Solution: Drop Tower
Answer: SUFFERING PROCESS
Written by
Jonathan
The first step to solving the puzzle is to solve the drop quotes. Certain ins for the first puzzle include the words that contain no colored squares, including ROTATE and THIRTEEN. The main thing to notice is that the drop quotes describe what exactly these colored cells do to the letters. We also take note of these special cells that fall into the wrong columns (bolded below) for extraction later.
| R | E | D | | P→C | E | L | L | F→S | |
| M | U | T | A | T | E | | T | H | R→E |
| L | E | T | T | E | E→R | S | | G |
| I | V | E | N | | R | O | T | A | T |
| E | | B | L→Y | | T | H | I | R | T |
| E | E | N | | S | P | A | C | E | S |
| G | R | E | E | N | | C | E | L | L |
| S | | T | A | K | CG→E | | G→T | W | O |
| L | E | T | T | E | E→R | S | | E |
| A | C | GI→H | | A | N | D | | O | H→U |
| T | P | U | T | | M | I | D | AG→D | L |
| E | | V | A | Y→L | U | E | | B | E |
| T | UY→W | E | E | N | | T | H | E | M |
| T | H | E | | B | L | U | E | | P→C |
| E | L | L | S | | R | E | Q | U | I |
| E→R | E | | RV→T | A | K | GK→I | N | G | |
| T | H | E | | L | E | T | T | E | R |
| F→S | | AA→A | N | D | | T | U | R | U→N |
| I | N | G | | T | GI→H | E | Z→M | | U |
| D→P | S | I | P→D | E | | D | O | W | N |
| L | O→O | W | E | R | C | A | F→S | E |
| XZ→Y | E | L | L | O | W | | P→C | E | L |
| L | S | | A→S | W | S→A | C→P | | T | H |
| E | I | R | | E→R | I | G | H | G→T | |
| A | U→N | D | | Y→L | E | F | T | | N |
| G→I | I | E→G | H | B | O→O | R | S | | P→D |
| O | | T | H | I | S | | A | AE→C | T |
| I | O | N | | B | E | F | O | R | E |
| O | SU→T | H | E | R | | B(L→D)→C | O | D→L |
| O | R | | E | E→F | F | F→E | C | T | S→S |
At this point, we might notice that the letters that fell into the wrong columns from each grid all lie in different columns. This prompts us to read them from left to right, and in grid order: IUSCSRUUIOTLRDRASEEF. Even though this does not spell anything, we notice that the blanks at the bottom have space for 20 letters (since green cells take two letters). This results in the following grid.
What is left to do is simply transform the grid based on the rules for each type of colored cell. Following the instructions for each type of cell results in the final answer, SUFFERING PROCESS.
Author's Notes
Hopefully this puzzle was not such a SUFFERING PROCESS for everyone to do!