Puzzle 43: Letters From Home

Puzzle Walkthrough

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Start by pinning the color chain. The Purple envelope must come after Green and before White, not touching either. Because the White envelope has to be followed immediately by the Grandparent’s letter, White can’t be last. The only 6-place spacing that works is Green first, Purple third, White fifth; then the Grandparent sender must be sixth. Yellow is given as either second or fifth, so it has to be second (since fifth is already White). The Blue envelope must be exactly two places after the Spouse’s letter; with the colors fixed to Green-Yellow-Purple-?-White-?, Blue can only be sixth, making the Spouse’s letter fourth.

Now weave in the “adjacency” and “first-half” constraints. The Brother’s letter comes immediately before the letter that caused Laughed, and “Laughed” had to be in the first half. With first place already Green and third already Purple, the only way to place a back-to-back Brother→Laughed is Brother at first and Laughed at second. That forces the first spot’s sender to be Brother, and the second spot’s reaction to be Laughed. The given “Sister’s letter was before Purple and after Harper” now forces Harper to be first, Sister second, Purple third — all consistent so far.

Place the two special ordering chains. The Best Friend letter must be after Suri’s but before Finn’s, and none of those three letters can be Red. Since Red is at position four (we already fixed Spouse at four, making that envelope Red), none of Suri, Best Friend, or Finn can sit at four. Also, the person with the White envelope at five is Silent, and the Grandparent sender is at six. To satisfy “Motivated after Mother and before Overwhelmed,” Mother must appear before Motivated, and Overwhelmed must appear after Motivated; with so many late slots already spoken for (Silent at five, Grandparent at six), the only way to fit this chain is Mother at three, Motivated at four, and Overwhelmed at six. That locks position four’s reaction to Motivated and position six’s reaction to Overwhelmed.

Now assign contestants. The Best Friend letter must be between Suri and Finn; with five White (and Silent) still unassigned and six reserved for Grandparent, the only way to place “Best Friend after Suri but before Finn” without using Red at four is to put Best Friend at five and Finn at six, which forces Suri to the only earlier non-Red slot left: second. That gives us Suri at second (Yellow, Laughed, Sister), Best Friend at fifth (White, Silent), and Finn at sixth (Blue, Overwhelmed, Grandparent). Dante can’t take Red or Yellow and his sender can’t be Brother or Best Friend, so he fits perfectly at third (Purple, Mother). Jane can’t have Mother or Sister as sender and can’t be Silent or Overwhelmed, so she belongs in the remaining open seat: fourth (Red, Spouse, Motivated). Finally, Harper is already first, and the clue “Happy is Green and not from Grandparent or Spouse” matches perfectly at position one (Green, Brother, Happy).

Every clue checks: Green-Purple-White spacing; White→Grandparent chain; Blue two after Spouse; Brother→Laughed adjacency; Laughed in the first half; Happy on Green; Harper before Mina (since Mina ends up fifth); Best Friend strictly between Suri and Finn with none of the three being Red; and the Motivated–Overwhelmed chain bracketed by Mother.

Answers

Harper received the Green envelope 1st, felt Happy, and the letter was from her Brother.
Suri received the Yellow envelope 2nd, felt Laughed, and the letter was from her Sister.
Dante received the Purple envelope 3rd, felt Emotional, and the letter was from his Mother.
Jane received the Red envelope 4th, felt Motivated, and the letter was from her Spouse.
Mina received the White envelope 5th, felt Silent, and the letter was from her Best Friend.
Finn received the Blue envelope 6th, felt Overwhelmed, and the letter was from his Grandparent.

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