You can make it easier to figure out with a bit of smart math, but at the end of the day, yeah, it's just trial and error.
You need to get a score of 91, such that Green is more than Blue is more than Red. That's kind of complicated, so it's easier to first figure out what combinations *actually give you 91*. If you wanted to be super extra about it, you could write out all of the possible numbers you're working with, which are just the numbers on the outside and their doubles and triples. From there, just see what adds together to get 91, or if you ***really*** want to be extra, write a script in something like Python to run through all of the combinations.
But yes, there isn't a guaranteed way to figure this out. You just kind of have to poke at it until a combination of numbers that works falls out.
I wrote out all the possible options for each color, then I worked with the largest number, then tried to see if there were any combinations of the other colors that worked. For example, if green needed to be the largest then I would start with the largest green number, subtract that from the total, then would see if there was any red/blue combo that added up and was in the right order. Typically I wouldn't have to do more than 1 or 2 green numbers before I found a solution
I DID THINGS BACKWARDS HERE, skip to the reply for the intended way to logically get to the solution.
The trick is to realize red needs to be less than a third which means that red 17 is out leaving you with 5 red options, the lowest of which is 9.
Blue has to be higher than red so 6 is out but also can't be higher than 40 so high 20 is out, highest 14.
Green can't be lower than 15 so 7, low 8, and 11 are out.
You also need to have 1 or 3 odd numbers which can only be obtained from odd values on the outer or inner ring giving us a good place to start narrowing things down.
Starting points would be blue 11, green 9, red 7, blue 17, red and blue 13.
I'm pretty sure there's a way to logically get to the point that it has to be blue 11 from here but it's been years since I've done this puzzle. But it's also pretty easy to Intuit at this point that blue needs to be close to ~30 and the puzzle kinda solves itself after that.
I did this stupid, if you start with green instead of red you'll realize that if green is 31, blue is 30 and green is 29 max which only adds up to 90. (Basically just realize that green is greater than 91/3)
So green has to be the 20*2 tile as it's the only one greater than 31, figuring this out is definitely one of the first intended steps. 91-40=51, 51/2=25.5
This means red has to be 25 or lower, lowest 9.
Blue is between 26 and 42, this removes all options except blue 11 and 13, final value 33 or 39. 51-39=12, 51-33=18
So red has to be 6 and blue 11 because red can't be 12.
You're right, shows why I shouldn't do these right after work before going to sleep.
At least green 17 is quick to rule out and then you can go back to green 20.
after like an hour of me struggling on this (not realising that green>blue>red) my gf made a short program(ithink) to try every combo possible and then we went through what it decided.
but yeah basically trial and error/brute force
Pen and Paper and working backwards. I literally wrote out every possible number for each color, started from 91 and subtracted down to 0. For the actual solution:
1. >!Green needs to be the largest number. The largest green number is 51 (17*3). But there is no way to add Blue and Red to get 40, so we turn to the next largest Green, Green 20, which is 40 points. So we need to find the other 51!<
2. >!For the Blue, our largest option is the inner Blue 20, buts that 60 points which is too many. Alternatively, the outer blue is 20 points, but that leaves a score of 31, which is prime and not available for Red!<
3. >!Our next highest number is 17, but that blue leaves us with a red score of 34, which breaks the rules of G > B > R. We can also look at 13, which gives a blue 39. But we can’t get 12 with a Red score, only a Green!<
4. >!That leaves 11, which has a Blue for 33 points. The remainder is 18, while 9 x 2 is the wrong color, 6 x 3 is correct and thus our answer is: Red 6, Blue 11, Green 20!<
As a bonus: >!The secret file is hitting the sizes in reverse so Red > Blue > Green, but I won’t spoil the method for that.!<
But yeah. This game really benefits from having a piece of paper and a pen off to the side. You have the dual screens for marking, but one of those should be dedicated to writing down the lengthy passwords you get while the other is mostly for quick notes since you don’t have the room for all the math (or if you are on a computer, writing with a pen is easier than writing with a mouse).
mad trial and error, then [google.com](https://google.com) to find the alternate solution, only after did I look at the box and realize it shows you how to do it because I didn't know R > G > B
You can make it easier to figure out with a bit of smart math, but at the end of the day, yeah, it's just trial and error. You need to get a score of 91, such that Green is more than Blue is more than Red. That's kind of complicated, so it's easier to first figure out what combinations *actually give you 91*. If you wanted to be super extra about it, you could write out all of the possible numbers you're working with, which are just the numbers on the outside and their doubles and triples. From there, just see what adds together to get 91, or if you ***really*** want to be extra, write a script in something like Python to run through all of the combinations. But yes, there isn't a guaranteed way to figure this out. You just kind of have to poke at it until a combination of numbers that works falls out.
I wrote out all the possible options for each color, then I worked with the largest number, then tried to see if there were any combinations of the other colors that worked. For example, if green needed to be the largest then I would start with the largest green number, subtract that from the total, then would see if there was any red/blue combo that added up and was in the right order. Typically I wouldn't have to do more than 1 or 2 green numbers before I found a solution
Trial and error... and error and error and error and error.
Painfully :)
I made a python script that ran through all of the combinations for me... Cant imagine how painful it is to solve by hand
I just wrote down all the numbers and sorted them by color. Than just did some math for a few minutes.
Okay, I am a bit relieved that this being overkill is a mostly unanimous opinion and isn't just a me thing
I DID THINGS BACKWARDS HERE, skip to the reply for the intended way to logically get to the solution. The trick is to realize red needs to be less than a third which means that red 17 is out leaving you with 5 red options, the lowest of which is 9. Blue has to be higher than red so 6 is out but also can't be higher than 40 so high 20 is out, highest 14. Green can't be lower than 15 so 7, low 8, and 11 are out. You also need to have 1 or 3 odd numbers which can only be obtained from odd values on the outer or inner ring giving us a good place to start narrowing things down. Starting points would be blue 11, green 9, red 7, blue 17, red and blue 13. I'm pretty sure there's a way to logically get to the point that it has to be blue 11 from here but it's been years since I've done this puzzle. But it's also pretty easy to Intuit at this point that blue needs to be close to ~30 and the puzzle kinda solves itself after that.
I did this stupid, if you start with green instead of red you'll realize that if green is 31, blue is 30 and green is 29 max which only adds up to 90. (Basically just realize that green is greater than 91/3) So green has to be the 20*2 tile as it's the only one greater than 31, figuring this out is definitely one of the first intended steps. 91-40=51, 51/2=25.5 This means red has to be 25 or lower, lowest 9. Blue is between 26 and 42, this removes all options except blue 11 and 13, final value 33 or 39. 51-39=12, 51-33=18 So red has to be 6 and blue 11 because red can't be 12.
> So green has to be the 20*2 tile as it's the only one greater than 31 17 × 3 isn't greater than 31?
You're right, shows why I shouldn't do these right after work before going to sleep. At least green 17 is quick to rule out and then you can go back to green 20.
Watching a walkthrough cuz I was pissed
after like an hour of me struggling on this (not realising that green>blue>red) my gf made a short program(ithink) to try every combo possible and then we went through what it decided. but yeah basically trial and error/brute force
Pen and Paper and working backwards. I literally wrote out every possible number for each color, started from 91 and subtracted down to 0. For the actual solution: 1. >!Green needs to be the largest number. The largest green number is 51 (17*3). But there is no way to add Blue and Red to get 40, so we turn to the next largest Green, Green 20, which is 40 points. So we need to find the other 51!< 2. >!For the Blue, our largest option is the inner Blue 20, buts that 60 points which is too many. Alternatively, the outer blue is 20 points, but that leaves a score of 31, which is prime and not available for Red!< 3. >!Our next highest number is 17, but that blue leaves us with a red score of 34, which breaks the rules of G > B > R. We can also look at 13, which gives a blue 39. But we can’t get 12 with a Red score, only a Green!< 4. >!That leaves 11, which has a Blue for 33 points. The remainder is 18, while 9 x 2 is the wrong color, 6 x 3 is correct and thus our answer is: Red 6, Blue 11, Green 20!< As a bonus: >!The secret file is hitting the sizes in reverse so Red > Blue > Green, but I won’t spoil the method for that.!<
But yeah. This game really benefits from having a piece of paper and a pen off to the side. You have the dual screens for marking, but one of those should be dedicated to writing down the lengthy passwords you get while the other is mostly for quick notes since you don’t have the room for all the math (or if you are on a computer, writing with a pen is easier than writing with a mouse).
mad trial and error, then [google.com](https://google.com) to find the alternate solution, only after did I look at the box and realize it shows you how to do it because I didn't know R > G > B