About this picture
Warm lantern light fills a bustling Lisbon tavern as Ada sits across from a dark-haired young man at a corner table. They lean in close over drinks, her vintage camera resting on the worn wood beside glasses of red wine, a ceramic water pitcher, and a small dish of olives. In the background, patrons talk under wooden beams beneath glowing amber lights. The intimate scene captures a quiet, shared moment amid the crowded room.
The story so far
This photo is part of The Mender of Lantern Street, a story told one torn photograph at a time. In Belém, my grandmother photographed the river and a sunny morning with Tomás before receiving an urgent telegram from home about her ailing father.
How to play
Drag a piece onto another square to swap them, or tap a piece and then tap where it should go. Hold Preview for a faded glimpse of the photo: enough to see where the sky and the street go, not the details. Pieces that belong together join up and move as one, and turn green once they are in the right place. You have 6:00 for these 49 pieces, and the clock keeps running if you leave the page. Each photo has three stars: one for restoring it, one for finishing with2:24 still on the clock without taking extra time, and one for doing it in 65 moves or fewer. Each episode starts with 2 hints and earns more along the way; unused hints carry over to later photos. Playing needs a free account, which keeps your stars and stamps on every device. Restoring photos earns stamps (more for more stars, and extra for whole episodes), which buy more time or more hints. Once the photo is restored, turn it over and look for the clue hidden in it. Photos open one after another and episodes in order; each new chapter opens once you have enough stars from the chapters before it.