What is Blanks?
Blanks adds one more choice to every hole of the code: leaving it empty. A blank counts as an extra colour in every way. The codemaker may leave one or more holes empty, even all of them, and the codebreaker may leave holes empty in a guess.
Feedback counts blanks like pegs: a blank in the same hole as a blank in the code earns a black peg, and a blank that the code has in another hole earns a white peg. With four holes and six colours plus the blank, there are 2,401 possible codes instead of 1,296.
Blanks combine with the other options of the colour game. With no duplicates, the blank is one colour among the others, so the code may hold at most one empty hole.
Rule changes
| Rule | Standard Code Breaker | Blanks |
|---|---|---|
| Symbols | Standard Code BreakerSix colours of pegs. | BlanksSix colours plus the blank, an empty hole that counts as a seventh colour. |
| The secret code | Standard Code BreakerEvery hole holds a peg. | BlanksHoles may be left empty, any number of them. |
| Guesses | Standard Code BreakerEvery hole holds a peg; blanks are not allowed. | BlanksHoles may be left empty in a guess too. |
| Feedback | Standard Code BreakerBlack and white pegs for colours only. | BlanksA blank scores like a colour: a black peg in the right hole, a white peg if the code has a blank in another hole. |
| Possible codes | Standard Code Breaker1,296 with four pegs and six colours. | Blanks2,401 with four holes and six colours plus the blank. |
| Other options | Standard Code Breaker4 pegs, six colours, 10 guesses and repeated colours allowed. | BlanksThe other options of the colour game can be set alongside it: 3, 5 or 6 pegs, 7 or 8 colours, no duplicates and a guess limit of 6, 8, 10 or 12. |
History
Blanks are part of the original rules of the board game with coloured pegs, invented by Mordecai Meirowitz in 1970: players decide before the game whether duplicates and blanks are allowed. When they are, the codemaker may fill up to all four holes with the same colour or leave all four empty, and when blanks are not allowed in the code, the codebreaker may not use them in guesses either. This site follows the same rule: with the option off, blanks are allowed in neither.