Puzzle 122 in Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask is Kitty Solitaire 3, the last of the three Kitty Solitaire puzzles Maurice gives you in the story. Maurice is the circus tiger in the Big Top (Hannibal in the UK version). You can play it on the night of Chapter 7, it's optional, and it's worth 60 picarats. Lucky the black cat and nine white kittens share a 5×5 board. Cats jump over a neighbouring kitten to remove it, and you have to finish with Lucky alone on the middle square. The hints below open one at a time, and the answer stays hidden until you choose to show it.
This page is for the Nintendo 3DS game, including the eShop version. North American and European copies use the same number and the same board. The squares are numbered 1 to 25 from the top-left corner, left to right, top to bottom, so the middle square is 13.
Is this the Puzzle 122 you're on?
It is if your bottom screen shows a yellow 5×5 board with nine pale kittens, one black cat (Lucky) at the bottom of the middle column, and the objective "Leave Lucky in the middle!" Each Layton game numbers its puzzles separately, so a Puzzle 122 from Curious Village, Unwound Future, Azran Legacy or Layton's Mystery Journey is a different puzzle. Miracle Mask's Daily Puzzles also have their own numbering. This page only covers the story puzzle.
Where to find Kitty Solitaire 3
- Play to Chapter 7. The puzzle opens on the fourth night, once your objective reads "Meet Bloom at the Racetrack!"
- Go to the circus area and enter the Big Top.
- Tap Maurice, the circus tiger. Luke offers to help ("I can help! I'm great with puzzles!") and the puzzle starts.
Maurice keeps the puzzle until the end of Chapter 7. If you move on without it, it isn't lost. Nanna Grams (known as Elizabeth in the UK version) collects the puzzles you miss, so you can solve it there later. In the US dialogue she goes by her undercover name, Nanna Grams.
Maurice or Hannibal?
They're the same tiger. The North American version calls him Maurice, and the UK and European English version calls him Hannibal. He's one of the circus animals, and the puzzle is the same whichever name he goes by.
Maurice doesn't have a puzzle for you
- It's too early. Your earlier visits to Maurice give other puzzles: Puzzle 050 (Kitty Solitaire) in Chapter 3 and Puzzle 065 (Kitty Solitaire 2) in Chapter 5. Puzzle 122 only appears once the "Meet Bloom at the Racetrack!" objective is up.
- Chapter 7 is over. Visit Nanna Grams instead.
- You already solved it. Solved puzzles can be replayed from the Puzzle Index in your trunk.
Puzzle 118 (Evenly Matched 3) always comes first, because it's a mandatory story puzzle. In Chapter 7, while your objective is "Inquire at City Hall!", solving 118 is the only way out of the scene in the mayor's office. After that the objective changes to "Speak to Chief Sheffield!" and then to "Meet Bloom at the Racetrack!", which is when Maurice has Puzzle 122. So in normal play, 118 is already solved by the time 122 appears.
How Kitty Solitaire 3 works
The puzzle text sets out the rules. Lucky and the kittens can each "jump over any kitten that is on a horizontally, vertically, or diagonally adjacent square", and the kitten that gets jumped leaves the grid. The one exception: "Lucky can't be jumped over."
| Rule | What it means on the board |
|---|---|
| Who can jump | Lucky or any kitten. |
| Directions | All eight: left, right, up, down and the four diagonals. |
| What you jump over | One kitten on the square right next to you. You can never jump over Lucky. |
| Where you land | The empty square directly behind that kitten. It has to be on the board. |
| What happens | The kitten you jumped over is removed. |
| Goal | Lucky is the only cat left, and she's on square 13. |
At the start, Lucky is on 23 and the kittens are on 7, 9, 12, 14, 17, 18, 19, 22 and 24. Square 13 starts empty. The hints and the answer below use these square numbers.
When the game says you're out of moves
When no cat can make a jump, the game shows "You don't have any moves left." and puts the cats back where they started. Before that, Undo takes back your last jump, and Restart sets up all ten cats again. Landing Lucky on 13 only counts once every kitten is gone.
Hints, one at a time
These follow the game's own hints, in the same order, with a little more explanation. 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 to start
The cats are bunched near the bottom of the board. The real problem is the two kittens at the top, on 7 and 9: think about how anything can reach them to jump over them. The game also says Lucky doesn't make the first move in its solution. So which kitten could travel up there?
Hint 2: the opening jumps
Take the kitten just below the middle square, on 18, and jump it diagonally upward. Either diagonal works. Keep jumping with the same kitten until it has gone round the board and is back on 18. When it gets home, five kittens should be left, all in the bottom two rows.
Hint 3: the second half
Now Lucky does the rest. Her first jump is not a diagonal one, so from 23 she goes up, left or right. Which of those leaves her a way back to the middle?
Super Hint: the finish
From the five-kitten position at the end of Hint 2, start Lucky vertically or horizontally. If she jumps up first, she then jumps diagonally down, sideways twice, and her last jump takes her into the middle.
Answer and full solution
The answer below covers every jump, with two different routes and a picture of the finished puzzle. Open it when you're ready.
Show the answer
The quickest way is to move only Lucky: jump left, up-right, left, up-right, down-right, left, down-right, left, then straight up. On the numbered board that's 23 → 21 → 13 → 11 → 3 → 15 → 13 → 25 → 23 → 13, which leaves Lucky alone on the middle square. The game points out this route itself once you win: "It's actually possible to use only Lucky to complete this puzzle... It takes nine moves."
| Jump | Lucky moves | Direction | Kitten removed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 23 → 21 | Left | 22 |
| 2 | 21 → 13 | Up and right | 17 |
| 3 | 13 → 11 | Left | 12 |
| 4 | 11 → 3 | Up and right | 7 |
| 5 | 3 → 15 | Down and right | 9 |
| 6 | 15 → 13 | Left | 14 |
| 7 | 13 → 25 | Down and right | 19 |
| 8 | 25 → 23 | Left | 24 |
| 9 | 23 → 13 | Up | 18 |
An easy way to remember it: "left, up-right" twice, then "down-right, left" twice, then up. Lucky passes through the middle square after jumps 2 and 6, but kittens are still on the board then, so keep going. The mirror image also works. Start to the right (23 → 25), go up-left into the middle (25 → 13), then right, up-left, down-left, right, down-left, right, and finish with up.
Route 2, the one the hints describe: a kitten makes the first four jumps, then Lucky finishes with five.
| Jump | Cat | Move | Direction | Kitten removed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kitten | 18 → 10 | Up and right | 14 |
| 2 | Same kitten | 10 → 8 | Left | 9 |
| 3 | Same kitten | 8 → 6 | Left | 7 |
| 4 | Same kitten | 6 → 18 | Down and right | 12 |
| 5 | Lucky | 23 → 13 | Up | 18 |
| 6 | Lucky | 13 → 21 | Down and left | 17 |
| 7 | Lucky | 21 → 23 | Right | 22 |
| 8 | Lucky | 23 → 25 | Right | 24 |
| 9 | Lucky | 25 → 13 | Up and left | 19 |
The kitten's loop also works the other way round: 18 → 6, 6 → 8, 8 → 10, 10 → 18. After the loop, Lucky can go up first, as in the table, or start sideways: 23 → 21, 21 → 13, 13 → 25, 25 → 23 and 23 → 13.
Step by step (Route 1):
- Lucky jumps left over 22, landing on 21.
- Up and right over 17, into the middle (13).
- Left over 12, to 11.
- Up and right over 7, to 3.
- Down and right over 9, to 15.
- Left over 14, back to the middle.
- Down and right over 19, to 25.
- Left over 24, to 23.
- Straight up over 18, to 13. Lucky is the only cat left.
Each jump removes one kitten, so every solution is exactly nine jumps long. No single opening jump loses the puzzle by itself: all 11 possible first jumps can still be finished. There are 1,284 different winning sequences, and 24 of them use only Lucky.
If your answer keeps failing:
- Kittens stranded on the edges. A kitten in a corner or along an edge can only be jumped from inside the board, toward a square that's still on the board. Once the cats around it are gone, nothing can reach it.
- Lucky reached the middle too early. Being on 13 only counts once every kitten is gone.
- Trying to jump over Lucky. Kittens can't jump over her, so a kitten sitting behind Lucky is stuck in that direction.
- Jumping over an empty square, or two kittens at once. A jump goes over exactly one kitten and lands on the empty square right behind it.
- If you've lost track, press Restart and play Route 1 from the start. It works from the starting layout every time.
Kitty Solitaire 1, 2 and 3 compared
| Puzzle | Kittens | Lucky starts on | Picarats | Chapter |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 050 Kitty Solitaire | 8 | 13 (the middle) | 35 | 3 |
| 065 Kitty Solitaire 2 | 7 | 25 (bottom-right corner) | 45 | 5 |
| 122 Kitty Solitaire 3 | 9 | 23 (bottom of the middle column) | 60 | 7 |
All three come from Maurice in the Big Top, and all three end with Lucky alone on the middle square. Puzzle 122 has the most kittens, and so the most jumps to plan.
Picarats, and do you have to solve it?
Kitty Solitaire 3 is worth 60 picarats. The game lists the same 60 at every payout level, so restarting or undoing jumps doesn't lower your reward. It's an optional puzzle: you can finish Chapter 7 without it, but it counts toward your puzzle total and your picarats.
The next puzzle on the list, Puzzle 123 (Weighted Marbles), comes from a police officer in the Casino on the same Chapter 7 night. He only turns up after the Casino's "Lazy Policeman" scene, not the moment your objective changes.
FAQ
What is Puzzle 122 in Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask?
It's Kitty Solitaire 3, the third and last of Maurice's Kitty Solitaire puzzles in the story. The story puzzles run from 1 to 135, and 136 to 150 are Layton's Challenges. A downloadable Kitty Solitaire 4 at the hotel front desk isn't given by Maurice and isn't one of those 150 numbered puzzles. You have to clear nine kittens off a 5×5 board and leave Lucky, the black cat, alone on the middle square. It's worth 60 picarats.
Where do I find Kitty Solitaire 3?
In the Big Top in the circus area, on the night of Chapter 7, once the objective "Meet Bloom at the Racetrack!" is up. Talk to Maurice, the circus tiger. If you missed it, Nanna Grams has it.
Where is the answer to Puzzle 122?
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.
Can the kittens jump over Lucky?
No. Only kittens can be jumped over and removed. Lucky can jump over kittens, but nothing can jump over her.
Do I need to solve Puzzle 118 first?
In normal play, yes. Puzzle 118 is mandatory: while the objective is "Inquire at City Hall!", the mayor's office scene only ends once you solve it. Puzzle 122 appears two objectives later, at "Meet Bloom at the Racetrack!", so 118 will already be solved.
Is Daily Puzzle 122 the same puzzle?
No. The Daily Puzzles are a separate set with their own numbers. Story Puzzle 122 is always Kitty Solitaire 3.
How many hint coins do the hints cost?
One coin each for Hints 1, 2 and 3, and two for the Super Hint, so five coins for all of them.
More Miracle Mask puzzles
- Puzzle 60: Dangerous Holes
- Puzzle 100: Gate to the Ruins!
- Puzzle 113: Chip Champions
- Puzzle 118: Evenly Matched 3
- Puzzle 121: Ball-Dart Bull's-Eye
- Puzzle 123: Weighted Marbles
For the rest of the game's puzzles, see the Miracle Mask puzzle index.