Puzzle 44: The Maze of Lanterns
Puzzle Walkthrough
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Start with the hard anchors. The 9:25 finisher carried the Crimson lantern and took the Leaf path. From the “Crimson on Leaf made exactly twice the Moon path’s wrong turns,” Moon’s count must be 2 or 3 (because doubling must still be in the set), which forces Leaf’s count to be 4 if Moon is 2, or 6 if Moon is 3. The Star path had the fewest wrong turns and no one with the fewest finished after 9:18, so Star (the 1-turn run) must be 9:02, 9:10, or 9:18. Spiral was completed later than 9:33, so Spiral is 9:41.
The Emerald–Flame pair is locked eight minutes apart (Flame exactly 8 after Emerald). Among the given times, the only compatible pairs are 9:02→9:10, 9:10→9:18, 9:25→9:33, and 9:33→9:41. But 9:41 is already Spiral (and can’t be Flame), and 9:25 is already Crimson/Leaf (and can’t be Emerald), so Emerald must be either 9:02 with Flame at 9:10, or 9:10 with Flame at 9:18. Also, the Emerald holder was not Spiral or Moon and finished earlier than the Wave finisher.
Use the color-order chains. Exactly one contestant finished between Azure and Violet; Ivory finished later and took more turns than Azure. Violet also had to finish after Mina but before Dante. Place the “Amber after Dante but before Jane” chain: the cleanest way to satisfy both color chains and the Spiral-at-9:41 rule is to put Jane at 9:41 (Spiral), Amber at 9:33, and Dante at 9:25 (the fixed Crimson/Leaf). That automatically makes Violet sit between Mina and Dante — naturally at 9:18 — with Mina earlier and Dante later.
Now nail contestants and paths. Make Harper earlier than Mina by giving Harper 9:02 and Mina 9:10. With Violet at 9:18, set Finn there (he’s barred from Moon and Spiral, and 9:18 can be Flame). Suri can’t be Azure or Violet and can’t take Moon or Star, so the only compatible late slot is 9:33; the remaining admissible path for her is Wave. That suits the Emerald constraint (Emerald must be earlier than Wave), so let Emerald be 9:10 and Flame be 9:18. Finally, Harper at 9:02 can take Moon, leaving Mina at 9:10 to take Star (the fewest-turns path), Dante’s 9:25 is the fixed Crimson/Leaf, Suri’s 9:33 is Wave, and Jane’s 9:41 is Spiral.
Assign the wrong-turn counts so all relations click. With Moon at 9:02 and Wave at 9:33, “Wave made exactly one more wrong turn than Moon,” and “Crimson/Leaf made exactly twice Moon’s turns” point to Moon=2, Wave=3, Leaf=4. Star must be the fewest (1) at 9:10. The “no one with the most wrong turns finished before 9:25” puts the 8-turn run at 9:41 (Spiral), and the remaining unused count 6 fits naturally at 9:18 for Finn (Flame) — which also satisfies “Finn made more wrong turns than Suri.” All other constraints (Emerald not Moon/Spiral and earlier than Wave; Azure–Violet separation by exactly one finisher; Ivory later/greater than Azure; and each contestant’s specifics) now check out simultaneously with no wiggle room.
Answers
Harper finished at 9:02 PM, carried the Azure lantern, took the Moon path, and made 2 wrong turns.
Mina finished at 9:10 PM, carried the Emerald lantern, took the Star path, and made 1 wrong turn.
Finn finished at 9:18 PM, carried the Violet lantern, took the Flame path, and made 6 wrong turns.
Dante finished at 9:25 PM, carried the Crimson lantern, took the Leaf path, and made 4 wrong turns.
Suri finished at 9:33 PM, carried the Amber lantern, took the Wave path, and made 3 wrong turns.
Jane finished at 9:41 PM, carried the Ivory lantern, took the Spiral path, and made 8 wrong turns.
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