Riddle of the day

How to play the Locksmith's Cylinder

Every day the Locksmith sets three original riddles, easy, medium and hard, and hangs them on one brass cylinder lock. Each answer is a single word. Read the riddle on the brass plate, then spin the ring to spell the answer: flick it, drag it, tap above or below the window to step a letter, or type on a keyboard. There is no submit button. The moment a ring spells the right word it locks with a clunk and the lock moves you on. Open all three and the whole cylinder springs open.

• Easy answers run three to five letters, medium four to six, hard five to seven.
• Tries are unlimited. A wrong word just stays on the wheels while you change a letter.
• Close but not quite? Some wrong words earn a nudge from the Locksmith instead of a flat no.

Tips for solving riddles

Our riddles are lateral thinking, never trivia. You will not need a fact you would have to look up. The answer is nearly always an ordinary word doing two jobs, the way "clock" is the answer to a thing with hands that cannot clap.

• Read for the second meaning. If something has a tongue, a bed or a bark, ask what else does.
• Count the letters first. The rings show how long the answer is, which rules out half your ideas straight away.
• Say the riddle out loud. Plenty of them lean on a word that sounds like another.
• Work from the last line. It is often the cleanest clue.

Stuck? The hints are free

Press Consult the Locksmith. The first hint nudges, the second points at where to look, and the third gives the letter count and the first letter. Asking never costs you anything: hints do not touch your streak, and your share card simply shows a half-filled mark for a ring you opened with help, so friends can compare honestly. After the third hint the Locksmith will show you a ring if you want to see it. The day then ends as Not today, and still counts toward your streak.

What makes this riddle of the day different

A riddle does not have to be a line of text with a Reveal button. This one is a lock you can feel: a 3D cylinder with knurled brass wheels, a tick for every letter, and an ending where the end caps unscrew and cyan light pours out of the seam. It runs in your phone's browser with nothing to download, drops back to a flat 2D lock on older devices, works with a keyboard and a screen reader, and plays well with the sound off or Calm mode on. The riddles are written for the game and checked by machine, so every answer fits its ring and is spelt the same in Australian and US English.

A new lock at your midnight

Each player gets the lock for their own local date, so the new riddles arrive at midnight wherever you are. Your streak counts every day you finish, whether you opened the lock or not, and one spare key covers a single missed day. It comes back seven days after you use it. The streak lives on your phone, with nothing to sign up for. The share card shows the lock number and your marks, and never an answer, a letter count or the riddle itself.