints.

This page covers story Puzzle 071 in Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask on Nintendo 3DS (US and UK English), using the North American text. The board is the same in the US and UK English versions. If you're after Daily Puzzle 071 or Puzzle 71 from another Layton game, see Wrong Puzzle 071? below.

Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask Puzzle 071 Evenly Matched 2: on the top, a boy in a brown hat with goggles clenches his teeth and raises a fist across a chessboard from a player in round glasses, a green dress and a wide purple hat, with a window behind them and leafy branches around the edges; below, a 6 by 6 board with columns A to F and rows 1 to 6, six white pawns and six black pawns in rows 2 to 5 and rows 1 and 6 empty — Illustration of the two chess players on the top screen, and the board you cut on the touch screen.

What Puzzle 071 is

Puzzle 071 at a glance
Name	Evenly Matched 2 (US); Pawn Portions 2 (UK)
Type	Draw Line (draw the cuts on the board)
Picarats	45
Location	Reception, City Hall, Monte d'Or
Chapter	Chapter 5
Given by	Mayor Billson (Mayor Williams in the UK version)
Solved by	Professor Layton
When it's there	From the start of Chapter 5, when your objective reads "Continue the Investigation!", until it reads "Catch the Masked Gentleman!"
Reward	None besides the picarats
Previous puzzle number	Puzzle 070, A Perilous Adventure (Ledore Mansion Gate)
Next puzzle number	Puzzle 072, A Cup of Tiles (also in Reception)

The question reads: "You're trying to cut this 6 x 6 chessboard into four sections that are the same shape, are of equal area, and each contain three pawns. To complicate matters, you want at least one white and one black pawn in every section. Can you find a way to do it? Draw lines on the board to show where to cut it. Keep in mind that solutions may be rotated but cannot be mirrored." The objective bar at the top of the touch screen says "Divide the board!"

Reading the board

The top screen shows two players at a chessboard. The touch screen is where you answer.

Columns and rows. Columns A to F run from left to right along the top of the board, and rows 1 to 6 run from top to bottom down the left side. The game's hints don't name squares, but this page uses those letters and numbers.
Six white pawns are on B2, A3, C3, B4, E4 and C5.
Six black pawns are on D2, B3, F3, A4, C4 and E5.
Rows 1 and 6 are empty. Every pawn is in rows 2 to 5.
Same shape and same area. The board has 36 squares, so each of the four sections has 9, and with 12 pawns each section gets 3.
Rotated, not mirrored. A section can be a turned copy of another section, but not a flipped one.

You draw along the lines between squares. The edge of the board is already a cut, so you only need the lines inside it.

Puzzle names

Puzzle 071 names
Version	Puzzle name
North America	Evenly Matched 2
UK	Pawn Portions 2
Japanese	チェス盤を分けろ2 (Chesuban o Wakero 2, roughly "divide the chessboard 2")

The UK question differs only in two commas ("equal area and", "rotated, but"). The UK Hint 3 is worded differently, but it points the same way. The board is the same in the US and UK English versions.

Wrong Puzzle 071?

Daily Puzzle 071 is Blocks 07, from the Big Block Box set.
Puzzle 043, Evenly Matched, is the first chessboard puzzle, from a policeman on City Hall Steps in Chapter 3. That board has eight pawns and needs one white and one black pawn in each piece.
Puzzle 118, Evenly Matched 3, is Mayor Billson's next chessboard, also in Reception, in Chapter 7. It has sixteen pawns. Puzzle 140, Evenly Matched 4, is one of Layton's Challenges.
Puzzle 072, A Cup of Tiles, is in the same Reception in Chapter 5, from the receptionist Michelle. If your puzzle is about tiles, you've got the one after.
Puzzle 71 in another Layton game is a different puzzle. If yours doesn't show a 6 x 6 board with twelve pawns, you're in the wrong game.

Where you get it

Puzzle 071 comes at the start of Chapter 5. Once your objective reads "Continue the Investigation!", go into City Hall and on to Reception, and talk to Mayor Billson at the long reception counter. He's in a good mood: "Who'd have thought the mastermind was one of our most prominent citizens?" He adds, "We sure do appreciate your help in the investigation, Professor." Then he asks, "Perhaps you could lend another hand? I can't get this puzzle out of my head. And I need all the room I can get in there!" and the puzzle starts.

City Hall Reception: a long wooden reception counter with purple chairs behind it, a green chalkboard and a grey cabinet on the left, a bookcase and window blinds at the back, a notice board on a pillar at the right and a teal sofa at the far left. A teal ring labeled Puzzle 071 marks a spot behind the middle of the counter, beside a bowl of pink flowers, and numbered rings mark hint coin spots 1 at a ceiling light at the upper left, 2 at the top of the bookcase behind the counter, 3 at the notice board on the right and 4 at the teal sofa — Illustration of Reception, in a slightly wider view than the game shows at once. The teal ring marks where Mayor Billson stands (he isn't drawn here), and the numbers mark where the four hint coins are. The people in the room aren't shown.

Mayor Billson has the puzzle while your objective goes through "Continue the Investigation!", "Head to City Hall!", "Go to the Racetrack!", "Speak to the Manager!", "Ask about the Cart!", "Go to Meet Henry!", "Follow the Officer to Carnival Square!", "Go to the Scorpion Casino!", "Go to Pumpkin Park!" and "Head to Topsy Tower!". It's gone once your objective reads "Catch the Masked Gentleman!". The story doesn't need it. If you miss it, it goes to Nanna Grams (known as Elizabeth in the UK version) at the start of Chapter 7.

Reception has four hint coins. They're at a ceiling light at the upper left (1), on the box on top of the bookcase behind the counter (2), at the yellow notice on the notice board on the right (3) and under the teal sofa at the far left (4). There's no zoomed-in view in this room. Each coin can be collected only once, and the coins belong to the room, so they're the same ones you'd find when you come here for Puzzle 039 and Puzzle 040 in Chapter 3. If you took them then, there's nothing left to pick up.

When the answer comes back wrong

"Never mind." The game's message for a wrong answer adds, "There are a number of ways to split the area into four--you just need to find the right one."
Your sections aren't all 9 squares. Count them. Four sections of equal area on a 36-square board means 9 squares each.
A section doesn't have three pawns. Twelve pawns shared among four sections is three each, and every section needs at least one of each color.
One section is a mirror image. The sections have to match by turning only. If one only fits after flipping it over, it doesn't count.
You drew an extra line. Any line that splits a section makes five or more pieces. Erase it.
You can't find the puzzle. Talk to Mayor Billson in Reception during Chapter 5, before your objective becomes "Catch the Masked Gentleman!".

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: where the pawns are

The pawns are concentrated on one part of the board, so first consider how you could divide the chessboard into two. Then you can think about how to separate the pawns into equal numbers.

Hint 2: how many of each color

To divide the board into four sections as described in the puzzle, you'll need to have two sections with one white and two black pawns and two sections with one black and two white pawns.

Hint 3: the first cut

Draw a line to make a clean cut through the middle, then cut each half in two to make quarters.

Considering the distribution of the pawns, you'll first want to make a horizontal line through the middle. You can divide the top and bottom halves after that.

Super Hint: the shape

Try drawing a shape that looks a bit like the number 3 on its side. Within just the top half of the board, you can make two 3s slotted into each other.

Once you get the shape right, you'll have the pawns divvied up perfectly and you'll just need to do the same on the bottom.

Answer and full solution

The answer below covers every step, with a step-by-step picture, the finished cut lines and a picture of the solved puzzle. Open it when you're ready.

Show the answer

Answer: cut straight across the middle of the board, between rows 3 and 4, then split each half into two interlocking comb shapes, each like a 3 lying on its side. Every section has 9 squares and three pawns.

The four sections
Section	Squares	White pawns	Black pawns
Top, lower comb (red)	A1, A2, C2, E2, A3, B3, C3, D3, E3	A3, C3	B3
Top, upper comb (blue)	B1, C1, D1, E1, F1, B2, D2, F2, F3	B2	D2, F3
Bottom, upper comb (yellow)	B4, C4, D4, E4, F4, B5, D5, F5, F6	B4, E4	C4
Bottom, lower comb (green)	A4, A5, C5, E5, A6, B6, C6, D6, E6	C5	A4, E5

Cut across the middle. Draw a straight line all the way across the board between rows 3 and 4. Each half now has 18 squares and six pawns.
Top half: two 3s slotted together. Start at the top edge between A1 and B1 and draw down to the bottom of B2. Then zigzag to the right: along the bottom of B2, up between B2 and C2, along the top of C2, down between C2 and D2, along the bottom of D2, up between D2 and E2 and along the top of E2. Finish by drawing straight down between column E and column F to the middle cut. That leaves a red section (column A, row 3 from A to E, and the teeth C2 and E2) and a blue section (row 1 from B to F, the teeth B2, D2 and F2, and F3).
Bottom half: the same again. The bottom half is cut exactly like the top half: the yellow section takes B4 to F4 with teeth on B5, D5 and F5 plus F6, and the green section takes column A from A4 down plus row 6 from A to E, with teeth on C5 and E5.
Check. All four sections have 9 squares. The red and blue sections are the same shape turned half a turn, and the bottom two repeat the top two, so all four match without mirroring. Red and yellow each have two white pawns and one black pawn; blue and green each have one white pawn and two black pawns, just as Hint 2 says. Draw those lines and submit.

Four copies of the 6 by 6 board in a 2 by 2 grid with white cut lines. Panel 1, captioned Cut across the middle, has one straight line between rows 3 and 4. Panel 2, captioned Two interlocking 3s on top, tints the top half red and blue: red is column A plus A3 to E3 with C2 and E2, blue is B1 to F1 with B2, D2, F2 and F3. Panel 3, captioned The same on the bottom, adds yellow B4 to F4 with B5, D5, F5 and F6 and green A4, A5, A6 to E6 with C5 and E5. Panel 4, captioned Four matching pieces, shows the finished four sections — Illustration of building the four sections one step at a time.

The 6 by 6 board with white cut lines dividing it into four sections of 9 squares: red A1, A2, C2, E2, A3, B3, C3, D3 and E3; blue B1, C1, D1, E1, F1, B2, D2, F2 and F3; yellow B4, C4, D4, E4, F4, B5, D5, F5 and F6; green A4, A5, C5, E5, A6, B6, C6, D6 and E6, each with three pawns including at least one white and one black — Illustration of the finished cut lines, with each section tinted.

The game confirms it: "Good job! Now we have four sections of equal size and shape!"

The top screen after the puzzle is solved: red lines drawn on the chessboard split it across the middle and into interlocking comb shapes above and below, while the boy in the brown hat is seen from behind and the player in the purple hat rests a hand on the chin — Illustration of the top screen after a correct answer.

If your answer keeps failing:

You cut the board in two from top to bottom. The long straight cut runs across the board, between rows 3 and 4, not down it.
Your combs face the wrong way. In each half, one comb has its teeth pointing up and the other has them pointing down, and the two slot together. Check that the blue section includes F3 and the yellow section includes F6.
The bottom half doesn't copy the top. The bottom cuts are the top cuts moved down three rows. If you mirrored them instead, the sections won't match.

Picarats, hints and hint coins

Evenly Matched 2 shows 45 picarats when it starts. The puzzle can award 45, 41 or 36 picarats. Wrong answers may reduce the picarat value. If you quit, Mayor Billson says, "Well, shucks! I figured you'd have that one solved, no problem!" Talk to him again and he says, "I just can't concentrate on getting a cleanup crew organized until I get a solution to this puzzle. Might be a while..." before the puzzle starts again.

Hints cost hint coins, not picarats. Hints 1 to 3 cost one hint coin each and the Super Hint costs two, five in total. Reception's four coins are one short of that, and only if you didn't already collect them in Chapter 3, so you'd need coins saved from elsewhere to open every hint. Or use the free hints on this page and save your coins.

Does it unlock anything?

No. Solving it doesn't give you an item. You get the picarats, and the puzzle counts toward your total.

Versions

Nintendo 3DS family: this page covers the 3DS game. You answer by drawing lines with the stylus on the touch screen.
US and UK English versions: the board, the rules and the answer are the same in the US and UK English versions. The UK version calls the puzzle Pawn Portions 2, calls the mayor Mayor Williams and words Hint 3 differently, as described under Puzzle names.

The scene around the puzzle

Before the puzzle, Mayor Billson is relieved that the case seems to be closed: "I don't quite understand it all, but the police have assured me that peace will now return to Monte d'Or."

Once it's solved, he says, "I knew a clever fella like you'd have no trouble with my little chess problem!" Layton asks, "Yes, well... Have you heard anything about the interrogation from Chief Sheffield?" The mayor answers, "Oh right! I heard that Dalston was our man, and we'll know more after he confesses!" and adds, "I'm sure Sheffield will appreciate any more help you can offer." Layton replies, "Thank you, Mayor."

Talk to him again and he says, "Whew! With the criminal caught, I'll finally get to do some golfing! They're back in the briefing room when you're ready."

FAQ

Where is the answer to Puzzle 071?

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 071 called?

Evenly Matched 2 in the North American version and Pawn Portions 2 in the UK version. In Japanese it's チェス盤を分けろ2.

Where is Puzzle 071?

In Reception at City Hall in Monte d'Or, in Chapter 5. Talk to Mayor Billson at the reception counter.

Why can't I find Mayor Billson's puzzle?

He has it from the start of Chapter 5 until your objective becomes "Catch the Masked Gentleman!". If you've gone past that, the puzzle goes to Nanna Grams at the start of Chapter 7.

Do I have to solve Puzzle 071?

No. The story doesn't need it. It doesn't unlock anything besides the picarats.

Are there hint coins in Reception?

Four: at a ceiling light at the upper left, on the box on top of the bookcase, at the yellow notice on the notice board and at the teal sofa. They're the same coins as in Chapter 3, so they're gone if you collected them then.

How many picarats is Puzzle 071 worth?

It shows 45 picarats when it starts. The puzzle can award 45, 41 or 36 picarats. Wrong answers may reduce the picarat value.

Is Daily Puzzle 071 the same as Puzzle 071?

No. It's a different puzzle, listed under Wrong Puzzle 071?. Story Puzzle 071 is Mayor Billson's chessboard puzzle in Reception.

More Miracle Mask puzzles

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