Water Sort level 6: a three-colour solution

Match the bottles before you start

This walkthrough uses level 6 of the Puzzle Perch Water Sort game. Other games can have a different puzzle under the same level number. Compare your board with the starting diagram above.

Use the printed bottle numbers, 1–5. Read left to right, continuing on the next row if the game wraps on your phone. The diagrams use C = coral, B = blue and M = mint. Blank space is empty; the contents below each diagram are written from bottom to top.

• Only the colour at the top of a bottle can pour. The adjacent layers of that colour move together automatically, up to the space available.
• The receiving bottle must be empty or have the same top colour, and it must have room. Each bottle holds four layers.
• To finish, every bottle must be empty or full of one colour. A bottle with three matching layers still needs its fourth layer.

Every move in this solution has room for its whole top group. None of these six moves needs a partial pour.

The six pours, with the reason for each

Tap the source bottle, then the destination. Each diagram shows the board after that pour.

1. 1 blue layer

   1. Pour bottle 1 into 4

   Move the top blue layer into empty bottle 4. This uncovers mint in bottle 1. That mint cannot join bottle 3 yet because coral is still on top of it. Bottle 5 stays empty.

   TopBottom

   MCB

   1

   BBCC

   2

   CMMM

   3

   B

   4

   5

   Contents, bottom to top

   1. Bottle 1:blue, coral, mint
   2. Bottle 2:coral, coral, blue, blue
   3. Bottle 3:mint, mint, mint, coral
   4. Bottle 4:blue
   5. Bottle 5:Empty

2. 2 blue layers

   2. Pour bottle 2 into 4

   Both blue layers move together onto the blue already in bottle 4. Using this match keeps bottle 5 free. Bottle 2 now exposes two coral layers, with two spaces above them: one for bottle 3’s coral and one for the coral still inside bottle 1.

   TopBottom

   MCB

   1

   CC

   2

   CMMM

   3

   BBB

   4

   5

   Contents, bottom to top

   1. Bottle 1:blue, coral, mint
   2. Bottle 2:coral, coral
   3. Bottle 3:mint, mint, mint, coral
   4. Bottle 4:blue, blue, blue
   5. Bottle 5:Empty

3. 1 coral layer

   3. Pour bottle 3 into 2

   Move bottle 3’s coral cap onto the coral in bottle 2. This is the key opening: three mint layers are now exposed in bottle 3, with exactly one space for the mint waiting on top of bottle 1.

   TopBottom

   MCB

   1

   CCC

   2

   MMM

   3

   BBB

   4

   5

   Contents, bottom to top

   1. Bottle 1:blue, coral, mint
   2. Bottle 2:coral, coral, coral
   3. Bottle 3:mint, mint, mint
   4. Bottle 4:blue, blue, blue
   5. Bottle 5:Empty

4. 1 mint layer

   4. Pour bottle 1 into 3

   The exposed mint in bottle 1 joins the three mint layers in bottle 3. Bottle 3 is full and sorted. Removing that mint reveals coral in bottle 1; bottle 2 still has one space ready for it.

   TopBottom

   CB

   1

   CCC

   2

   MMMM

   3

   BBB

   4

   5

   Contents, bottom to top

   1. Bottle 1:blue, coral
   2. Bottle 2:coral, coral, coral
   3. Bottle 3:mint, mint, mint, mint
   4. Bottle 4:blue, blue, blue
   5. Bottle 5:Empty

5. 1 coral layer

   5. Pour bottle 1 into 2

   The coral layer completes bottle 2. Bottle 1 now contains only its bottom blue layer. Bottle 4 has three blue layers and one space, so the last match is ready.

   TopBottom

   B

   1

   CCCC

   2

   MMMM

   3

   BBB

   4

   5

   Contents, bottom to top

   1. Bottle 1:blue
   2. Bottle 2:coral, coral, coral, coral
   3. Bottle 3:mint, mint, mint, mint
   4. Bottle 4:blue, blue, blue
   5. Bottle 5:Empty

6. 1 blue layer

   6. Pour bottle 1 into 4

   Pour the last blue layer into bottle 4. Bottles 2, 3 and 4 are full of coral, mint and blue respectively. Bottles 1 and 5 are empty. Every bottle is now either empty or full of one colour, so the puzzle is solved.

   TopBottom

   1

   CCCC

   2

   MMMM

   3

   BBBB

   4

   5

   Contents, bottom to top

   1. Bottle 1:Empty
   2. Bottle 2:coral, coral, coral, coral
   3. Bottle 3:mint, mint, mint, mint
   4. Bottle 4:blue, blue, blue, blue
   5. Bottle 5:Empty

Why keeping bottle 5 free works here

After the first pour, bottle 4 is a useful blue destination. Sending bottle 2's blue there uncovers coral while leaving bottle 5 available for any colour. Sending it into bottle 5 would also be legal, but would split the blue between both spare bottles.

The next priority is uncovering a useful colour. Bottle 3's coral cap can join bottle 2, which exposes three mint layers. That makes a place for the mint blocking bottle 1. The rest of bottle 1 then leaves in order: mint, coral, blue.

On another puzzle, an empty bottle may be exactly what you need. Before using it, check whether a matching top already has room and what colour your move will uncover. Here, the matching bottles provide all the space the solution needs. For an example that uses both spares, see when to use both empty bottles.