This puzzle is about the Pantone Colors of the Year. Each quote picks out a unique pantone Color of the Year (or a unique pair, as in both 2016 and 2021 the "Color of the Year" was actually a pair of 2 colors).
To get the hex code values of these colors (which solvers will need to use the color wheel on the puzzle page), solvers should use a website that gets the hex code values from images. Technically, Pantone has official hex code values for their colors but it's behind a paywall. Also no exact hex code values are needed, as the only use for the hex code values are to plot the general location of the colors on the color wheel (the specific characters in the hex code are never needed).
These are the hex code values for all of the Pantone Colors of the Year:
| Year | Color Name | Hex Code |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Cerulean | #97b2d0 |
| 2001 | Fuchsia Rose | #c44378 |
| 2002 | True Red | #c11932 |
| 2003 | Aqua Sky | #7ec5c4 |
| 2004 | Tigerlily | #e3583e |
| 2005 | Blue Turquoise | #54afb0 |
| 2006 | Sand Dollar | #e0ccbe |
| 2007 | Chili Pepper | #9c1c33 |
| 2008 | Blue Iris | #5e5a9d |
| 2009 | Mimosa | #f2c05b |
| 2010 | Turquoise | #49b3ab |
| 2011 | Honeysuckle | #d95174 |
| 2012 | Tangerine Tango | #e04127 |
| 2013 | Emerald | #019671 |
| 2014 | Radiant Orchid | #a96099 |
| 2015 | Marsala | #974e50 |
| 2016 (1/2) | Rose Quartz | #f7cac7 |
| 2016 (2/2) | Serenity | #90a9d1 |
| 2017 | Greenery | #8db150 |
| 2018 | Ultraviolet | #5e488b |
| 2019 | Living Choral | #ff7065 |
| 2020 | Classic Blue | #114d82 |
| 2021 (1/2) | Illuminating | #f9e547 |
| 2021 (2/2) | Ultimate Gray | #97999b |
| 2022 | Veri Peri | #6b68af |
| 2023 | Viva Magenta | #ba274b |
| 2024 | Peach Fuzz | #fdbe9a |
| 2025 | Mocha Mousse | #a47862 |
| 2026 | Cloud Dancer | #f0efeb |
Each quote references a specific Color of the Year, and they are explained below:
Quote 1 (Aqua Sky): This quote references the favorite color of "the person with the most complicated explanation". This is referring to the last quote since it is the longest and most involved. This means you should only solve this one after you solve the last one (which is Blue Turquoise). Plotting other similar colors (blue-ish colors) you will see that only Aqua Sky is between Blue Turquoise and the center of the wheel.
Quote 2 (Blue Iris): The only 3 colors with "blue" in the name are Blue Turquoise, Blue Iris, and Classic Blue. Plotting colors with parts of flowers in the name shows that only Blue Iris and Veri Peri (Peri being part of periwinkle which is a flower) fits the description in the quote. Then you see that Blue Iris is slightly further from the center.
Quote 3 (Fuchsia Rose): Plotting colors chronologically, you see that Fuchsia Rose (which is only the second color chronologically) is the first one on the right side of the wheel.
Quote 4 (Rose Quartz and Serenity): There are exactly 2 double colors of the year (Rose quartz & Serenity and Illuminating & Ultimate Gray). Plotting all four of these colors on the wheel, we see that Rose Quartz and Serenity are closer to each other than Illuminating and Ultimate Gray.
Quote 5 (Blue Turquoise): This quote refers to the double Color of the Year that is nobody's favorite. Since Rose Quartz and Serenity is the 4th person’s favorite, this refers to Ultimate Gray and Illuminating from 2021. Plotting these two colors, you see that Illuminating is furthest from the center, so mix it with the color from 2013 (which is Emerald). The resulting color is pretty similar to the 2017 Color of the Year "Greenery" (and there are no other colors of the year very close to them on the color wheel). Plotting other blue- and green-ish colors of the year shows that the first color you intersect when drawing a line straight down from Greenery is Blue Turquoise.
Since it is currently 2026, (and the Pantone Color of the Years go back to 2000), each year corresponds to a letter with A=2001 and Z=2026. Thus, solvers A1Z26 each Color of the Year's respective year (e.x. "Blue Turquoise" is from 2005, so they would A1Z26 the number 5 to get the letter E). Then, putting the letters in the given quote order spells the answer CHAPE.