Clock solitaire
Thirteen piles of four face-down cards sit round a clock, with the kings’ pile in the middle. Turn a card, put it under its hour, turn the next one there, and hope the fourth king comes up last.
How to play Clock solitaire
How to play
Tap anywhere on the clock to turn the top card of the centre pile, and tap again to put it face up under the pile of its hour: an ace at one o’clock, a 2 at two, up to a jack at eleven and a queen at twelve. Kings go to the centre. Then turn the next card from the pile you just added to. You win if every card is face up when the fourth king appears; if the fourth king turns up first, the game is over.
Auto-play
There are no choices to make, so you can let the cards play themselves: tap Auto-play and the game turns and places one card after another at an easy pace. Tap Pause to take over again. Space or Enter does the next step from the keyboard, and A starts or pauses Auto-play.
The daily
Everyone gets the same daily deal. It is not picked to be winnable: most days the fourth king wins, and that is the fun of it. Your wins and losses are counted, so you can see how your luck compares with the odds.
Questions
How do you play Clock solitaire?
Deal the cards into twelve piles of four round a clock face and one pile of four in the middle. Turn the top card of the middle pile, slide it face up under the pile of its hour, and turn the top card of that pile next. Keep going until the fourth king turns up; if every other card is face up by then, you have won.
Is Clock solitaire pure luck?
Yes. Every move is forced, so the deal decides the outcome before the first card is turned. There is no skill involved, which makes it a relaxing way to pass two minutes.
What are the odds of winning Clock solitaire?
About one in 13, or roughly 7.7 percent. When we played out 130,000 shuffled deals with this game’s rules, 7.7 percent came out. Over many games your own wins should settle close to that.
Is the daily deal winnable?
Not necessarily. The daily is the same shuffle for everyone, chosen without checking whether it comes out, so on most days nobody wins it. On roughly one day in 13, everybody does.
Why is there no undo or real hint?
Because there is nothing to choose. Undo would only turn the same cards back, and the hint can only tell you the next forced step, which it does in one sentence.