Eureka - How to solve the Jindosh Riddle

[Pafti]

I strongly encourage everyone to try and solve it themselves, this thread is meant to illustrate the reasoning by which one would solve the riddle and is therefore spoiling all the fun.

I'll go over each relevant hint in order of relevance, which should make a lot of the reasoning immediately obvious but there are added notes to streamline the information further.
This riddle serves as the example, since they are randomly generated the answers will differ from case to case, but the method remains identical.

Step 1

Countess Contee was at the far left next to the guest wearing a green jacket.

We're told the women are sat in a row, and this line talks about a "far left" which implies the table is not round, in which case Green must be sitting to the right of Contee.

Contee      -           -           -           -   
-           Green       -           -           -   
-           -           -           -           -   
-           -           -           -           -   
-           -           -           -           -   

Step 2

... falling onto a guest in the center seat, spilling the poor woman's absinthe.

Lady in the center is drinking Absinthe.

Contee      -           -           -           -   
-           Green       -           -           -   
-           -           Absinthe    -           -   
-           -           -           -           -   
-           -           -           -           -   

Step 3

The lady in white sat left of someone in purple. I remember that white outfit because the woman spilled rum all over it.

White drinks Rum and sits left of Purple. Purple has to sit on the far right because every other position would create conflicts.

Contee      -           -           -           -   
-           Green       -           White       Purple 
-           -           Absinthe    Rum         -   
-           -           -           -           -   
-           -           -           -           -  

Step 4

... Doctor Marcolla wore a jaunty blue hat.

There is only one position that is missing both a name and a color.

Contee      -           Marcolla    -           -   
-           Green       Blue        White       Purple 
-           -           Absinthe    Rum         -   
-           -           -           -           -   
-           -           -           -           -  

Step 5

The traveler from Dabokva was dressed entirely in Red.

Only one position left to assign a color.

Contee      -           Marcolla    -           -   
Red         Green       Blue        White       Purple 
-           -           Absinthe    Rum         -   
Dabokva     -           -           -           -   
-           -           -           -           -  

Step 6

When one of the dinner guests bragged about her War Medal, the woman next to her said they were finer in Dabokva, where she lived.

The person from Dabokva only has one person sitting next to her.

Contee      -           Marcolla    -           -   
Red         Green       Blue        White       Purple 
-           -           Absinthe    Rum         -   
Dabokva     -           -           -           -   
-           War Medal   -           -           -  

Step 7

Lady Winslow raised her beer in toast.

Winslow drinks Beer, could fit to either Green or Purple.

The lady from Baleton, full of whiskey, jumped onto the table...

Baleton drinks Whiskey, could also fit to either Green or Purple.

... the visitor from Karnaca next to her almost spilled her neighbor's wine.

Karnaca next to Wine. Wine is the only drink that can be assigned to Contee, who again only has one neighbor.

Contee      -           Marcolla    -           -   
Red         Green       Blue        White       Purple 
Wine        -           Absinthe    Rum         -   
Dabokva     Karnaca     -           -           -   
-           War Medal   -           -           -  

Step 8

The lady from Baleton, full of whiskey, jumped onto the table...

Only one position that needs both a location and a drink.

Contee      -           Marcolla    -           -   
Red         Green       Blue        White       Purple 
Wine        -           Absinthe    Rum         Whiskey   
Dabokva     Karnaca     -           -           Baleton   
-           War Medal   -           -           -  

Step 9

Lady Winslow raised her beer in toast.

Only one position that still needs a drink.

Contee      Winslow     Marcolla    -           -   
Red         Green       Blue        White       Purple 
Wine        Beer        Absinthe    Rum         Whiskey   
Dabokva     Karnaca     -           -           Baleton   
-           War Medal   -           -           -  

Step 10

Then Madam Natsiou captivated them all with a story about her wild youth in Dunwall.

Only one position that needs both a name and a location.

Contee      Winslow     Marcolla    Natsiou     -   
Red         Green       Blue        White       Purple 
Wine        Beer        Absinthe    Rum         Whiskey   
Dabokva     Karnaca     -           Dunwall     Baleton   
-           War Medal   -           -           -  

Step 11

So Baroness Finch showed off a priced Diamond...

Only one position that still needs a name.

Contee      Winslow     Marcolla    Natsiou     Finch   
Red         Green       Blue        White       Purple 
Wine        Beer        Absinthe    Rum         Whiskey   
Dabokva     Karnaca     -           Dunwall     Baleton   
-           War Medal   -           -           Diamond

Step 12

... at which the lady from Fraeport scoffed, saying it was no match for her Snuff Tin.

Only one position that still needs a location.

Contee      Winslow     Marcolla    Natsiou     Finch   
Red         Green       Blue        White       Purple 
Wine        Beer        Absinthe    Rum         Whiskey   
Dabokva     Karnaca     Fraeport    Dunwall     Baleton   
-           War Medal   Snuff Tin   -           Diamond

Step 13

Someone else carried a valuable Ring and when she saw it, the visitor from Karnaca next to her almost spilled her neighbor's wine.

Ring next to Karnaca, only fits one way now.

Contee      Winslow     Marcolla    Natsiou     Finch   
Red         Green       Blue        White       Purple 
Wine        Beer        Absinthe    Rum         Whiskey   
Dabokva     Karnaca     Fraeport    Dunwall     Baleton   
Ring        War Medal   Snuff Tin   -           Diamond

Step 14

The bird Pendant is assigned by process of elimination since there are no clues for it.

Contee      Winslow     Marcolla    Natsiou     Finch   
Red         Green       Blue        White       Purple 
Wine        Beer        Absinthe    Rum         Whiskey   
Dabokva     Karnaca     Fraeport    Dunwall     Baleton   
Ring        War Medal   Snuff Tin   Pendant     Diamond

[Heisenberg]

That's admirable, but why solve it on your own when you have this:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=811744192

[Pafti]

Just for fun really. Why play the game at all when you could watch a playthrough on YouTube?
To answer the question that might follow from this, I wrote this up because sometimes people want to solve it themselves but hit some wall and give up, those people might then want to understand the problem instead of just getting the solution.

[Heisenberg]

Originally posted by Pafti:

Just for fun really. Why play the game at all when you could watch a playthrough on YouTube?

Because it's different when you get to play it and make your own choices than when you watch someone go through the game.

Personally I never tried to solve it on my own because it takes too much time for a puzzle and there is no gameplay in it.