Your Kitchen walkthrough: levels 1 to 20 of The Lid Drawer
A level-by-level walkthrough of the first chapter, from the Starter Drawer to Moving Day, with the traps in each drawer and how to three-star them.
Published
The first chapter of The Lid Drawer is Your Kitchen, and its first twelve levels are built by hand: each holds the same containers every time you play. This walkthrough goes level by level. If you have not played yet, start with how to play for the basic rules.
Three stars needs at least 35 percent of the starting time left and no more than one sigh: 14 seconds left on a 40 second level.
Levels 1 to 4: learning the four checks
1. Starter Drawer
Four pairs, 35 seconds, and every shape is different: a round, a square, a rectangle and an oval. Just drag each lid to the tub that looks like it, and finish with about 12 seconds left for three stars.
2. Sizes Matter
Four round, sky blue SNAPCO tubs in 1C, 2C, 2.5C and 3C, plus two clear FRESHA squares in 2C and 3C. Shape and colour will not help with the rounds. Read the number stamped on each lid, and note the rim notches: one per cup. The 2C and 2.5C pair is the one that catches people.
3. The Avalanche
The top cabinet tips everything onto the counter at once. You get six pairs, including the 2C and 2.5C sky rounds again, a peach rounded square from KEEPR and a lemon oval. Look at the whole pile before you grab anything.
4. Lids Without a Country
The Mystery Bin and clingfilm arrive. Two lids have no tub: a 1.5C sky round and a 2C mint square. Both are sneaky: sky rounds in 2C and 2.5C and a mint 3C square are on the floor. A lemon 1C oval tub has no lid, so it gets clingfilm. Seal the real pairs first.
Levels 5 to 8: faded lids, Trash and keys
5. Dishwasher Pastels
Under the sink, every paired lid came out of the dishwasher pale. A faded lid still fits its full-colour tub; it just takes more looking. Three 2C rounds differ only in colour and brand (sky SNAPCO, lilac SNAPCO, blush TUBBO), so compare carefully. This is also your first egg timer: it pops up somewhere between a quarter and halfway through the clock, and you have about six seconds to tap it for 6 extra seconds. A 1.5C sky round tub has no lid: clingfilm.
6. The Warped One
The Trash opens. A mint 2.5C round lid has been through a hot cycle and has a wobbly, chip-shaped edge; trash it, then clingfilm its tub. Two clear FRESHA 3C tubs, one square and one rounded square, test whether you are watching the corners. The clip box shows up too: the 4C clip box has its lid, but a second, 3C clip lid is an orphan for the Mystery Bin.
7. The Junk Drawer
Batteries, a takeout menu and soy sauce go in the Trash. The key goes in the Mystery Bin; trash it and you get a sigh. There is also an orphan 1.5C mint round lid hiding beside the 2C and 2.5C mint rounds. With 50 seconds, play it clean.
8. Grandma's Drawer
Harvest gold, avocado and rust from the brand HARVEST, plus a yogurt tub, a real butter tub, and Grandma's cookie tin without its lid. The lone tin goes in the Mystery Bin, and so does the key. The trap is a gold 2.5C HARVEST round lid: there is a gold 2C round and a clear 2.5C round on the floor, but no gold 2.5C tub, so that lid is an orphan.
Levels 9 to 12: things that move
9. Lazy Susan
The corner turntable turns slowly the whole time, roughly one full turn every 50 seconds, and only part of the set fits on it at once; the rest waits on the back shelf. A peach 2.5C square lid is an orphan (the peach square here is 2C), and a teal 1C round tub needs clingfilm.
10. Overstuffed
The first jammed drawer: 19 pieces, but no more than nine on the floor at a time. Every seal or drop frees room for more. Hold off on binning lids here, since the partner of a lid on the floor may still be in the back. Watch the 2C mint square and rounded square, and the 3C and 4C blush rectangles.
11. Cat in the Drawer
Biscuit the cat arrives. When Biscuit runs off with a lid you have about six seconds to tap the cat and get it back, and Biscuit will steal up to four times in one level. Watch the 3C sky FRESHA square and rounded square, and the orphan 2.5C mint oval next to the 2C mint oval.
12. Thanksgiving Rush
Everything so far, from the top cabinet, with 55 seconds and 20 pieces. Somewhere between 30 and 45 percent of the way through, the doorbell rings: you then have 16 seconds to seal three tubs. Seal them for 8 bonus seconds; miss and you lose 5. Save easy pairs, like the butter tub and the 4C clip box, for that moment. There are two orphans (a 1C sky round lid and a 3C clip lid) and a warped lemon oval lid.
Levels 13 to 20: the generated drawers
From level 13 the drawers are built from the level number, so they are the same every time but follow the general rules. Level 15 is your first breather: just eight pieces and an egg timer. Level 16 is where the size stamps start to fade, so start counting rim notches. Level 18 is a pantry shelf, where masking-tape labels must match as well as sizes.
Level 20 is the chapter finale, Moving Day: a spinning Lazy Susan with a doorbell rush and an egg timer. Clear it for the first time and you get 2 Lid Finders on your way to Grandma's House. For what follows, see chapters, places and twists.
Open the Starter Drawer and see how many you can three-star.