Cable Module

The Cable module is the first puzzle every team meets: Level 1 is a single Cable on a 2:30 timer, and that one panel is where the whole three-role relay gets tested for the first time. The rule itself fits in two short lines. Two things make it tricky: the information you need is spread across three players, and the only player who touches the bomb can’t see the colors. This guide covers the lookup table, how to pass the answer down the chain, worked examples, and the mistakes that end most first runs.

How the Module Works

Every Cable panel shows either three or four cables and a single lit bulb. To find the correct cable, you need exactly two facts: how many cables there are and what color the light is. Those two values point to a target color in the manual. The Blind Monkey then cuts the cable of that color.

The catch is that nobody holds all of this at once:

• Deaf Monkey sees the panel – the cable count, the cable colors and the light – and can speak, but can’t hear anyone.
• Mute Monkey has the manual and can hear, but can’t speak. On this module the main tool is a nod.
• Blind Monkey is the only one who touches the bomb, but sees the cables only as outlines. A color means nothing to them; a position does.

So the solve is always the same chain: count → light → target color → position → cut.

Cable Rules Table

This is the lookup the Mute Monkey works from. Find the row for the cable count, then the column for the lit LED.

The same light gives a different answer depending on the count. A red LED means “cut blue” on a three-cable panel but “cut green” on a four-cable one. That is why the count always comes first.

Easy Memory Pattern

The table is easier to hold in your head if you put the four colors in a fixed loop: red → blue → green → yellow → back to red.

• 3 cables: cut the color one step after the LED in the loop (red LED → blue, yellow LED → red).
• 4 cables: cut the color two steps after the LED (red LED → green, blue LED → yellow).

The Mute Monkey still checks the manual, but a Deaf Monkey who knows the pattern can tell when a nod lands on something unexpected and ask for a recheck.

Step-by-Step Relay

Most failed Cable panels aren’t failures of logic. Something got lost between players. A fixed order of calls removes most of that risk.

1. Agree on direction before the timer starts. Count positions left to right, and decide whose left: one common convention uses the Blind Monkey’s left and right. Pick one rule and keep it for the whole session.
2. Deaf announces the count first. “Cable. Three.” Without the count, the Mute Monkey can’t even pick the right row.
3. Deaf announces the light. “Green light.” Only the single active light, exactly as displayed.
4. Deaf lists the cables in order. “Left to right: green, blue, yellow.”
5. Mute finds the target. Count plus LED gives a target color in the manual.
6. Deaf names the colors one at a time; Mute nods on the right one. This is the most reliable way to get a color out of a player who can’t talk.
7. Deaf converts the color to a position. The Deaf Monkey can see where that color sits and says: “Third cable from the left.”
8. Blind repeats it back, then cuts once. “Third from the left?” – wait for the confirmation, then cut.

Callout Script

Short, fixed phrases are faster than conversation. A full Cable exchange can be this compact:

Worked Examples

Each example follows the standard table. Count and light give the target color, and the cable order gives the position.

Notice that the target lands in a different spot on every panel: third, first, second, fourth. The color tells the team what to look for, but only the order on the panel turns it into something the Blind Monkey can actually act on.

Common Mistakes

These come up again and again in community guides, and nearly all of them are communication errors rather than misreading the table.

• Using the 3-cable rule on a 4-cable panel. Nothing about the light changed, but the row did. Always lead with the count.
• Calling only a color to the Blind Monkey. “Cut yellow” is useless to someone who sees outlines. The final call must be a position.
• Sending partial information. Cable colors without the count, or a light without the colors, send the Mute Monkey to the wrong place in the manual.
• Switching numbering mid-run. Left to right on one module and right to left on the next is a guaranteed wrong cut sooner or later.
• Cutting during the read-back. The Blind Monkey should cut only after the position has been repeated and confirmed.
• Guessing when the state looks wrong. If the target color doesn’t seem to be on the panel, don’t substitute the nearest cable. Re-read the count, the light and the colors from the start.
• Reusing an old answer. On bombs with several modules, finish the Cable fully and announce it clear before moving on, so the Blind Monkey never acts on stale information.

Mistakes and Timers by Level

The lookup is the same wherever the Cable shows up. What grows from level to level is the pressure around it: more modules on the bomb sharing the same clock.

Level 1 is the harshest in one respect: with only one mistake allowed, a single wrong cut ends the run. From Level 3 onward the allowance rises to three, which gives room to recover. Repeated guessing still isn’t a strategy, though. A calm re-read costs a few seconds, while panic inputs burn through mistakes fast.

Practice Checklist

Use this before your first attempt or after a failed one:

• Everyone knows the cable count decides the row, and the LED decides the column.
• Direction is agreed: left to right, and from whose point of view.
• The Deaf Monkey always opens with “Cable. Three” or “Cable. Four”.
• The Mute Monkey answers with a nod on the correct color – no improvised gestures.
• The last call to the Blind Monkey is a position, not a color.
• The Blind Monkey repeats the position and waits for “Cut”.
• Multi-module bombs: one module at a time, announced clear before the next.

If one panel type keeps beating your group, Custom mode lets you choose which modules appear and how many mistakes are allowed, so you can run Cable panels on their own until the relay is automatic.

FAQ