About this picture
Sunlight streams through the high front windows of a crowded Paris café, illuminating dark wood paneling, ornate brass chandeliers, and tall mirrors. Well-dressed patrons sit at round marble tables along plush red velvet banquettes, talking and smoking over coffee. Waiters in crisp white aprons and black waistcoats weave through the narrow aisles with loaded silver trays. On the polished mahogany woodwork near the back, a long grey coat hangs quietly from a brass wall peg.
The story so far
This photo is part of The Mender of Lantern Street, a story told one torn photograph at a time. Yesterday's envelope followed Ada along the Seine quays among the bookstalls and print sellers. The stranger in the grey coat lingered beside her, studying an old sea chart under the lamplight.
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 2:00 for these 16 pieces, and the clock keeps running if you leave the page. Each photo has three stars: one for restoring it, one for finishing with0:48 still on the clock without taking extra time, and one for doing it in 18 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.