KoanKeyZebra puzzle for November 7, 2026
Puzzle #311. Six levels, one solution each.
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.
| Spot | Spot 1 | Spot 2 | Spot 3 | Spot 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | ||||
| Victor | ||||
| Andre | ||||
| Imani | ||||
| Gita | ||||
| Shirt colour | ||||
| teal | ||||
| black | ||||
| yellow | ||||
| blue | ||||
| Skill | ||||
| dancing | ||||
| karate | ||||
| swimming | ||||
| surfing | ||||
| Umbrella colour | ||||
| black | ||||
| white | ||||
| purple | ||||
| maroon | ||||
| Instrument | ||||
| piano | ||||
| violin | ||||
| guitar | ||||
| banjo | ||||
Facts
Tap a fact to cross it out. Tap again to bring it back.
Puzzle #311 is the Zebra set for Saturday, November 7, 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 "Tea House Afternoon", "Lantern Festival Parade", "Snowed-In Cabin Weekend", "Summer Reading Challenge", "Rooftop Garden Club" and "The Ferry Crossing". 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 110 facts to work with.
The six puzzles for November 7, 2026
Very easy: Tea House Afternoon
Paper screens, quiet music and a long low table greet the afternoon guests. Steam drifts from every cup.
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.
Medium: Snowed-In Cabin Weekend
Snow has blocked the road, so the guests at a mountain cabin settle in by the fire. They line up on the sofa with blankets and mugs.
Hard: Summer Reading Challenge
The library has launched a summer challenge with a prize for every finisher. Readers pile up on the beanbags, bookmarks poking out of their stacks.
Very hard: Rooftop Garden Club
A group of neighbours shares a sunny rooftop and takes turns watering the planters. After the work is done, they line up along the railing to watch the sunset.
Ultra hard: The Ferry Crossing
The small ferry chugs across the bay with passengers lined along the rail. The crossing takes just twenty minutes, but everyone has something to talk about.
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 | 10 |
| Easy | 4 houses × 5 categories | 12 | 11–14 | 16–45 | 35 |
| Medium | 5 houses × 5 categories | 16 | 14–18 | 30–90 | 64 |
| Hard | 5 houses × 6 categories | 20 | 17–22 | 60–140 | 110 |
| Very hard | 5 houses × 7 categories | 22 | 20–26 | 90–250 | 106 |
| Ultra hard | 6 houses × 7 categories | 30 | 24–30 | 160–700 | 518 |
Kinds of facts in this set
The six puzzles together give you 110 facts. The most common type is same-house facts, with 42 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: either-or facts (only on the ultra hard puzzle), odd-or-even facts (only on the ultra hard puzzle).
| Type | Count | Used on |
|---|---|---|
| same-house facts | 42 | very easy, easy, medium, hard, very hard, ultra hard |
| next-door facts | 23 | very easy, easy, medium, hard, very hard, ultra hard |
| directly-left facts | 14 | medium, hard, very hard, ultra hard |
| somewhere-left facts | 9 | medium, hard, very hard, ultra hard |
| fixed-position facts | 8 | very easy, easy, medium, hard, ultra hard |
| end-of-row facts | 5 | very easy, medium, hard, ultra hard |
| position-exclusion facts | 4 | very hard, ultra hard |
| in-between facts | 3 | very hard, ultra hard |
| either-or 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 7, 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: Tea House Afternoon
- Start from end facts
- Start from fixed-position facts
- Link same-house facts
- Pair up neighbour facts
- Cross-check the grid after each step
Easy: Lantern Festival Parade
- Start from fixed-position facts
- Link same-house facts
- Pair up neighbour facts
- Cross-check the grid after each step
- Assume one answer and test it for a contradiction
Medium: Snowed-In Cabin Weekend
- Start from end facts
- 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: Summer Reading Challenge
- Start from end facts
- 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
Very hard: Rooftop Garden Club
- Link same-house facts
- Pair up neighbour facts
- Chain left-of facts
- Narrow down with between 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 Ferry Crossing
- 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 #311
How many facts do the puzzles for November 7, 2026 give?
The very easy puzzle, "Tea House Afternoon", gives 10 facts on a 4 by 4 grid. The ultra hard puzzle, "The Ferry Crossing", gives 30 facts on a 6 by 7 grid. Across all six levels that is 110 facts.
Which puzzle is the hardest on November 7, 2026?
The ultra hard "The Ferry Crossing" has a difficulty score of 518 and uses 6 houses with 7 categories each. For comparison, the very easy puzzle scores 10. Higher scores mean longer chains of reasoning.
Which kinds of facts show up in puzzle #311?
The most frequent types are same-house facts (42), next-door facts (23), directly-left facts (14). 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.