Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask Puzzle 075: Grand Horse Race Hints and Answer

Puzzle 075 is Grand Horse Race, a 30-picarat Arrange puzzle at the Racetrack in Monte d'Or, during Chapter 5. Gustav, the manager of the Racetrack, gives it to Professor Layton. Four people, A, B, C and D, took part in a small racing tournament: two races of two, then a final for the winners and a race for third for the losers. From one comment by each racer, you work out who finished where and drag the four racers onto the places marked 1 to 4. You have to solve it to carry on with the story, and solving it opens a new Toy Robot course.

Video: Grand Horse Race solved. It shows the answer, so skip it if you only want the hints.

This page covers story Puzzle 075 in Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask on Nintendo 3DS. The racers, the comments 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 075 or Puzzle 75 from another Layton game, see Wrong Puzzle 075? below.

Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask Puzzle 075 Grand Horse Race: on the top, two jockeys race neck and neck past a white rail, a girl with green hair and a blue cap on a grey horse and an older man with a white moustache and an orange cap on a brown horse, while a long-haired spectator in a brown hat and a red-bearded man watch from behind the rail; below, a white winners' podium with steps marked 2, 1 and 3, a dark spot on the ground marked 4 on the right, dotted outlines above each place, and four little racers in a row holding the letters A, B, C and D — Illustration of the race on the top screen, and the podium and the four racers on the touch screen. The game's menu buttons aren't shown.

What Puzzle 075 is

Puzzle 075 at a glance
Name	Grand Horse Race
Type	Arrange (drag the four racers onto places 1 to 4)
Picarats	30
Location	Racetrack, Monte d'Or
Chapter	Chapter 5
Given by	Gustav, the Racetrack's manager
When it's there	When your objective reads "Speak to the Manager!"
Required for the story?	Yes
Reward	Toy Robot course 6, Weird Wilds
Previous puzzle number	Puzzle 074, Bunny-Hop Swap 3 (Racetrack)
Next puzzle number	Puzzle 076, Painstaking Packing (Oasis Street)

The question reads: "One day, four people took part in a racing tournament. First they held races of two, then the winners raced against each other, while the losers battled for third. Can you work out the order based on the comments below?" The four comments are:

A: "I won one race and lost another."
B: "I didn't make it to the final!"
C: "I'm just glad I beat A."
D: "If only I hadn't lost to B..."

The top of the touch screen says "Can you work out the order?" Below it is a winners' podium with steps marked 1, 2 and 3, and a spot on the ground marked 4 for last place. The four racers stand in a row underneath, each holding a letter card. Drag each racer onto the place you think they finished in, then submit.

How the tournament works

There are four races in all. In the first round, the four racers are split into two races of two. The two winners meet in the final, and the two losers race for third. The winner of the final comes first and the loser second; the winner of the race for third comes third and the loser comes last. So everyone runs exactly two races.

A blank chart of the tournament: two boxes on the left labelled First round, race 1 and First round, race 2, each with two empty cards marked with question marks; gold arrows lead from both to a box on the right labelled Final, and teal arrows lead to a teal box labelled Race for third, each also with two empty cards. A key at the bottom says gold is winners and teal is losers — Illustration of the four races. Winners go up to the final, losers go to the race for third.

Puzzle names

Puzzle 075 names
Version	Puzzle name
North America	Grand Horse Race
UK	Grand Horse Race
Japanese	馬術大会 (Bajutsu Taikai, "equestrian tournament")

The UK version uses the same name. Its text says "First, they held races of two", calls the race for third the "run-off" (US "runoff"), and asks "So who beat who?" where the US Hint 3 has "So who beat whom?". The comments and the answer are the same in the US and UK English versions.

Wrong Puzzle 075?

Daily Puzzle 075 is Kitchen 01, from the A Dish Too Far set.
Puzzle 75 in another Layton game is a different puzzle. If yours isn't about four racers and their comments, you're in the wrong game.

Where you find it

In Chapter 5, your objective changes to "Go to the Racetrack!" Head to the Racetrack Entrance and go on into the Racetrack. There, Luke notices, "Looks like they're using some of the carts right now, Professor." Emmy says, "Yes. I'd like to find out where they keep the carts." Layton answers, "Right. We should find the person in charge here. Perhaps this fellow here...?" Your objective becomes "Speak to the Manager!", and Gustav is standing in front of the garage on the left.

The Racetrack in Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask by day: a cream-colored garage with a brown roof on the left, its roller door pulled down and a sign with a red cart and a wheel above the door, crates, a shovel and planks in front of it, a wooden fence and a gate on the right, and a grandstand with purple pointed roofs in the distance. A gold ring with the name plate Gustav, Puzzle 075 marks a spot on the dirt in front of the garage, and three hint coin spots are numbered 1 at the sign above the garage door, 2 at the small bush by the fence and 3 on the grandstand roof — Illustration of the Racetrack. The gold ring marks where Gustav stands (he isn't drawn here), and the numbers mark the three hint coins in the list below.

Gustav introduces himself with "Good day. I'm Gustav, the manager here. How can I help you fine folks today?" Layton says he is looking into the case of the Masked Gentleman at the request of Mrs. Ledore and asks, "Might I ask you some questions?" Gustav replies, "Only too happy to help. Although I am quite busy here with this puzzle." and the puzzle starts.

You can't miss it. Gustav won't answer any questions until the puzzle is solved, and the story doesn't continue until it is. Once you solve it, your objective changes to "Ask about the Cart!"

The Racetrack has three hint coins, all in the normal view.

The sign with the cart and the wheel above the garage door.
The small bush by the fence, right of the garage.
The purple roof of the grandstand in the distance.

Each coin can be collected only once. Puzzle 074, a hidden puzzle, is also at the Racetrack.

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

B didn't make it to the final. In other words, she lost the first race, so she's one of the two people competing for third.

Hint 2

It seems D lost the race with B. From Hint 1, you know that B lost the first race and was competing in the third-place runoff.

In other words, the race in which B beat D had to have been the runoff.

Hint 3

A won one race and lost another, and C says she beat A. So that means A's one loss was in the race against C.

You know from Hint 2 that B and D were competing in the third-place runoff, so that means A and C had to have been competing in the final. So who beat whom?

Super Hint

You know from Hint 2 that B won in the third-place runoff against D. So B came in third, and D came in fourth. Furthermore, you know from Hint 3 that the final was between A and C, and that C won in the end.

So who took first place, and who came in second?

Answer and full solution

The answer below covers every step, with a chart of the races and a picture of the solved puzzle. Open it when you're ready.

Show the answer

Answer: C came first, A second, B third and D last. Drag C onto the top step marked 1, A onto step 2, B onto step 3 and D onto the spot marked 4, then submit.

Where each racer goes
Place	Racer	Why
1 (top step)	C	Won the final against A
2	A	Won a first-round race, then lost the final to C
3	B	Lost in the first round, then beat D in the race for third
4 (ground)	D	Lost in the first round, then lost to B

Step by step:

B is in the race for third. B didn't make the final, so B lost in the first round.
B beat D in the race for third. D lost to B. B's only other race was the first-round race B lost, so the race B won against D has to be the race for third. That puts B third and D fourth, and it means D also lost in the first round.
A and C were in the final. B and D are the two first-round losers, so A and C are the two winners.
C won the final. A won one race and lost one. A's win was in the first round, so A's loss was the final, and C says, "I'm just glad I beat A." C comes first and A second.

You can't tell who A and C beat in the first round, and you don't need to. Either way, A beat one of B and D, and C beat the other.

The tournament chart filled in: the Final box shows C, marked wins: 1st, against A, marked loses: 2nd; the Race for third box shows B, marked wins: 3rd, against D, marked loses: 4th; the first-round boxes say A beats B or D, and C beats the other one — Illustration of who raced whom in the final and the race for third.

The game confirms it: "C came in first, A second, B third, and D came last. D didn't sound very happy about the result, did he?"

Grand Horse Race solved: on the top screen, the girl with green hair stands on the highest step of a podium, the older man with a white moustache stands on the step to the left with his arms folded, the long-haired racer in the brown hat stands on the lower step to the right, and the red-bearded man laughs in front on the left; on the touch screen, C stands on step 1, A on step 2, B on step 3 and D on the spot marked 4 — Illustration of the top screen after a correct answer, with the racers in place below.

If your answer keeps failing:

You put A first. A lost one race, and that loss was the final against C.
You put D third. D lost to B, and that race was the race for third, so B is third.
You swapped steps 1 and 2. The tallest step in the middle is 1; step 2 is on its left and step 3 on its right. Last place goes on the dark spot marked 4.

Picarats, hints and hint coins

Grand Horse Race shows 30 picarats when it starts. The puzzle can award 30, 27 or 24 picarats. Wrong answers may reduce the picarat value. A wrong answer gets "Too bad." and the tip "Try to narrow down who participated in which race." If you leave the puzzle without solving it, Gustav says, "Oh, I won't be able to answer any questions until this puzzle is solved, I'm afraid." Talk to him again and he says, "I apologize, but I can't concentrate on any questions until this puzzle is wrapped up." 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. The Racetrack's three coins cover Hints 1 to 3 but not the Super Hint, so you need two more coins from elsewhere, or you can use the free hints on this page.

Does it unlock anything?

Yes. Solving Grand Horse Race opens the sixth course of the Toy Robot minigame in the Professor's trunk. The game calls it Weird Wilds: "A remote jungle filled with plants that don't even have names yet." It also lets the story go on, since Gustav will only answer the Professor's questions once it's solved.

The earlier courses come from Puzzle 005, Robot Factory (the toy robot and the first course, Abandoned Lab), Puzzle 015, Fix the Fossil (course 2, Unearthed Ruin), Puzzle 029, Tenth-Round Ace (course 3, Colossal Coliseum), Puzzle 058, Sorting Blocks (course 4, Inviting Oasis) and Puzzle 067, Language of Love (course 5, Perilous Pyramid).

Versions

Nintendo 3DS family: this page covers the 3DS game. You drag the racers onto their places on the touch screen with the stylus.
US and UK English versions: same name, the same comments and the same answer in the US and UK English versions. The UK text words a few lines differently, as described under Puzzle names.

The scene around the puzzle

Once the puzzle is solved, Gustav says, "Oh, thank you! You had some questions?" Layton asks, "Do you remember anything unusual on the night of the stone-statue incident?" Gustav answers, "Unusual...? I don't believe so. It's quite uneventful here overall."

Layton then asks, "Do you recall if any of the carts had been removed recently?" Gustav remembers: "Why yes, actually. One of our carts was sent out for repairs." He goes on, "It was fixed about a month ago. I was shocked to see that it broke down again." and adds, "They're quite heavy, though. Very tough to move around without a horse."

When Layton says, "We'd like to take a look at one. Are all of the carts being used right now?", Gustav tells him, "There may be one in the garage." and "You're welcome to take a look." Talk to him again and he says, "Let me know if there's anything I can do." Luke adds, "Um... I feel like I'm being watched."

FAQ

Where is the answer to Puzzle 075?

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 075 called?

Grand Horse Race, in both the North American and UK English versions. In Japanese it's 馬術大会.

Where is Puzzle 075?

At the Racetrack in Monte d'Or, in Chapter 5. Talk to Gustav, the manager, in front of the garage on the left when your objective reads "Speak to the Manager!"

Do I have to solve Puzzle 075?

Yes. Gustav won't answer the Professor's questions until it's solved, and the story doesn't continue until it is.

Which Toy Robot course does Puzzle 075 unlock?

The sixth course, Weird Wilds.

How many picarats is Puzzle 075 worth?

It shows 30 picarats when it starts. The puzzle can award 30, 27 or 24 picarats. Wrong answers may reduce the picarat value.

Is Daily Puzzle 075 the same as Puzzle 075?

No. It's a different puzzle, listed under Wrong Puzzle 075?. Story Puzzle 075 is Gustav's racing tournament puzzle at the Racetrack.

More Miracle Mask puzzles

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