diff --git a/app/assets/stylesheets/application.css b/app/assets/stylesheets/application.css
index 25a39b1..3913646 100644
--- a/app/assets/stylesheets/application.css
+++ b/app/assets/stylesheets/application.css
@@ -153,4 +153,17 @@ th {
   gap: 0.3em;
 }
 
+.field-error {
+  color: #dc3545;
+  font-size: 12px;
+  margin-top: 4px;
+  font-weight: 500;
+}
+
+input.error, textarea.error {
+  width: 100%;
+  border-color: #dc3545;
+  box-shadow: 0 0 0 0.2rem rgba(220, 53, 69, 0.25);
+}
+
 
diff --git a/app/controllers/puzzles_controller.rb b/app/controllers/puzzles_controller.rb
index 72380c5..8771524 100644
--- a/app/controllers/puzzles_controller.rb
+++ b/app/controllers/puzzles_controller.rb
@@ -16,15 +16,14 @@ def edit
 
   def update
     @puzzle = Puzzle.find(params[:id])
-    if @puzzle.update(puzzle_params)
-      respond_to do |format|
+
+    respond_to do |format|
+      if @puzzle.update(puzzle_params)
         format.turbo_stream
         format.html { redirect_to puzzles_path, notice: "Puzzle updated." }
         format.json { render json: { success: true, puzzle: @puzzle } }
-      end
-    else
-      respond_to do |format|
-        format.turbo_stream { render turbo_stream: turbo_stream.replace(@puzzle, partial: "puzzles/form", locals: { puzzle: @puzzle }) }
+      else
+        format.turbo_stream { render turbo_stream: turbo_stream.replace("modal", partial: "puzzles/edit_modal", locals: { puzzle: @puzzle }), status: :unprocessable_entity }
         format.html { render :edit, status: :unprocessable_entity }
         format.json { render json: { success: false, errors: @puzzle.errors.full_messages }, status: :unprocessable_entity }
       end
diff --git a/app/models/puzzle.rb b/app/models/puzzle.rb
index c7ee3f5..ebb5c64 100644
--- a/app/models/puzzle.rb
+++ b/app/models/puzzle.rb
@@ -3,5 +3,7 @@ class Puzzle < ApplicationRecord
   enum :state, { approved: 0, rejected: 1, pending: 2, archived: 3 }
   has_many :answers
 
+  validates :question, presence: true
+
   scope :archived, -> { where(state: :archived).order(sent_at: :desc) }
 end
diff --git a/app/views/puzzles/_edit_modal.html.erb b/app/views/puzzles/_edit_modal.html.erb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6f33c7a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/views/puzzles/_edit_modal.html.erb
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+<turbo-frame id="modal">
+  <div data-controller="modal" data-action="modal#close" class="modal-overlay">
+    <div data-modal-target="content" class="modal-content" onclick="event.stopPropagation()">
+      <h2 class="text-xl mb-4">Edit Puzzle</h2>
+
+      <%= render "form", puzzle: puzzle %>
+
+      <button data-action="modal#close" class="btn close-btn">Close</button>
+    </div>
+  </div>
+</turbo-frame>
diff --git a/app/views/puzzles/_form.html.erb b/app/views/puzzles/_form.html.erb
index a342f8c..8689dba 100644
--- a/app/views/puzzles/_form.html.erb
+++ b/app/views/puzzles/_form.html.erb
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
-<%=form_with model: @puzzle do |f| %>
+<%= form_with model: puzzle do |f| %>
   <div class="modal-area">
     <%= f.label :question %>
-    <%= f.text_area :question %>
+    <%= f.text_area :question, class: puzzle.errors[:question].any? ? "error" : "" %>
+    <% if puzzle.errors[:question].any? %>
+      <div class="field-error"><%= puzzle.errors[:question].first %></div>
+    <% end %>
   </div>
 
 <div class="modal-area">
diff --git a/app/views/puzzles/edit.html.erb b/app/views/puzzles/edit.html.erb
index 1e3fedc..e14a9b0 100644
--- a/app/views/puzzles/edit.html.erb
+++ b/app/views/puzzles/edit.html.erb
@@ -1,14 +1 @@
-<turbo-frame id="modal">
-  <div data-controller="modal" data-action="click->modal#close"class="modal-overlay">
-    <div data-modal-target="content"
-        class="modal-content"
-        onclick="event.stopPropagation()">
-      <h2 class="text-xl mb-4">Edit Puzzle</h2>
-
-      <%= render "form", puzzle: @puzzle %>
-
-      <button data-action="modal#close"
-              class="btn close-btn">Close</button>
-    </div>
-  </div>
-</turbo-frame>
+<%= render "edit_modal", puzzle: @puzzle %>
diff --git a/test/controllers/puzzles_controller_test.rb b/test/controllers/puzzles_controller_test.rb
index bc99568..d7aefe6 100644
--- a/test/controllers/puzzles_controller_test.rb
+++ b/test/controllers/puzzles_controller_test.rb
@@ -5,4 +5,41 @@ class PuzzlesControllerTest < ActionDispatch::IntegrationTest
     get puzzles_path
     assert_response :success
   end
+
+  test "should show error message when editing puzzle with invalid data" do
+    puzzle = puzzles(:one)
+
+    patch puzzle_path(puzzle), params: {
+      puzzle: {
+        question: "",
+        answer: "rails",
+        explanation: "Updated explanation",
+        link: "https://example.com"
+      }
+    }, as: :turbo_stream
+
+    assert_response :unprocessable_entity
+
+    assert_select "div.field-error", "can't be blank"
+    assert_select "textarea.error"
+  end
+
+  test "should successfully update puzzle with valid data" do
+    puzzle = puzzles(:one)
+
+    patch puzzle_path(puzzle), params: {
+      puzzle: {
+        question: "Updated question",
+        answer: "rails",
+        explanation: "Updated explanation",
+        link: "https://example.com"
+      }
+    }, as: :turbo_stream
+
+    assert_response :success
+
+    puzzle.reload
+    assert_equal "Updated question", puzzle.question
+    assert_equal "Updated explanation", puzzle.explanation
+  end
 end
diff --git a/test/fixtures/puzzles.yml b/test/fixtures/puzzles.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2471fec
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/fixtures/puzzles.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+one:
+  question: "Ruby or Rails provided this method? render json: @user"
+  answer: "rails"
+  explanation: "This is a test puzzle"
+  link: "https://example.com"
+  state: "approved"
+  sent_at: <%= 1.day.ago %>
+  suggested_by: "test_user"
+
+two:
+  question: "Ruby or Rails provided this method? puts 'Hello, World!'"
+  answer: "ruby"
+  explanation: "This is a test puzzle 2"
+  link: ""
+  state: "pending"
+  sent_at: <%= 2.days.ago %>
+  suggested_by: "test_user"
diff --git a/test/models/puzzle_test.rb b/test/models/puzzle_test.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..420e0bb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/models/puzzle_test.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+require "test_helper"
+
+class PuzzleTest < ActiveSupport::TestCase
+  test "validates presence of question" do
+    puzzle = Puzzle.new(
+      question: "What is the capital of France?",
+      answer: "rails",
+      explanation: "This is a test puzzle",
+      link: "https://example.com",
+      state: "approved",
+      suggested_by: "test_user"
+    )
+    assert puzzle.valid?
+  end
+
+  test "validates question presence - fails without question" do
+    puzzle = Puzzle.new(
+      answer: "rails",
+      explanation: "This is a test puzzle",
+      link: "https://example.com",
+      state: "approved",
+      suggested_by: "test_user"
+    )
+    assert_not puzzle.valid?
+    assert_includes puzzle.errors[:question], "can't be blank"
+  end
+
+  test "defines answer enum with correct values" do
+    assert_equal 0, Puzzle.answers[:ruby]
+    assert_equal 1, Puzzle.answers[:rails]
+  end
+
+  test "defines state enum with correct values" do
+    assert_equal 0, Puzzle.states[:approved]
+    assert_equal 1, Puzzle.states[:rejected]
+    assert_equal 2, Puzzle.states[:pending]
+    assert_equal 3, Puzzle.states[:archived]
+  end
+
+  test "defaults state to pending" do
+    puzzle = Puzzle.new(
+      question: "Test question",
+      answer: "ruby",
+      explanation: "Test explanation"
+    )
+    assert_equal "pending", puzzle.state
+  end
+
+  test "has many answers" do
+    assert_respond_to Puzzle.new, :answers
+  end
+end