How to solve the Clock Puzzle in Madison

The Madison Clock Puzzle has players set four different clocks to the correct time - not by actually turning the gears, but by replacing the clock faces with different ones that show the correct time already. Unfortunately, there are numerous clocks you have to interact with in Madison, not just in Grandpa's Clock Room, but spread across the house. Much like the the Madison lock code puzzle, this is another puzzle where the parts are visible long before the game tells you what to do. We'll explain how to solve this Madison clock puzzle in more detail below, and what you'll need to do it.

Madison Clock puzzle solution

Once players finally enter the Clock Room, there will be dozens of clocks hanging on all the walls and resting on all the tables, but four of them can be interacted with - they have a face held in place by two metal arms, and two divots beneath the above face, where a second one can be installed.

If a player has a clock face in their inventory, applying it to any interactive cuckoo clock in the house will cause it to install, but eject the face already in it. So, for example, if a clock shows 7:10, and you have a clock face with 12:30, installing the 12:30 face into the clock will cause it to spit out the 7:10 one - effectively, you exchange them. You can also exchange them back, but you can never pull both faces out of one clock. It's a game of swapsies. 

Getting the clock faces

Much like the Madison candle puzzle in the church maze this as much about finding the things you need as it is knowing what to do with them. But at least you're not being chased by anything like Hans in the church, or when you have to search gramophones in Madison for Blue Knees eyes. To start this game of swapsies, you obviously need the first clock face. Players can get that by following the progression path until they open the green safe in Grandpa's Office, which will have one inside. At that point you can go to any interactive clock in the house and start swapping faces around. Aside from the four in the Clock Room itself, there are four others:

• Just outside Grandpa's Office with the two safes.
• Outside the Ritual Room where you got the camera at the start of the game.
• In the Kitchen, next to the tape player.
• In the Portrait attic, on the right-hand side.

Setting the clock times

This is where things get a little tricky - our understanding is unlike the Madison picture puzzle, this randomises the correct answers, so it's not as simple as duplicating what we've told you. However, the method is always the same: look at each interactive clock in the Clock Room, and set it to the same time as the non-interactive clocks around it. So if all the clocks on one wall say 5:15, make sure the interactive one in the middle matches them and also displays 5:15. With that in mind, here's the best process for efficiency:

1. Get the first face out of the green safe in Grandpa's room.
2. Go to the Clock Room and look at all the clocks, working out the four faces you'll need and what times they should display (you might want to write these down).
3. Check the faces in the Clock Room itself to see if there are any that can be solved by switching around in there.
4. Afterwards, go to the list of clocks around the house mentioned above and acquire the remaining "times" by swapping the faces, taking each one back to the Clock Room to install them.
5. If done right, all the clocks should start spinning rapidly. 
6. Take a photo of the door in the Clock Room to finish the puzzle.

It's also true to say that at this point Madison herself will be hassling you, but don't worry - she can't actually hurt you at this point. Just prepare for the occasional jump scare while you get on with business. 

Finally, while it's one to check later, we've got the Madison ending explained to tie up loose ends and explain everything if you want a better read on why any of this is happening.