November 2025 - Settlers of Catan

Tap on any hint box to view it.

Location: Game Setup

  1. Begin by placing numbers in the top, middle, and bottom rows using number placement rule #3.
  2. With the remaining spaces, which numbers are and are not possible in each hexagon? Write these in the white space to visualize.
  3. Narrow down the possible locations for the '2' by tentatively inserting it in a location and seeing if there is a way to make a sum of 25 in that row with the other possibilities. If not, remove that possibility.
  4. Select one of the remaining two locations for the '2' and layout the rest of the board if this were the location of the '2'. Is number placement rule #5 broken by either strategy?
  5. The numbers in order from left to right, top to bottom are:
    9, 6, 10
    11, 3, 2, 9
    8, 4, 3, 11
    10, 6, 5, 4
    5, 8, 12
  6. The flavor text emphasizes to “see who benefits” from the rolls. Do you notice anything about the player’s names?
  7. For each roll, find out which NATO player(s) will benefit, and use the letter abbreviation for their names (in player order) to form the solution: CROSS ROSS.

Lumber

  1. Start by identifying the word represented by each of the images.
  2. The flavor text mentions that you “identify the types of trees”. What could this mean?
  3. The question mark in each tree represents a single letter that can only be found by identifying the type of tree spelled out across the word form of the images on that tree.
  4. The images on each tree (from left to right in the top row then the bottom row) are: RABBI & CHEF, BALD & RAZOR, SIGMA & LETTER, LOLLIPOP & ARROW, COMIC & PRESS, WRENCHES & NUTS, BACON & FERRY, KALE & ONION, PERU & BERLIN, PSYCHIC & DARTS, TEACHER & YOLK.
  5. Spell out the two images as a continuous chain of letters, including the '?' between them. For the first tree, RABBI?CHEF, do you notice anything?
  6. If the '?' could be replaced with a single letter, can the name of a tree be found? For RABBI?CHEF, an R could be placed on the '?' to spell the tree name BIRCH.
  7. The hidden types of trees (from left to right in the top row then the bottom row) are: BIRCH, ALDER, MAPLE, POPLAR, CYPRESS, CHESTNUT, CONIFER, LEMON, RUBBER, CEDAR, CHERRY.
  8. Making cuts on the letter separating each pair of words on each tree, spells out the solution REPLY TIMBER.

Brick

  1. Each brick of the puzzle holds one letter.
  2. Count the total number of given letters in the four words of any row. Compare this number to the length of each "row" of bricks. What do you notice?
  3. Each row holds four words which must overlap multiple letters in order to fit in a row of bricks. Notice that each row of bricks is a different length.
  4. Answers for the crossword clues in order on the page are ARMADA, DEAR, OUTSIDE, POUT, BALSA, GASH, SAGA, SHEDS, ANNUL, ASIAN, TRAYS, ULTRA, ABBR, BRIDE, DEEPLY, PLYWOOD.
  5. If you turn the page sideways, the first "column" of letters would read (top to bottom) APAB. Now go back and review the flavor text.
  6. Reading down every third column reveals the solution: BUILDING PATHWAYS.

Wool

  1. The puzzle begins with BULL and SHARK being placed together. Why did these two animals specifically get paired up? Which others could be paired up like this?
  2. A BULL SHARK is a real animal name. All matching combinations on the board are real animals with names taken from two different animals.
  3. Moving tiles that only have one animal name to match up is a good place to begin.
  4. The orientation of the word on the tile also gives big clues about how that word fits into the combined animal name. For example, on the shark tile, all four instances are positioned as the second word in an animal name.
  5. There's nothing wrong with a quick internet search to decide whether a "squirrel monkey" is a real animal. Or use the QR code on the puzzle for help.
  6. Reading left to right, top to bottom, the hexagon arrangement should be:
    SNAKE, TIGER, WHALE
    RAT, BULL, SHARK, SEAL
    KANGAROO, DOG, (desert), LEOPARD, ELEPHANT
    FOX, SQUIRREL, WOLF, EEL
    MONKEY, SPIDER, CRAB
  7. What could the number in parenthesis represent? Do you notice anything about the numbers given on the DOG, EEL, FOX, and RAT tiles? How about on the KANGAROO and ELEPHANT tiles? What could this mean?
  8. Index the animal's name in each hexagon to reveal a letter. Then, starting with S for SPIDER, follow a path through the board to reveal the solution: SOOTHING SURGE OF REST.

Grain

  1. Start by considering the clues for the two-word phrases at the bottom. Phrases are in alphabetical order, not start-to-end order.
  2. Each phrase can be formed in the field by drawing a continuous line that only makes 90 degree turns from one checkpoint (the first letter of the phrase) to another checkpoint (the last letter of the phrase).
  3. Connect phrases to each other through the checkpoints such that a single line can trace all the way through the field from start to end without any breaks or intersections.
  4. Solutions for the crossword clues, in order, are AERIAL VIEW, EAST AFRICA, EPISODE VII, HIGH ROLLER, ICE MACHINE, MEDIA BLITZ, OPERATING SYSTEM, ROUGH DRAFT, THERAPY DOG, WELDING TORCH, ZOOM FATIGUE.
  5. The two-word phrases in the puzzle as seen from start to finish are (O)PERATING SYSTE(M), (M)EDIA BLIT(Z), (Z)OOM FATIGU(E), (E)PISODE VI(I), (I)CE MACHIN(E), (E)ASTAFRIC(A), (A)ERIAL VIE(W), (W)ELDING TORC(H), (H)IGH ROLLE(R), (R)OUGH DRAF(T), (T)HERAPY DO(G).
  6. The letters placed in the checkpoints (when read left to right, top to bottom) spell out the solution: GROW THE MAIZE.

Ore

  1. You will not have to guess the placement of ore in any section. Use the numbers around the outside to decide which rows or diagonals have to include ore deposits and which ones can't.
  2. In the first hexagon, the left-most diagonal on the top shows zero. Cross out all sections in this diagonal since the total ores in this diagonal is zero. Process of elimination will help you reveal the exact locations of the ore deposits in the first hexagon. Which other row or column sum will help you significantly reduce the number of possible ore locations?
  3. Once all ore locations have been found, remember that the text said "which sections in each row contain either 1 ore or 0 ores." The solution to the puzzle must have something to do with ones and zeros.
  4. Converting a section with no ore to "0" and a section with ore to "1", the rows read out as follows:
    00111, 00001, 01001, 01110
    10100, 01000, 00101, 00011
    10010, 01111, 10111, 01110
  5. The 12 rows when converted from binary to the alphabetical system spell out the solution: GAIN THE CROWN.

Meta: Building Phase

  1. Look for the letters W, B, O, L, and G in your puzzle answers to indicate which resources you have acquired from each one.
  2. Extract only the W, B, O, L, and G letters from the set answers (in order) to know what you are building:
    repLy timBer --> L,B
    BuiLdinG pathWays --> B,L,G,W
    sOOthinG surGe Of rest --> O,O,G,G,O
    GrOW the maize --> G,O,W
    Gain the crOWn --> G,O,W
  3. If you aren't familiar with the game of Catan, use the Rulebook page provided with the set and check the 'Building Phase' section.
  4. Each puzzle corresponds with the resources required to build a single commodity:
    SOOTHING SURGE OF REST --> CITY (OOGGO)
    BUILDING PATHWAYS --> SETTLEMENT (BLGW)
    GROW THE MAIZE --> DEVELOPMENT CARD (GOW)
    EXCLAIM TIMBER --> ROAD (LB)
    GAIN THE CROWN --> DEVELOPMENT CARD (GOW)
  5. Pull cards off the top of the stack both in the order of the things being built on the page (top to bottom) and in the order of the resources extracted from the puzzle solutions.
  6. The flavor text bolds the word “shift”. Try using a Caesar shift on the letter already in place based on the number on the card you draw from the pile to place there.
  7. Each card drawn from a pile shows a number you should use to shift the letter already in the card’s place to reveal an answer.
  8. Shifting the letters in place on the page based on the numbers on cards drawn from the pile in order reveals the solution: I CAME, I SAW, I SETTLED.

Bonus - Trading Phase

  1. What could "trading for a specific resource to replace an equally-sized portion of their hand" mean?
  2. In the first hand, how could B-R-I-C-K replace a 5-letter subsection of the given text string to form a new clue?
  3. Replacing each hand with the accurately placed resource name, yields the following set of clues:
    (BRICK)LAYER SUBSTANCE
    BOTTOMS AT A S(LUMBER) PARTY
    NUDE RUN (OR E)PIC LUCK SPAN
    USED TO BRE(W OOL)ONG
    PRE PHOT(O RE)MARK
    F(ORE)IGN SKI LODGE
    BI(G RAIN)FOREST HIGH LAYER
    DAY TRIP (OR E)XPOSING
    OVERFLOWIN(G RAIN)
    FA(BRIC K)NIT FOR SPORTS
  4. Once you have found a 6-letter word for each clue, notice what each row has in common with the next.
  5. Letters shared by adjacent rows form the solution to the puzzle: MAKE CHANGE.