KoanKeyZebra puzzle for November 11, 2026
Puzzle #315. Six levels, one solution each.
Spring Flower Show
The town hall smells of fresh blossoms on the morning of the flower show. Gardeners stand beside their entries along a row of tables.
| Spot | Spot 1 | Spot 2 | Spot 3 | Spot 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | ||||
| Paula | ||||
| Gita | ||||
| Kofi | ||||
| Naveen | ||||
| Flower | ||||
| tulips | ||||
| lavender | ||||
| orchids | ||||
| daisies | ||||
| Shirt colour | ||||
| grey | ||||
| purple | ||||
| teal | ||||
| green | ||||
| Street | ||||
| Elm | ||||
| Laurel | ||||
| Pine | ||||
| Oak | ||||
| Drink | ||||
| sparkling water | ||||
| tea | ||||
| cranberry juice | ||||
| lemonade | ||||
Facts
Tap a fact to cross it out. Tap again to bring it back.
Puzzle #315 is the Zebra set for Wednesday, November 11, 2026. It went live at 14:00 UTC that day and holds six separate logic grids, from a 4 by 4 warm-up with 10 facts to a 6 by 7 grid with 30.
The stories in this set are "Lantern Festival Parade", "Spring Flower Show", "The Quiet Bookshop Circle", "Mountain Railway Journey", "Mountain Hut Weekend" and "The Floating Market Boats". Each one is a short story with its own cast and its own list of facts to piece together. Place every trait in the right house and you have solved it.
Every puzzle has exactly one solution. Easier levels fall to straightforward deduction. The hardest ones can ask you to test a what-if and back out when it breaks a fact. In total this set holds 112 facts to work with.
The six puzzles for November 11, 2026
Very easy: Lantern Festival Parade
Paper lanterns bob above the crowd as the evening parade sets off down the main road. Each marcher carries something special and has a story to share.
Easy: Spring Flower Show
The town hall smells of fresh blossoms on the morning of the flower show. Gardeners stand beside their entries along a row of tables.
Medium: The Quiet Bookshop Circle
A bookshop clears a few chairs every Monday for its reading circle. Members sit in a row, tea going cold, deep in conversation.
Hard: Mountain Railway Journey
The little red train climbs slowly into the clouds. Travellers sit in a line of window seats, noses pressed to the glass.
Very hard: Mountain Hut Weekend
After a long climb, the hikers reach a cosy mountain hut with a row of narrow bunks. Boots are dropped by the door and the stories begin.
Ultra hard: The Floating Market Boats
Narrow boats packed with goods glide side by side along the canal. Each trader waits in a boat, calling out cheerfully to passers-by.
Difficulty by level
Each level has a target grid size and a typical number of facts. The score is our own measure of how long the chain of reasoning runs; higher means harder.
| Level | Grid | Facts | Typical facts | Score band | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Very easy | 4 houses × 4 categories | 10 | 9–12 | 0–20 | 14 |
| Easy | 4 houses × 5 categories | 13 | 11–14 | 16–45 | 16 |
| Medium | 5 houses × 5 categories | 17 | 14–18 | 30–90 | 67 |
| Hard | 5 houses × 6 categories | 20 | 17–22 | 60–140 | 70 |
| Very hard | 5 houses × 7 categories | 22 | 20–26 | 90–250 | 138 |
| Ultra hard | 6 houses × 7 categories | 30 | 24–30 | 160–700 | 252 |
Kinds of facts in this set
The six puzzles together give you 112 facts. The most common type is same-house facts, with 38 of them across the set. Different levels draw on different kinds of fact. Easier levels stick to plain statements about who lives where, while harder ones add comparisons and exclusions that take more steps to use. Types that appear on just one level today: in-between facts (only on the ultra hard puzzle), either-or facts (only on the ultra hard puzzle), position-exclusion facts (only on the ultra hard puzzle), odd-or-even facts (only on the ultra hard puzzle).
| Type | Count | Used on |
|---|---|---|
| same-house facts | 38 | very easy, easy, medium, hard, very hard, ultra hard |
| directly-left facts | 18 | medium, hard, very hard, ultra hard |
| next-door facts | 16 | very easy, easy, medium, hard, very hard, ultra hard |
| fixed-position facts | 12 | very easy, easy, medium, hard, very hard, ultra hard |
| somewhere-left facts | 12 | medium, hard, very hard, ultra hard |
| in-between facts | 5 | ultra hard |
| end-of-row facts | 4 | hard, very hard, ultra hard |
| not-the-same facts | 3 | hard, very hard |
| either-or facts | 2 | ultra hard |
| position-exclusion facts | 1 | ultra hard |
| odd-or-even facts | 1 | ultra hard |
Ways in: how each puzzle tends to go
Here is the style of reasoning that each puzzle for November 11, 2026 leans on, listed in the order you would typically use it. These are categories only. They never name a person, a colour or any other value, so you can read them without spoiling anything.
Very easy: Lantern Festival Parade
- Start from fixed-position facts
- Link same-house facts
- Pair up neighbour facts
- Cross-check the grid after each step
Easy: Spring Flower Show
- Start from fixed-position facts
- Link same-house facts
- Pair up neighbour facts
- Cross-check the grid after each step
Medium: The Quiet Bookshop Circle
- Start from fixed-position facts
- Link same-house facts
- Pair up neighbour facts
- Chain left-of facts
- Cross-check the grid after each step
- Assume one answer, then a second one inside it, and look for a contradiction
Hard: Mountain Railway Journey
- Start from end facts
- Start from fixed-position facts
- Link same-house facts
- Pair up neighbour facts
- Chain left-of facts
- Rule out options with negative facts
- Cross-check the grid after each step
- Assume one answer, then a second one inside it, and look for a contradiction
Very hard: Mountain Hut Weekend
- Start from end facts
- Start from fixed-position facts
- Link same-house facts
- Pair up neighbour facts
- Chain left-of facts
- Rule out options with negative facts
- Cross-check the grid after each step
- Assume one answer, then a second one inside it, and look for a contradiction
Ultra hard: The Floating Market Boats
- Start from end facts
- Start from fixed-position facts
- Link same-house facts
- Pair up neighbour facts
- Chain left-of facts
- Narrow down with between facts
- Rule out options with negative facts
- Split either-or facts
- Use odd and even positions
- Cross-check the grid after each step
- Assume one answer, then a second one inside it, and look for a contradiction
Questions about puzzle #315
How many facts do the puzzles for November 11, 2026 give?
The very easy puzzle, "Lantern Festival Parade", gives 10 facts on a 4 by 4 grid. The ultra hard puzzle, "The Floating Market Boats", gives 30 facts on a 6 by 7 grid. Across all six levels that is 112 facts.
Which puzzle is the hardest on November 11, 2026?
The ultra hard "The Floating Market Boats" has a difficulty score of 252 and uses 6 houses with 7 categories each. For comparison, the very easy puzzle scores 14. Higher scores mean longer chains of reasoning.
Which kinds of facts show up in puzzle #315?
The most frequent types are same-house facts (38), directly-left facts (18), next-door facts (16). The breakdown for every type is listed on this page, level by level.
Can I still play this puzzle after the day has passed?
Yes. A day page stays online and playable for good. Only the live puzzle on the home page and the main Zebra page moves on at 14:00 UTC. Your solved levels are remembered in your browser, so you can pick up where you stopped.
Does it matter which level I start with?
Not at all. The six puzzles in a set are separate stories with their own grids. Many people warm up on the smallest grid and work upwards, but you can jump straight to the hardest one if you like. Each level keeps its own progress.
Why do some levels need a what-if?
On bigger grids, the facts alone may not settle a cell until you test one possibility. You assume it, follow the consequences, and if two facts collide you know the assumption was wrong. The reasoning categories listed on this page show which levels expect that.
Can I share my result without spoiling the puzzle?
Yes. The share text has the puzzle name, the level, your time and whether you used a nudge. It never includes any answer, so it is safe to post anywhere.
More days in November 2026
See the whole November 2026 archive, the full archive, or read how Zebra puzzles work.