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Dive 19 · Coral Garden

Giant clam with a blue mantle

A giant clam with wavy shell edges and an electric-blue spotted mantle among corals

Filling the tank…

In the frame

A giant clam fills most of the frame, its wavy shell open to show an electric-blue mantle dotted with dark spots. Branching and lumpy corals in beige, pink and lilac surround it.

This dive turns the picture into a 3 × 3 slide puzzle: 8 tiles and one empty space. The shuffle is fixed, so everyone starts from the same board, and it is always solvable.

Dive plan

  1. Start with the easy part: the wavy, dark-rimmed edges of the shell.
  2. Almost every part of this frame has detail. The least distinct part is the deep blue middle of the mantle, and even that has texture to go on.
  3. Finish the top row first, then the left column; the puzzle shrinks to a smaller board each time.
  4. Switch on the numbers if two tiles look alike — they show where each tile belongs.
  5. The picture is busy enough that neighbouring tiles can usually be told apart without numbers.
  6. A 3 × 3 board is small enough to solve by feel; try to finish in as few moves as you can.

Colours of the picture

Main colours, measured from the picture's pixels: grey (37%), charcoal (25%), brown (17%) and sand (12%).

  • grey37%
  • charcoal25%
  • brown17%
  • sand12%
  • slate grey9%

How deep it goes

Depth 1 of 5 — a calm paddle.

Snorkel dives are the shallow end of the logbook: small boards with pieces big enough to read at a glance.