HIMYM Logic Puzzle: Find the Mother – WALKTHROUGH
CHARACTER NAMES:
- The Bartender – Carl
- The Waitress – Wendy
- Marshall’s Mom – Judy
- Lily’s Dad – Mickey
- Robin’s Co-worker/Barney’s Girlfriend – Nora
- Marvin’s Parents – Lily and Marshall
- Ted’s Daughter – Penny
- Law School Buddy – Brad
- Therapist – Kevin
- Baker – Victoria
- Barney’s Mom – Loretta
- Penny’s Brother – Luke
- Captain’s Ex-Wife – Zoey
STEP ONE:
Carl and Wendy can be plugged in right away.
STEP TWO:
Judy and Mickey can then be entered.
STEP THREE:
Based on the clues in step two, Barney is located in E1 and Robin is in A5.
STEP FOUR:
We can now see that C5 is both a co-worker of Robin and a serious girlfriend of Barney. The only person who fits these criteria is Nora (Patrice was never actually labeled at Barney’s girlfriend.)
STEP FIVE:
You then know the location of Marvin.
STEP SIX:
Based on the clues from Marvin and Wendy, it can be determined that Marshall is in B1 and Lily is in A2.
STEP SEVEN:
Penny is in B2, the only square adjacent to both Lily and Marshall.
STEP EIGHT:
Stella is adjacent to Nora, according to the clue from Lily. She cannot be located in B5 or D5, since she was never a co-worker of Robin’s or a girlfriend of Barney’s. She must therefore be in B4.
STEP NINE:
From Stella’s clue we see that somewhere in the puzzle must include Victoria, then Brad, then Kevin in a vertical line of three boxes. There are only two places remaining where this could happen (column D and column E). Column D wouldn’t work because that would put Victoria in D1, which contradicts Wendy’s clue. This means that Victoria is in E2, Brad is in E3, and Kevin in in E4.
STEP TEN:
Kevin’s clue shows that Zoey and Quinn are in D3 and D5. Quinn is the one who dated Barney (via Ranjit’s clue), so she goes in D5 and Zoey goes in D3.
STEP ELEVEN:
Brad’s clue shows that the Captain can only be located in A4 or B5, and he must be in A4 because of Robin’s clue.
STEP TWELVE:
Now there are five boxes remaining. The remaining characters are the Mother, Luke, Patrice, James, and Loretta. Patrice is the only one who worked with Robin (Robin’s clue), so she is located in B5.
STEP THIRTEEN:
James must be in D1 because D1 must be a male (Wendy’s clue), and he is the only remaining guy (besides Luke, who must be in either A3 or B3).
STEP FOURTEEN:
James’ clue states that the Mother and Luke occupy A3 and B3, leaving Loretta to D2.
STEP FIFTEEN:
Loretta’s clue leaves Luke in B3 and the Mother in A3. Congratulations!