In the frame
A small reddish-brown octopus spreads its arms across pebbles in a shallow rock pool. Green seaweed, rounded stones and tufts of red algae surround it on every side.
This dive turns the picture into a 5 × 5 slide puzzle: 24 tiles and one empty space. The shuffle is fixed, so everyone starts from the same board, and it is always solvable.
Dive plan
- Start with the easy part: the octopus and its curling arms.
- Almost every part of this frame has detail. The least distinct part is the smooth grey pebbles at the bottom, and even that has texture to go on.
- Finish the top row first, then the left column; the puzzle shrinks to a smaller board each time.
- Switch on the numbers if two tiles look alike — they show where each tile belongs.
- The picture is busy enough that neighbouring tiles can usually be told apart without numbers.
- A 5 × 5 board is a real workout; if you get stuck, the hint suggests a move or highlights a misplaced tile.
Colours of the picture
Main colours, measured from the picture's pixels: brown (37%), charcoal (37%) and olive (26%).
- brown37%
- charcoal37%
- olive26%
How deep it goes
Depth 3 of 5 — a steady dive.
Deep dives are the longest in the logbook: the largest board each game gets in the numbered dives.