Per the OP:
The number of letters in common is the exact number of unique letters in common. A 't' would only be counted once even if it existed twice in both the mystery word and the hint word

Update:That is why the final equation is LESS THAN or equal to. The letters may appear more than once, reducing the total number of unique letters, but no more than the number of letters in the secret word can be used.

--Solo

--
You said you wanted to be around when I made a mistake; well, this could be it, sweetheart.

In reply to Re^3: Challenge: Mystery Word Puzzle by Solo
in thread Challenge: Mystery Word Puzzle by Limbic~Region

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