Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask Puzzle 094: Cursed Case Hints and Answer

Puzzle 094 is Cursed Case, a 40-picarat Arrange puzzle on Ruins B5 in Chapter 6. Young Hershel and Randall dig up an old case in the Akbadain ruins, with eight stone blocks lying around it. The blocks are dotted with white studs and black holes. Your job is to pack every block into the two halves of the case so that, when it folds shut, each stud slots into a hole on the other side.

Video: Cursed Case solved. It shows the answer, so skip it if you only want the hints.

This page covers story Puzzle 094 in Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask, the 3DS game (US and UK English). The blocks and the answer are the same in the US and UK English versions; quotes use the North American text. If you're after Daily Puzzle 094, Cursed Case 2, or Puzzle 94 from another Layton game, see Wrong Puzzle 094? below.

Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask Puzzle 094 Cursed Case: on the top screen, an open wooden case with two empty halves; on the touch screen, the open case drawn as two brown checkered halves on a sandy stone floor, with eight green stone blocks dotted with white studs and black holes lying around it — Illustration of the puzzle at the start, on the top screen and the touch screen.

What Puzzle 094 is

Puzzle 094 at a glance
Name	Cursed Case (US and UK)
Type	Arrange
Picarats	40
Location	Ruins B5, Akbadain
Chapter	Chapter 6
When	The flashback with young Hershel and Randall
How you start it	Dig up the glowing spot in the first room of B5, behind boulders
Required?	No, it's optional
Previous puzzle number	Puzzle 093, Hershel vs. Mummies! (Ruins B4)
Next puzzle number	Puzzle 095, Snakes and Keys (Ruins B5)

The puzzle reads: "Hershel and Randall have found a cursed case! You'd better get all the cursed stone blocks back into the case and close it tight, or who knows what might happen? To be safe, you'll have to pack every block neatly into the case. To complicate matters, the blocks are dotted with holes and protruding studs, so you'll need to make sure the studs on one side slot into the holes on the other side, or you won't be able to close the case. Good luck!" The objective bar says "Close the cursed case!"

Each half of the case is four squares wide and six squares tall, and the eight blocks fill both halves exactly, with no gaps. Slide a block with the stylus to move it; blocks can also be rotated. The case closes like a book, with the left half folding over onto the right, so a square in the left half ends up on top of the matching square in the right half, mirrored left to right. When every block is in, touch Submit.

The touch screen at the start, larger: the open case as two empty brown checkered halves, with eight green stone blocks around it, each marked with a number badge from 1 to 8; the blocks have white studs and black holes — Illustration of the eight blocks where they start, numbered so the answer below can refer to them. The numbers aren't in the game.

The numbers in the picture above match these shapes: 1 is the staircase, 2 is the tall hook, 3 is the S-shaped block, 4 is the very wide U, 5 is the arch with two holes and no studs, 6 is the long straight block, 7 is the long zigzag, and 8 is the small block.

Puzzle names

Puzzle 094 names
Version	Puzzle name
North America	Cursed Case
UK	Cursed Case
Japanese	トランクの中身 (Toranku no Nakami, "what's inside the trunk")

The name is the same in the US and UK versions. The UK text differs only in small wording details: the puzzle text opens by quoting the inscription on the case, the Super Hint says "got" instead of "gotten", and the wrong-answer message says "Quick, try again". The blocks and the answer are the same in the US and UK English versions.

Wrong Puzzle 094?

Daily Puzzle 094 is Tile Show 03, from the Whose Tile Is It Anyway? set.
Puzzle 137, Cursed Case 2, is the harder 70-picarat version in Layton's Challenges, with a different set of blocks.
Puzzle 093, Hershel vs. Mummies!, is the puzzle before this one, on Ruins B4. If yours has mummy machines, that's the one you've got.
Puzzle 095, Snakes and Keys, is the next puzzle, also on Ruins B5. If yours is about snakes and keys, that's the one you've got.
Puzzle 94 in another Layton game is a different puzzle. If yours doesn't show stone blocks and an open case, you're in the wrong game.

Where you find it

Chapter 6 is the long flashback in the Akbadain ruins, where you play as young Hershel exploring with Randall. Ruins B5 starts in the room at the bottom left of the floor map, and the puzzle is buried in that same first room, under a glowing spot near its top right corner. Boulders block the way to it, so you have to push them aside first.

The room also has a hint coin under another glowing spot. Once the boulders are out of the way, face the puzzle's glowing spot and touch the Dig Hole icon, or press the A Button. Randall asks, "What's this? Ancient luggage?" and Hershel answers, "Stone blocks. And there's an inscription!" Then the puzzle starts.

The Ruins B5 map on old yellow parchment: brown rooms joined by corridors, a blue arrow above the room at the bottom left, a red arrow above the room on the right with a pale round emblem in it, and a teal ring near the top right corner of the room at the bottom left, with a label reading Puzzle 094 — Illustration of the Ruins B5 map. The teal ring marks the glowing spot in the first room, where the puzzle is buried.

You don't have to solve it to move on. If you leave Puzzle 094 unsolved, it goes to Nanna Grams (known as Elizabeth in the UK version) at the start of Chapter 7.

When the case won't close

Every block is in, but the game says "Too bad." Filling the case isn't enough. When it folds shut, every stud has to land on a hole, so check what each stud will meet on the other side.
You keep losing track of which square meets which. Remember the case folds like a book: the leftmost column of the left half meets the rightmost column of the right half, on the same row.
You've been turning blocks around and nothing fits. Hint 1 has a big time-saver. Open it before anything else.
You can't find the puzzle. It's under the glowing spot in the first room of Ruins B5, behind boulders you have to push out of the way.

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: moving and rotating

Trying to think about the studs and holes as well as the shape of the blocks is enough to make anyone's head hurt!

But here's some good news: the blocks can be both moved and rotated, but the truth is you don't need to rotate them. Try restarting the puzzle and simply moving the blocks as they are.

Hint 2: the long, straight block

Let's reveal part of the solution. See the long, straight block? Put it in the far right of the right-hand side of the case.

That limits your options a bit. Did that help?

Hint 3: the very wide U

See the block that looks like a very wide U with a stud in each corner? That goes in the left-hand side of the case, at the very bottom.

Now think about where you need to place holes on the other side so that the studs slot into them.

Super Hint: the two blocks left outside

If you've placed only the two blocks mentioned in Hints 2 and 3 and not moved any of the others, you should now have two blocks sitting to the right, outside the case. Place both of these in the right-hand side of the case.

Now that you've gotten this far, you should be able to work out the rest!

Answer and full solution

The answer below shows where every block goes, explains the order to place them in, and shows the finished puzzle. Open it when you're ready.

Show the answer

Answer: don't rotate any block. In the right half, put the long straight block (6) down the far right column, the zigzag (7) down the middle and into the bottom left corner, the small block (8) at the bottom between them, and the arch (5) across the top. In the left half, put the wide U (4) along the bottom, the staircase (1) in the top left corner, the tall hook (2) down the right edge and the S-shaped block (3) in the middle. Then touch Submit.

The touch screen with the case filled: all eight green stone blocks packed into the two halves with no gaps, each marked with its number badge; left half, top to bottom: 1 in the top left corner, 2 down the right edge, 3 in the middle and 4 along the bottom; right half: 5 across the top, 7 down the middle and into the bottom left corner, 8 at the bottom middle and 6 down the far right column — Illustration of where every block goes. The numbers match the picture of the blocks at the start.

Here's the layout square by square, with each half four squares wide and six tall:

Right half, block 6: the whole far right column, from top to bottom.
Right half, block 7: the second column from the left, rows 2 to 4, then stepping into the leftmost column for rows 4 to 6.
Right half, block 8: the third column, rows 4 to 6, plus the second column, rows 5 and 6.
Right half, block 5: the arch across the top: the whole top row of the first three columns, with its legs running down the first and third columns to row 3, straddling the top of block 7.
Left half, block 4: the U along the bottom: the whole bottom row, with its two corners pointing up into row 5 at both edges.
Left half, block 1: the staircase in the top left corner: three squares of the top row, two of the second row and one of the third.
Left half, block 2: the tall hook down the right edge, from row 1 to row 4, with its two side squares in the third column at rows 2 and 4.
Left half, block 3: the S-shaped block in the gap that's left, from the middle of row 3 down to the inside of the U.

This is the order that makes it easy, following the game's hints. Block 6 goes down the far right of the right half (Hint 2), and the wide U goes along the bottom of the left half (Hint 3). Its two corner studs need holes under them when the case closes. Block 6 has a hole at its bottom end, and the zigzag (7), one of the Super Hint's two blocks, puts the other hole in the bottom left corner. The small block (8) fills the gap between them.

Partway through: on the top screen, the open case with a wide U-shaped green block along the bottom of the left half and three green blocks filling most of the right half; on the touch screen, the same four blocks in the case, with four more blocks still outside on the left — Illustration of the first four blocks in place: 6, 7 and 8 in the right half, and the wide U at the bottom of the left half.

That leaves seven empty squares at the top of the right half: the top row of the first three columns, plus two squares under each end. Only the arch (5) has that shape, and its two holes end up exactly where studs from the left half will land. The left half's remaining space then takes the staircase in the top left corner, the tall hook down the right edge and the S-shaped block in the middle. With every block in its starting orientation, each white stud lands on a black hole on the other side, and the case can close.

The game confirms it: "Well done! It looks as if you've saved the day! For now, at least..."

The finished puzzle: on the top screen, both halves of the open case completely filled with green stone blocks carved with patterns and dotted with white studs and black holes; on the touch screen, all eight blocks packed into the case with no gaps — Illustration of the finished puzzle, with every block packed into the case.

If it still doesn't work out:

You turned some blocks. Restart the puzzle, as Hint 1 suggests. The answer uses every block exactly as it starts.
The case is full but won't close. Compare your layout with the numbered picture above, block by block. Even one block in a different spot can put a stud on top of a stud.
The arch won't fit. Block 7 must start in the second row of the right half, not the top row, so the arch's legs can straddle it.

Picarats, hints and hint coins

Cursed Case shows 40 picarats when it starts. The puzzle can award 40, 36 or 32 picarats. Wrong answers may reduce the picarat value. A wrong answer brings the message "Too bad. Remember that fitting every block into the case isn't enough--you also need to be able to close it, so the studs and holes must line up properly. Quick! Try again before it's too late!" When you come back to try again, Randall says, "So we have to get all the stone blocks back into the case?"

Hints cost hint coins, not picarats. Hints 1 to 3 cost one hint coin each and the Super Hint costs two, five in total. Ruins B5 has four hint coins, each buried under a glowing spot, and one of them is in the same first room as this puzzle. Those four coins cover Hints 1 to 3 with one coin left over, one short of the Super Hint, so you'll need a coin saved from earlier for that one, or you can use the free hints on this page.

Does it unlock anything?

No. It doesn't give you an item or move the story on. You get the picarats, and the puzzle counts toward your total.

Versions

Nintendo 3DS family: this page covers the 3DS game. The case is shown in 3D on the top screen, and you move the blocks on the touch screen.
US and UK English versions: the blocks and the answer are the same. The UK text differs only in small details of wording.

The scene around the puzzle

If you quit the puzzle, Randall warns, "It talks about a curse if we can't get the case closed again!"

When it's solved, Randall says, "I guess not all of these glowing spots have good news buried under them!" Hershel replies, "Apparently not. Of course, a curse--that's just ancient superstition, right?" Randall starts, "Oh, uh... Of course. It's noth-- Argh!" Hershel asks, "What happened? Randall, are you OK?!" and Randall groans, "No! I stubbed my toe on one of those blocks! Was that because of the curse?!" Hershel's verdict: "If so, I think we can safely say that this curse weakened over the years."

FAQ

Where is the answer to Puzzle 094?

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 094 called?

Cursed Case, in both the North American and UK versions. In Japanese it's トランクの中身.

Where is Puzzle 094?

On Ruins B5, in Chapter 6. It's buried under the glowing spot in the first room of the floor, behind boulders you push out of the way.

Do I have to solve Puzzle 094?

No. It's optional. If you leave it unsolved, it goes to Nanna Grams at the start of Chapter 7.

How many picarats is Puzzle 094 worth?

It shows 40 picarats when it starts. The puzzle can award 40, 36 or 32 picarats. Wrong answers may reduce the picarat value.

Is Daily Puzzle 094 the same as Puzzle 094?

No. It's a different puzzle, listed under Wrong Puzzle 094?. Story Puzzle 094 is the stone block case puzzle on Ruins B5.

More Miracle Mask puzzles

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