Two Guys and a Gal...

Guess Which Was the Toughest?

Free Me 9 aka Two Guys and a Gal (named after the heads of the coins)

Update from last week - my solution for the Rippl puzzle turned out to be completely correct! After checking with Aaron, the critical move that I felt was too tight turned out to be the correct move - my copy of the puzzle was just a bit tighter than it should be. I persisted in doing the tight move because I felt that I had completely exhausted all other options for that section of the puzzle. The rest was an absolute delight and a bit mind boggling. Phew! I'm not as thick as I thought.

I can almost hear your sigh of relief! He finally managed it! Yes it took a hint and partial collaboration with Dominic to get there and it has taken me more than six weeks to get there but, Oh boy, was the journey worth it.

I have only been collecting the puzzles by Joe Turner for a few years and they have never failed to delight me. They are always beautifully made and a combination of wood and metal combined into a very non-intuitive sequential discovery puzzle. Usually there is just a single coin to work out how to release by activating the most ingenious mechanism his diabolical brain can come up with. The mechanisms have been so interesting that the amazing Jon Keegan even collaborated to reproduce the iconic Free Me 5 in metal - I did not have the cash to buy one at the time but they looked amazing and Allard loved it.

For this year's outing Joe upped the ante and gave us 3 coins to release - it has two JFK half dollars (guys) and a Statue of Liberty (gal) one dollar coin - I had no idea there was any such thing as a Dollar coin! This puzzle was Joe's entry in the IPP design competition but amazingly did not win anything due to the incredible list of amazing puzzles entered this year. It will certainly be on my list for top ten of the year.

As usual the coins are held in the block with a dovetail cap at each end. Starting out, progress begins reasonably quickly which gives you some (misplaced) confidence. There is a pretty classic move that Joe has used before that starts the first dovetail sliding. The interesting thing is that this confidence dissolves very fast when that first move stops dead after a mere 3mm of movement. Whatismore, not only does the slide stop dead, it also won't go back! OMG! A bit of frantic fiddling with the puzzle gets it to go back and then there's obviously something else needed. There are not a lot of clues but eventually another aha! moment happens and progress is made with the reward of the first guy. It's nice and shiny and I also receive a couple of tools. These have been causing the locking up and a quick inspection reveals the ingenious way that Joe has made it happen.

After the first coin removal, and the use of the light on my phone to peer inside, I realised that the next coin had to come out the other end. The tools were going to be useful at this point, I was sure of it. There's an obvious place for them to go except sometimes they won't fit and sometimes they will - you need to work out what to make it happen and once you do... nothing gets released! Of course, he's not going to make it easy!

Ok, let's try that classic move again at the same time as using the tools elsewhere. Hahaha! You all know that he's not going to use the same trick twice! Well I didn't know that and spent a very long time trying to make it happen. Yes, the Einsteinian method fails again. There is a tantalising little click and a few mm of play in the second dovetail but it goes nowhere. I have lost count of the sheer number of times I tried the same thing or variants of it in different orientations or with spinning and very nearly submerged in gin. I was stuck.

I was stuck for weeks! This is where Dominic came to my rescue with an itsy bitsy teenie weenie yellow polka dot bikini clue. All he said, basically was to use ALL the tools given. Not much of a clue was it? Of course, I am very stupid and started looking at the coin for removable bits (similar to a classic by Boaz Feldman) but that was not it. I had misinterpreted what was meant as a tool. after another day, I had my Homer Simpson "Doh" moment and realised what tool Dominic was referring to and I heard a satisfying click inside and praise be, there was some movement. Finally! 

I have to sheepishly admit that this had taken me so long because I had gotten completely fixated on one or two mechanisms and been unable to break out of that mindset without a nudge. I dare say, Joe knew that many of us would fall into the same trap. Or maybe it was just me?

After a little more fiddling with other mechanisms I had my second dovetail end removed and my second guy out. Phew! I was on a roll! Except I wasn't. Stuck again...the gal had to come out and the only way out was through one of the existing holes but she was blocked. Looking inside, the basic approach to the removal seemed obvious and I had my tools. But again, it wasn't working. I tried the gin trick (drinking it rather than submerging the puzzle) and that helped me realise something else that was possible but I was stuck again. My goodness! This is a stupendous challenge.

I kept think©ing and kept failing. I even received the solution from Joe (he sent it out to all recipients last weekend) but I was very careful not to look at it. I HAD to solve this thing myself even if it was going to kill me - with all the swearing I was doing, Mrs S might have killed me! Then, after lots and lots of thoughts© I was hit by Mrs S a bolt from the blue and I tried something extra. Wow! That is really clever! I had my gal and a huge sigh of relief!

OMG! Brilliant!
Only took me 6 weeks

Having taken my photos and worked out the reset mechanism, I can now solve the puzzle in one swift fun sequence. It is a work of puzzling art which everyone should try - this is a simply beautiful challenge. Tanks to Dominic for the tiny clue and a special thank you to Joe for the opportunity, I cannot wait to see what you produce next year.

Free Me From All This!

Is that something that Mrs S has muttered at me having opened the door to the UPS guy twice in one week? No, it is the motive for the latest challenge from Joe Turner - Free Me 7:

Free Me 7 (back to the usual format)

We have all been waiting quite a while for this to be released. Joe is a busy man and producing puzzles to satisfy the community's insatiable appetite is a long difficult process. The email about both Freem Me 7 and 8 came out way back in the middle of 2020 in which Joe explained that number 8 was going to be released a lot earlier than number 7 and, of course, I couldn't resist one of those. I am not entirely sure why he didn't just change the numbering so they were sent out in order but I am not clever enough to be a puzzle producer. The Free Me 7 was delayed because he was struggling with the required tolerances. It must have been a huge struggle because the offer of the next in the series didn't arrive until a few weeks ago. As you know I am never one to refuse a sequential discovery puzzle (or any puzzle for that matter) and I sent of some of my hard earned GBP (converted to USD) and risked the ever increasing ire of "She who must be feared".

When it arrived it was accompanied by a sealed packet containing specific instructions and a solution leaflet which so far I have resisted opening. As always, the aim is to take the coin out of the box whilst using only tools that are released as you play. Joe's wood craftsmanship is visibly progressing as he makes more puzzles. My first one was the Free Me 6 and, whilst a great puzzle, was not anything much to look at. Here we have a puzzle that is nicer on display and finished beautifully.

I couldn't resist! I had reached a dead end with the Abraham's Well from Brian Young and had this one on my pile'o'puzzles to solve next to me and went straight to it.

It is quite obvious that the end comes off but there is only a tiny amount of movement in the dovetail before the blockage is evident. OK, how do I release the blockage? There really isn't much available at this stage. Turning it over and over in my hands, I can hear things moving inside but no matter what direction I turn and what angle I am at I cannot release the dovetail. I consider putting it on the lapcat and spinning it but decide that isn't a good idea - it has been a few weeks since we trimmed his claws and I didn't want a "lap" injury when he zoomed off. I also wondered whether spinning the puzzle might actually be considered shaking? I carried on doing the same thing over and over again for a whole evening thinking I had a broken puzzle.

Of course, I did not have a broken puzzle! I was just too stupid to think of what else was possible. After a soothing day (?) in the hospital, I came home wonderfully refreshed and ready to puzzle again. OK, maybe that is a little exaggeration but I had been thinking about what else I could try and again with cat on lap, I tried something new. This time there was a change inside and the top slid off - yay! In my usual way, I wanted to understand what had happened and tried to reverse the process and lock it back up again but, yet again, I couldn't do it. I was able to replace the lid and lock it on but it was always trivial to unlock again. I could not seem to understand how it was properly locked. Time to give up on that aspect and continue...

Looking inside I could see that the coin was held securely in place by a piece of metal and I clearly needed to move or remove that object. I tried all sorts of orientations and moves and had to stop myself again spinning the bloody thing. It was not going to come free easily. Another evening passed and it was back to work again. The next time I played (starting from almost the beginning) I made a discovery... it is really quite important to enjoy a puzzle slowly and listen as well as feel and look at what it happening. I heard something happen at one point and repeated that move a few more times. It happened every time - Aha! What if I????

Having made a nice discovery that could be heard and felt but not seen, this started me on an interesting path of discovery. I noticed things changing but never quite enough. I need to think© a bit more. 

After I had thunk, I realised that this sequential discovery puzzle is special in that there are almost no useful tools. I had been hoping that more stuff would fall out but what was really needed was to use the tool I had properly:

That took me several days!

After my shout upset Mrs S, I went to take a photo and then reassemble it. I suddenly realised that I had not fully understood the mechanism. I could put it back together but it was quite easy to open again and remove the coin. There was more to it aka "you did it by pure luck!" 

Finally, after another evening of toil, I think I have understood the puzzle mechanism. It is all hidden and needs to be manipulated blind which is not one of my strong points. Much less complex a construction and solution than either FM 6 or 8 but requiring very accurate movements. I can see now why Joe struggled to produce these - the tolerances would have to be fractions of a mm. Delightful and really good value puzzling - I am delighted to have this in my collection. I wonder when version 9 will be coming?

He Freed Me...Again

 This Time From A Box

Free Me 8 aka "The Reptile Puzzle Box"
it's a box this time

Joe Turner has created a few (6 so far before this one was released) fabulous sequential discovery puzzles and I was lucky enough to get hold of a version 5 in 2018 which made it into my top 10 puzzles of the year. It had lots of steps with quite a few moments of fear where a puzzler is left wondering whether the move he is considering is really a good idea and is going to lead to a trapped piece or lost ball bearing. I loved that frisson of fear!

As a previous customer, Joe contacted me to ask whether I would be interested in buying a copy of the Free Me 8 - this would allow him to gauge how many to make and avoid disappointing too many puzzlers (I am aware that recently the competition to buy certain puzzles has been extremely high leading to desperate puzzlers overwhelming websites). Now, you may be wondering what happened to number 7? Well me too! It would seem that Joe has had trouble with the tolerances of Free Me 7 and has had to put it on hold until next year to allow him to complete this project as well as some personal projects he wanted to make before Xmas this year. Needless to say, I jumped at the chance of obtaining another of his SD puzzles. However, I had to delay his sending it out to me...I had spent quite a lot at that time and Mrs S was starting to get urges to set fire to things again. I asked him if he would wait for a few weeks until after he had returned from his summer holiday before sending it out and of course he was OK with that. This probably saved me from a very painful insertion of puzzle into an orifice and then being burned alive on a pile of my puzzles. Unfortunately by delaying the arrival I had to endure watching pictures of people receiving their toys and tales of how good it was.

Finally it arrived and I was able to look and play. The first thing that you will notice is that it is a BOX! OMG, Joe has forced me to buy a box when I don't collect boxes - luckily it is a sequential discovery box rather that a traditional box and hence perfectly OK for me to add it to my collection.He has apparently wanted to make a box for several years and this was his chance having taken a class last year. He made quite a few (100 out of Cherry for sale and another bunch from Walnut or Maple for family and friends) - it took him 9 months from idea to finishing production.

As with the previous puzzles the coin is visible

These are a LOT more complex than the previous Free Me puzzles with 84 parts to each. The card that comes with it tells the puzzler to open the box and free the coin (just like before) and also informs that no force, no banging, no spinning, or use of gravity tricks is required. Thoughtfully he also added that no burning is required which I insisted on showing Mrs S.

On top of the box are a bunch of cute laser cut and etched lizards which will no doubt play a key part in the solution. Helpfully, to ensure nothing gets broken there is a slip of paper informing that the small lizards are fixed and not to be manipulated. The finish is beautiful and there is nothing obvious to do at first apart from to fiddle with the lizards and see what they do. Trying not to give anything away, it becomes obvious straight away that lizards are well attached but have some play in their attachment. Trying not to snap them, I make 2 discoveries and promptly get stuck. I discover magnets here and there and have no idea what to do with them. Things can happen but it seems to make no difference. I am stuck after about 10 minutes! I am rubbish at boxes. I put it down for a little while and come back to it later. Aha! That is interesting - I have found the third move and now other things seem to be possible. I play with magnets again and it is open - but NOT beaten.

I have opened the box but the coin is still trapped.

At this point I reveal my inexperience at boxes...I am stuck yet again. This time I am stuck for several days. I manage to have another Aha! moment a few days later and get somewhere but it still isn't complete.

There is a real twist to this puzzle box which I don't want to reveal for fear of spoiling things for people who follow. Needless to say, after I did the next step I got a giant big surprise and realised that I had a whole extra stage of the puzzle to solve. This was entirely unexpected and a huge bonus, there are many layers to this puzzle which just keeps on challenging you until you finally manage to complete it. Absolutely brilliant voyage which kept me going for over a week in total - well worth the wait.

Coin out!

If you get a chance to obtain a copy or even just play with one then jump at it. The workmanship is great and the mechanisms very finely tuned. It is definitely a candidate for my top 10ish of 2020. It may have been a completely awful year for life and health and the world's economies, but it has been a really great year for puzzling.

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Now I need to have a little play with something that is definitely NOT small! Big Steve and Ali's latest creation (the KickStarter thatI discussed here) has been brought to life and has arrived Chez moi. Mrs S was distinctly unhappy when the delivery driver handed her the package - 4lb of "metal mayhem" is really not her idea of something good and amongst her grumbling she threatened all sorts of physical violence upon my person including a hefty Whack! Ouch! and much more interesting, once she had seen the contents of the package, she decided that next time she meets Steve or Ali she wants to see how much of the puzzle can be inserted inside said gentlemen. Luckily for them, I will store it unassembled so that there won't have to be any insertion of any pieces sideways! As a nurse she has the training and the anger to get these pieces ALL the way up! 

A lovely carrying case

I think those brass pieces will completely fill Big Steve's descending colon! 

I am not too unhappy about her plans...for once, they don't involve pain for me and it will be fun to see Steve suffer after what he did to my happiness cubes last year! Hopefully I can drag her to an MPP after the pandemic has run its course. I'd start running now if I was you mate! 😃