About this picture
An elderly Frenchman in a wool beret and tweed waistcoat rests his chin on his hand as he contemplates a game of chess. Slanted afternoon sunlight filters through the broad leaves of plane trees onto the weathered green table. A carved wooden board holds knights and pawns in mid-match. Beside the board, a smouldering briar pipe rests in a blue-and-white ceramic ashtray, an open brass pocket watch marks the hours, and a bowl of fresh fruit sits in the shade.
The story so far
This photo is part of The Mender of Lantern Street, a story told one torn photograph at a time. During a summer storm in Montmartre, Ada sheltered under a bakery awning and confronted the man in the grey coat. He claimed he was only mapping the view, but the mystery remained unresolved.
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 3:00 for these 25 pieces, and the clock keeps running if you leave the page. Each photo has three stars: one for restoring it, one for finishing with1:12 still on the clock without taking extra time, and one for doing it in 32 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.