Sometimes Burrtools Is A Godsend...

And Often Not!

P3C by Yasuhiro Hashimoto (produced by Mine)

Every 6 months or so, Mine offers up a bunch of puzzles that his Japanese friends design (many of them appeared in the IPP design competition). The P3C arrived and I set to work on it shortly after it arrived. Needless to say, I failed! Again and again and again! It got to the point that I put it in my work bag and would get it out every few weeks to try and yes, you guessed it, fail again! 

There's another one that shares that fate - the Turning Quarter Hole has been in my bag for 5 years and still not been solved! OMG! I received it in March 2022 and still not solved it. Maybe I need to give up this puzzling hobby?

Interestingly, these two puzzles share the same 6 tetromino pieces and same aim of packing them in a box that measure 24 voxels in volume but have different dimensions (the P3C has a box that is 2x3x4 and the  Turning Quarter Hole box measures 4x4x2 with all 4 corners blocked by diagonal walls. Obviously the entry holes are different and the latter puzzle has a top lid that is captive but can rotate freely. 

These two have accompanied for such a long time that I eventually got desperate with one of them and decided to let Burrtools do a comprehensive analysis for me. I was pretty certain that it would not be able to solve it for me. The box has a nice 2x2 hole in the top and there are two single voxel holes in the bottom. I did wonder whether the solution would be linear with pieces needing to drop through the holes to allow others to pass over the top. But... after nearly 2 years of trying I was fairly certain that the holes in the bottom were just finger holes to allow manipulation and that some kind of rotation might be needed. 

I duly entered the puzzle entirely into that wonderful programme by Andreas and, as expected, no solution popped out. It did give me all the possible ways that the 6 tetrominoes could be assembled in the box. "All" that was needed was to try them all out systematically and work out which could be disassembled a reasonable amount through the hole in the top until there was room for other pieces to achieve any required rotations. BT found that there were 28 possible assembles and I started at number one. It didn't take much to work out that all but 3 of them were absolutely impossible as solutions. After this, I tried to be systematic on them and skipped past the solution for several hours. It was right in front of me but I couldn't see it! Those holes are not just finger holes - once you realise that there are a whole lot more possible moves to think about. I had my Aha! moment and finally one of Mine's creations can be put away. Yes, Burrtools to the rescue yet again.

I am not going to show the final packed solution because that is not allowed with these puzzles from Mine. I don't think he has any left but I am sure that you could find the shapes and print your own if you were allowed a 3D printer in your house. Unlike me who daren't even think about it.

I still have the Turning Quarter Hole puzzle accompanying me everywhere and I don't think that BT will help. 

Actually, whilst I am focussing on Mine's puzzles that are always with me there is an even "simpler" design of Koichi Miura's produced by Mine, the Chiral 2&2 which has also completely stumped me because rotations are going to be needed and BT won't help me:

Chiral 2&2 by Koichi Miura

This one has just 4 tetrominoes to be placed in a 3x3x2 box - yes, there are 4 spare voxels free inside so it should be easy peasy - but not for me. I have had this one and gotten absolutely nowhere. Sigh!

Minima Imposter currently available from NothingYetDesigns

Finally, Tye Stahly sent me another Minima puzzle - this one, designed by Kyle Waszak and Ryan Sinatra, shares the 2x2x3 cavity of the usual Miinima box but has a slide on lid.  As soon as I tipped the pieces out, something didn't look right. I had to put my maths head on and calculate that 2x2x3 equals 12 voxels. Then I counted on the digits of two hands and then a foot (having taken my shoes and socks off) there were 12⅓ voxels on the pieces to be packed. Huh! Well, that's odd. Is there a hidden dimension or a portal to somewhere else? I quickly made two vital discoveries but they didn't seem to help with this puzzles at all. BT definitely wasn't going to help with this one! 

Damn you Tye! Is this another one that will be traveling with me for years to come? Sob!

If you want to try and succeed where I failed then it is still available from NothingYetDesigns.