Hints desk, Tuesday 27 October 2026, Puzzle 12
Tuesday market, Market hours
Stuck on today’s Paperclip?
Puzzle 12: a red paperclip to a vintage car, shortest route 5 trades. Three hints, each a little bigger than the last. Open one at a time.
Rule: Market hours. Some stalls keep hours. A clock says how many trades until a stall packs up, or until a closed one opens.
Three hints
Hint 1: Who has the vintage car?
The beekeeper. Look at what they want, and work backwards from there.
Hint 2: A good first trade
Give the painter your red paperclip for a button and an apple. It keeps the 5-trade route open.
Hint 3: The trap
The sailor is a detour. Trading with them still gets you to the vintage car, but it costs 1 extra trade.
Still stuck?
The whole route goes up in the Paperclip Gazette on Wednesday at noon UTC, once this puzzle is over everywhere.