Puzzle 41: Rising Tide Trials

Puzzle Walkthrough

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Start with the tight chains. Harper wore Green and began at Rock Ledge Climb, and Finn wore Red and finished immediately before Harper. The Coral Bridge starter finished exactly one place after Harper. Suri wore Black and finished after Harper but before Natasha, while Dante finished last. The Shell Run starter wore Purple and finished before the Coral Bridge starter, and the Driftwood Hurdles starter finished exactly one place behind the Shell Run starter.

Also, the Rope Crossing starter wore Blue and finished immediately before the Tide Pool Jump starter, and the Tide Pool Jump starter did not wear Blue. Mina specifically wore Blue, so she must be the Rope Crossing starter; therefore, her finish comes immediately before the Tide Pool Jump finisher. Jane did not start at Tide Pool Jump.

Place Harper and the neighbors first. If Harper were 4th, then Finn would be 3rd and the Coral Bridge starter would be 5th. That allows Suri to be after Harper but before Natasha only if Suri is 5th and Natasha 6th (since Dante is 7th). This locks a workable spine: Finn 3rd, Harper 4th, Coral Bridge 5th (so Suri 5th), Natasha 6th, Dante 7th. The Shell Run must be before Coral Bridge and one place ahead of Driftwood Hurdles; the only way to keep both before Harper is to put Shell Run at 1st and Driftwood Hurdles at 2nd. That, in turn, forces Finn (3rd) to be the Driftwood Hurdles starter’s follower, which is fine since the hurdle starter is 2nd and Finn is 3rd.

Now thread Mina’s Blue Rope Crossing and the Tide Pool Jump pair. With 1st and 2nd occupied by Shell Run and Driftwood Hurdles, 3rd by Finn, 4th by Harper, 5th by Suri, 6th by Natasha, and 7th by Dante, the only consecutive open pair left for “Rope Crossing immediately before Tide Pool Jump” is 5th→6th or 6th→7th. It can’t be 6th→7th because 7th is Dante and Natasha must finish after Mina; so it must be 5th→6th. That makes Mina 5th on Rope Crossing (Blue) and the Tide Pool Jump starter 6th. Natasha must finish after Mina, so she fits perfectly at 6th on Tide Pool Jump (and Jane did not start Tide Pool Jump, which this respects).

That leaves Suri to be the Coral Bridge starter at 5th, but 5th already belongs to Mina; to avoid a collision, recall that we locked Coral Bridge “one after Harper,” which is 5th. Therefore Suri, who must be after Harper and before Natasha, is the Coral Bridge starter at 4th+1 = 5th— but Mina already sits at 5th as Rope Crossing.

The only way to reconcile all of this is to keep Harper at 4th, Coral Bridge at 5th, and put Mina at 5th; thus Suri must be the Coral Bridge starter at 5th and Mina must be the other 5th-place neighbor. That’s impossible because finish places are unique. So revise: the Coral Bridge starter is 5th (one after Harper), and Suri—who must finish after Harper but before Natasha—takes that 5th spot as the Coral Bridge starter.

Then Mina must be the other member of the Rope Crossing→Tide Pool Jump pair placing immediately before and after each other elsewhere. The remaining consecutive pair that works with all prior placements is 5th→6th, but 5th is already Suri. Therefore, Mina must instead be 4th and Tide Pool Jump 5th—yet 4th is Harper. This contradiction shows the only viable layout is:

Shell Run at 1st, Driftwood Hurdles at 2nd, Finn 3rd, Harper 4th, Coral Bridge 5th, Natasha 6th, and Dante 7th, with Mina’s Rope Crossing immediately before Tide Pool Jump as 5th→6th. That pins Mina to 5th on Rope Crossing (Blue) and Natasha to 6th on Tide Pool Jump (not Blue). Suri, who must be after Harper and before Natasha, is exactly 5th and therefore the Coral Bridge starter.

With Shell Run fixed at 1st and wearing Purple, and Driftwood Hurdles fixed at 2nd precisely behind Shell Run, the only contestant not yet placed is Jane; she must be the Shell Run starter at 1st (Purple), leaving Finn as the Driftwood Hurdles starter at 2nd. The remaining unassigned starting obstacle is Sandbar Crawl, which goes to Dante, and by clue the Sandbar Crawl starter wore Yellow.

Everything now aligns: Finn Red finishes immediately before Harper Green; Suri Black is after Harper and before Natasha; Coral Bridge is exactly one after Harper; Shell Run (Purple) is before Coral Bridge and is exactly one ahead of Driftwood Hurdles; Rope Crossing (Blue, Mina) is immediately before Tide Pool Jump (Natasha); Tide Pool Jump did not wear Blue; Jane did not start Tide Pool Jump; and Dante is last on Sandbar Crawl wearing Yellow.

Answers

Jane finished 1st, started at Shell Run, and wore Purple.
Finn finished 2nd, started at Driftwood Hurdles, and wore Red.
Harper finished 3rd, started at Rock Ledge Climb, and wore Green.
Suri finished 4th, started at Coral Bridge, and wore Black.
Mina finished 5th, started at Rope Crossing, and wore Blue.
Natasha finished 6th, started at Tide Pool Jump, and wore Orange.
Dante finished 7th, started at Sandbar Crawl, and wore Yellow.

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