Code Wheel
Work out the secret turn, then code the word MAP.
This engine’s own main skill is Codes & Ciphers. It practises locate an alphabet position alongside it.
Every letter moved the same amount: 3 steps forwards around the alphabet. That is why even one of the example cards is enough to give the whole secret away - once you know K → N, every other letter follows. To code a word you just repeat that one turn on each letter, and when you run off the end of the alphabet you wrap back round to the start, which is exactly what the wheel does for you.
What to say if they get stuck
- Turn the outer ring until KIT lines up with NLW. The example cards glow when it is right.
- Look at just one letter: K became N. How many steps around the alphabet is that?
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Letter Conveyor
P, R, T, V … which tile rolls in next?
This engine’s own main skill is Letter Series. It practises locate an alphabet position alongside it.
A letter series is really a number series in disguise: swap each letter for its place in the alphabet and the pattern shows up. Here each letter jumps +2, every single step. Applying the jump once more to V gives X.
What to say if they get stuck
- Press Play - the arcs show you exactly how far each letter hops along the rail.
- Every hop is the same size. Count the letters between one carriage and the next.
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Alphabet Hops
BD, FH, JL, N? - tap the letter on the strip that finishes the last pair.
This engine’s own main skill is Letter Sequences. It practises locate an alphabet position alongside it.
Letter sequences are arithmetic in disguise, so turn the letters into positions before you do anything else: B is 2, D is 4, F is 6, H is 8, J is 10, L is 12, N is 14. Now two separate patterns appear. Inside every pair the second letter is two steps on from the first, and from one pair to the next every letter jumps four steps. The missing letter sits inside the last pair, so the rule you need is the plus two: N is 14, so the answer is 16, which is P. Always check both patterns before you answer, because these questions are built so that the between-pairs jump is a tempting wrong answer. Counting on the alphabet rather than guessing by feel is what keeps you right under time pressure.
What to say if they get stuck
- Forget what the letters spell. Count how many steps it takes to walk from the first letter of a pair to the second.
- B to D is two steps. Check F to H and J to L: is the gap inside a pair always the same?
- There are two patterns here. One is the gap inside each pair, the other is the jump from one pair to the next. You only need the first one.
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