Magic Sort level guide
Magic Sort Level 405 Walkthrough
Magic Sort Level 405 is a three-tier wood-box release with one wide wooden vault at the top whose violin keyhole only opens on purple. Bank the pink from M1 into the M2 empty, peel orange, green and cyan off M4 and M5 onto the M3 and B1 lanes, pour the purple bottom of M1 into the box's keyhole to pop the vault, then peel the red caps off the five released red-over-hidden bottles in left-to-right order so each hidden color lands on a clean lane, and top off all thirteen positions onto a single color.
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How to Solve Magic Sort Level 405 — Full Solution
- Pour the pink top of M1 onto the M2 empty to bank pink in M2, exposing the purple bottom of M1 and freeing M1 as a buffer for the rest of the sort.
- Pour the orange top of M4 onto the B1 orange anchor to start an orange stack, then pour the green middle of M4 onto the green middle of M3 to bank green inside M3.
- Pour the cyan top of M5 onto the blue bottom of M3 to bank cyan inside M3, then pour the blue bottom of M5 onto the same blue lane so blue banks to two layers in M3.
- Pour the purple bottom of M1 into the wooden box's keyhole at the top — the keyhole pops, the box opens, and five fresh red-over-"? " bottles drop into the top tier in place of the box.
- Peel the red cap off the leftmost released bottle, pour that red onto the M2 pink buffer to bank red in M2, and route the exposed "? " color underneath (blue) onto the blue lane in M3.
- Peel the red caps off the remaining four released bottles in left-to-right order, pouring each red onto the M2 red buffer, and route each exposed "? " color (brown, gray and two existing-board colors that merge back) onto a clean cell.
- Drain the M3 yellow-green-blue-cyan stack top-first, peel the green and yellow segments into the freed M1, M4 and M5 slots, then clear every working buffer to a single color before reusing it.
- Top off orange, green, cyan, blue, brown, gray, pink, yellow, red and purple each into one bottle so all thirteen positions end on a single color with no mixed segments and no wooden vault left.
Colors in this level:
Pink, Purple, Orange, Green, Yellow, Blue, Cyan, Red, Brown, Gray
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Pouring a non-purple color (orange, blue, yellow, red or any other) into the wooden box's keyhole, which seals the box shut and strands the five fresh red-over-"? " bottles behind the wood for the rest of the run.
- Peeling the yellow top of M3 into a buffer that you wanted to keep blue, which buries the only true blue source on the board and leaves no clean lane for the box's eventual blue reveal.
- Pouring a red cap off a released box bottle before the matching hidden "? " color has a clean lane, which strands the red on a buffer that already holds another color and exposes the hidden color on a stack that cannot absorb it.
Quick Tips for Magic Sort Level 405 (spoiler-free)
- Bank the pink from M1 into the M2 empty before you touch M3, M4 or M5 — the pink is the only pink on the entire board, and it doubles as the red-and-pink buffer that catches every red cap peeled off the five released box bottles.
- Pour the purple bottom of M1 into the box's keyhole on the first pass — every non-purple color poured into the keyhole seals the box shut and strands the five fresh bottles behind the wood for the rest of the run.
- Peel the red caps off the five released bottles in left-to-right order, not all at once, so each hidden "? " color lands on a clean lane and the three new colors (blue, brown, gray) do not strand on buried buffers.
Board notes 5 details
- Layout
- Three tiers, eight visible positions, no corks, no magic bottles and no wraps. The top tier is sealed by a single wide wooden vault box with a vertical-stripe plank body and a small violin/cello-shaped keyhole in the centre. The middle tier is five bottles — M1 a pink-over-purple two-layer stack, M2 an empty short flask, M3 a yellow-over-green-over-blue three-color mixer, M4 an orange-over-green two-color mixer, and M5 a cyan-over-blue two-color mixer. The bottom tier is two wider short sort bottles — B1 a full single-layer orange anchor and B2 an empty short flask. There is exactly one starting empty (M2) and one near-empty (B2) that doubles as a buffer.
- Goal
- Bank a clean purple stack by peeling pink off the top of M1 and into the M2 buffer, then pour purple into the wooden box's keyhole at the top of the board to pop the box. The box releases five fresh hidden bottles, each carrying a red top segment over a single "? " hidden color, and the real chokepoint is sequencing the box's red caps so the five hidden colors (blue, brown, gray and two existing-board colors that get merged back) all land on a clean lane before the bottom row fills up.
- Opening
- Pour the pink top of M1 onto the M2 empty to bank pink in M2 and expose the purple bottom of M1. Pour the orange top of M4 onto the B1 orange anchor to start an orange stack, then pour the green middle of M4 onto the green middle of M3 to bank green inside M3. Pour the cyan top of M5 onto the blue bottom of M3 to bank cyan inside M3, then pour the purple bottom of M1 into the wooden box's keyhole at the top — the box pops, the cap opens, and five fresh red-over-"? " bottles drop into the top tier in place of the box.
- Danger Zone
- Pouring the wrong color into the box's keyhole (orange, blue, yellow, red or any non-purple) is the single biggest move-loss on the board — the keyhole stays sealed, the color strands on top of the box, and the five fresh bottles the rest of the sort depends on are locked behind the wood for the rest of the run. M3 is the only bottle that carries a true blue segment in its top half, so peeling its yellow top into a buffer that you wanted to keep blue strands the only blue source and leaves no clean lane for the box's eventual blue reveal. After the box opens, peeling a red cap off a hidden bottle before the matching hidden color has a clean lane strands the red on a buffer that already holds another color, and the hidden "? " color is exposed on top of a stack that cannot absorb it.
- Mechanics
- A three-tier, eight-position wood-box release on a 3-tier pad with one starting empty and one starting near-empty. The only special tile is the wide wooden vault box at the top with the violin keyhole — the box is sealed and only opens when purple is poured into its keyhole, at which point it drops five fresh red-over-"? " bottles into the top tier. The five released bottles each carry a red top that has to be merged onto a red lane before the hidden "? " color underneath is exposed. The chokepoint is purple-then-red — bank the purple and pop the box first, peel the red caps off the five released bottles in left-to-right order so each hidden "? " color lands on a clean lane, then route blue, brown, gray and the two merged-back colors through the freed middle and bottom slots to finish every bottle on a single color.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the wooden box with the violin keyhole do in Magic Sort Level 405?
The wooden box at the top of the board is a sealed vault whose violin-shaped keyhole only opens when purple is poured into it. Once purple lands in the keyhole, the cap opens and five fresh red-over-"? " bottles drop into the top tier in place of the box. Every non-purple color poured into the keyhole seals the box shut for the rest of the run, so bank the pink off M1 first to expose the purple and pour that purple into the keyhole on the first pass.
Why is the M2 pink buffer the chokepoint in Level 405?
Pink is the only pink on the entire board, and the M2 buffer that holds it doubles as the red landing lane for the red caps peeled off the five released box bottles. If you lose the pink or pour a different color into M2, you lose the buffer that catches the red caps and the five hidden "? " colors end up exposed on top of stacks that cannot absorb them. Bank pink into M2 first, route red onto the pink to make a clean red lane, then peel the red caps off the five released bottles in left-to-right order so each hidden color lands on a clean cell.