Part 1

Which direction should you take off in?

Need help?
Hint 1

Compare the numbers around the edges with the number of squares in each row and column. Think about how those numbers could help you fill the grids.

Hint 2

Each number tells you how many squares to color in its row or column. Make both the row and column counts match, then look at the colored shape in each grid.

Reveal answer

The correct direction is Northeast.

The numbers around each grid tell you how many squares to color in each row and column. Both sets of numbers must be satisfied at the same time.

For example, a row marked 3 needs all three squares colored. A column marked 5 needs all five squares colored. Use these completed lines to work out the remaining squares.

The colored squares form the digits 4, 6, 8, and 9.

Compare those four digits with the Takeoff Index. Their order on the individual cards does not matter. You need the entry containing all four digits.

Only 8496 contains all four, and that entry is labeled Northeast.

Part 2

What word do the present letters spell in the correct delivery order?

Need help?
Hint 1

Some delivery clues also tell you something about the presents stacked above them. Think about what must be removed before you can reach a present with a fixed delivery position.

Hint 2

The red striped present must be third, so the present directly above it must be second. Use the same approach to uncover the solid red present in time for sixth.

Reveal answer

The correct word is FIREPLACE.

You can only deliver the top remaining present from each stack. Combining that rule with the delivery clues gives this order:

  1. Red with white dots - F: Top of the left stack.
  2. Green with white stripes - I: Top of the middle stack.
  3. Red with white stripes - R: Middle of the middle stack.
  4. White with red dots - E: Middle of the left stack.
  5. Green with red dots - P: Top of the right stack.
  6. Solid red - L: Middle of the right stack.
  7. Gold - A: Bottom of the middle stack.
  8. Blue with white stars - C: Bottom of the left stack.
  9. Solid green - E: Bottom of the right stack.

The first present is given directly. To reach the red striped present for third, you must remove the green striped present second.

Fourth is the inverse of the first present: white wrapping with red dots.

To reach solid red for sixth, you must remove the present above it fifth.

Seventh comes from the same stack as third. Only the gold present remains in that stack.

That leaves the blue present and the solid green present. Green must be last, so blue is eighth.

Read the letters in delivery order:
F → I → R → E → P → L → A → C → E

They spell FIREPLACE.

Part 3

Which delivery route lets you complete every command and reach the Christmas tree?

Need help?
Hint 1

A blocked command does not automatically mean the route is wrong. Moving it to the back lets you try it again later from a different position.

Hint 2

Look for a route that uses the clear spaces on the right-hand side of the house. Keep skipped commands in order and retry them after moving around the furniture. If every remaining command is blocked, that route cannot finish.

Reveal answer

The correct route is B.

Start on the brown fireplace space.

Route B begins with 3 squares up, but the couch blocks that path. Stay where you are and move that command to the bottom of the list.

Complete the remaining commands in order:

  1. 1 square up.
  2. 3 squares right.
  3. 4 squares up.
  4. 1 square left.

Now retry the 3 squares up that you skipped. From your new position, the entire path is clear, and this move takes you to the Christmas tree.

Every command has now been completed.

Route A gets stuck on its final move, 3 squares down, because the dining furniture blocks the path.

Route C leaves you with two commands you cannot complete: its remaining rightward move would leave the house, and its remaining upward move would cross the round side table.

Only Route B completes every command and reaches the tree.