Interpreting Your Share Picture
What every color and shape in the Pyralinks share image actually means.
Published January 1, 2026 · Updated February 16, 2026
When you finish a Pyralinks puzzle, you can share a small image of your result. That picture is more than a trophy - it encodes the full story of your solve in a compact visual that anyone who has played the same puzzle can read at a glance. This guide walks through every element of the image so you know exactly what you are looking at when a friend posts their result.
The Layout
The share image shows the puzzle pyramid in a canonical arrangement - a fixed, standard layout independent of how nodes happened to be positioned when you solved the puzzle. This matters because it means you can hold your friend's share image next to your own completed puzzle and directly compare which links matched up at each stage of solving. The canonical layout removes any ambiguity about which node is which.
The header shows the puzzle name, date, and whether the puzzle was solved (a check mark) or not solved within the allowed guesses (an X). A medal icon also appears in the header if the puzzle was completed while Expert Mode was enabled. Below the header are your time and swap count (can be disabled in Settings), and then the pyramid itself.
What the Colors Mean
Each link (the line between two nodes) is colored to show which guess first confirmed that link as correct. The earlier a link was confirmed, the more saturated the color.
| Color | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Purple | Correct on the first guess |
| Dark green | Correct on the second guess |
| Medium green | Correct on the third guess |
| Light green | Correct on the fourth guess |
| Empty (outline only) | Link was not correct before the final guess ended the game |
A fully purple pyramid means every single link was already in the right place on the very first guess - a perfect solve with no feedback needed. A mix of colors tells a more interesting story: you can see exactly which parts of the puzzle clicked immediately and which required refinement.
How Nodes Get Their Color
The links are what hold the color information, but the nodes (the circles) are also colored. A node takes on the color of the last link connecting it that was confirmed correct. In other words, a node's color reflects the guess at which its final neighboring link snapped into place.
For example, if a node has three links and two of them were correct on the first guess but the third was only confirmed on the third guess, that node will be medium green even though most of its connections were found early. The node color is a quick indicator of how "settled" that position was by the end of the solve.
What About Operator Edges in Math Puzzles?
In arithmetic puzzles (like Pyrithmetic), each node relationship involves an operator as well as two operands. The share image does not draw a separate edge for the operator - its correctness is implied by the two operand edges. If both operand links are colored, the operator was necessarily correct too. This keeps the share image clean and uncluttered.
Interpreting an Unsolved Puzzle
If the puzzle header shows an X, the puzzle ran out of guesses before being fully solved. In that case, some links in the image will be empty outlines rather than filled with color. Empty links represent connections that were still incorrect when the last guess was submitted. The colored links still carry the same meaning - they show which connections were eventually confirmed correct and on which guess.
An unsolved share is still a full record of effort. You can see how close the solver got and which part of the pyramid resisted them to the end.
The Expert Mode Medal
A medal icon in the share header means the puzzle was solved with Expert Mode enabled. In Expert Mode, broken link indicators are hidden - after submitting a guess you see which links are correct, but the record of which connections were previously wrong is not shown. You have to hold that information in your head across guesses.
The medal is a signal to anyone reading the share that the result was achieved without that assistance. It does not change the color coding of the pyramid itself - the links still reflect which guess confirmed each connection. The medal simply adds context about the conditions the puzzle was solved under. Learn more in the Broken Links and Expert Mode article.
Quick Reference
- All purple: Solved perfectly on the first guess - no feedback needed.
- Purple + greens: Solved, with the darker links figured out first.
- Empty outlines: Those links were not correct before the game ended.
- Node color: Set by the last link connecting that node to be confirmed.
- Canonical layout: Fixed arrangement - compare directly to your own result.
- Medal icon: Puzzle was completed with Expert Mode on (no broken link hints).
- No operator edge: In math puzzles, operator correctness is implied by its two operand links.
Comparing Notes with Friends
Because the layout is canonical, two people who solved the same puzzle can hold their share images side by side and see exactly where their paths diverged. One player might have nailed the left subtree immediately while struggling with the root; another might have had the root locked in from guess one but worked through the leaves slowly. The share image makes that conversation specific and visual rather than vague.
This is the same instinct that made Wordle shares so compelling: a compact, spoiler-free representation that communicates the shape of a solve without giving away the answer. Pyralinks extends that idea to a richer structure, so there is more to read and more to discuss.
