Have I Been Scroo'd?

Even Ice Cream Doesn't Help!

Cooby Scroo from Andreas Roever

My car when I got out of work!

Most of you are aware that there's been a bit of a heatwave in Europe recently! It started whilst I was in Italy for the IPP and then hit with a vengeance when I returned home. The UK is uniquely unprepared for high temperatures despite the fact that we have had them for the last few years. Our houses retain heat (they are built for cold winters) and it feels like hell inside (most of my house was 29-33ºC for the last week and my back garden, being south-facing reached 48ºC for long periods of time). During all of this I have been sick with the lurgy that I caught on the plane and feeling like death warmed-up! The only thing that could possibly make it worse would be to share that hellish space with a "woman of a certain age". As a result of the conditions at home, both physical and psychological, and despite being sick as a dog, I was grateful to go and work in an operating theatre with air-con bringing the temp down to 18ºC. I went from boiling sweaty hot to freezing my nuts off back to boiling again.

As a result of this my puzzling skills were even more sub-par than usual!

Nicely presented with a bag and a card

The Cooby Scroo puzzle had been Andreas Roever's exchange puzzle last year in Tokyo. It was brought to my attention at an MPP afterwards when a couple of people were showing it off and extolling the virtues of such a simple idea, so beautifully created. I even had a play with it and marvelled at the incredibly confusing movement and how it came apart easily but was impossible for me to put back together. This was going to be brilliant - tempted...

When a few people placed it in their top 3 puzzles of the year at Peter Hajek's end of year puzzle party, I broke and contacted Andreas for a copy and arranged to pick it up in Italy.

I got a choice of colours when I picked it up and chose a lovely blue, grey, black and white combo.

When I got home and having taken some photos to show off how it moves, I shied away from actually dismantling it for fear of failure yet again.

One pair moved

Second move possible and it gets scary

I showed it off at work and after getting an appropriate "Oh my God!" response. I stopped playing and put it away again. I did the two beautiful moves again and again at home, trying to make myself familiar and comfortable with the conformational changes and eventually I was holding it slightly wrong and it fell apart on me....Aargh! I should have known that would happen eventually.

This might be how it remains!

I recalled how impossible it had been for me at the MPP and I quailed at the thought of getting it back together. It is relatively easy to make pairs or even a trio of pieces:

This should do it - he hopes

This looks great but isn't helpful!

Over the last few days, in the blistering heat with an angry hot woman in the background, whilst feeling like death, I have repeatedly attempted to reassemble this bloody thing! It shouldn't be this difficult! It's only 4 pieces and has only 2 main moves but you mustn't forget how bad I am at puzzles. Yesterday evening whilst muttering to myself and considering femicide as a way to get a little relief, I suddenly managed to get it together. OMG! The relief! Did I dare take it apart again? Not straight away... I needed to relax a little and then try and redo it slowly.

Today, I can now disassemble and reassemble it to order. I can see why so many people loved it. This puzzle is an absolute masterpiece of good design. All we need is for someone to make it in wood (I guess that might be nearly impossible) or possibly make it in brass. Steve or Ali - what do you think? Maybe a collaboration with Andreas might be in order?

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Gelateria from Alexander Magyarics

Gelateria - Alexander Magyarics' exchange puzzle in Italy

During a heatwave, there is nothing better than a fabulous refreshing cool Gelato. I thought that attempting the Gelateria puzzle might be refreshing for me. Yes, I was wrong!

Alexander was a "greenhorn" at this IPP and previously they have not been allowed to exchange. This year the committee made a change to the rules and newbies were allowed to do so if they created their own design. Alexander has quite rightfully earned his place attending an IPP due to the HUGE number of amazing puzzle designs he has created over the last few years. You can tell that they are really really good when craftsmen like Brian Menold and Jakub Dvorak use the designs to produce gorgeous wood creations. I have reviewed quite a lot of his designs over the last few years and it was simply amazing to meet him in the flesh after such a long time. Unfortunately, we were both so busy that we didn't really have much time to chat and properly catch up. Whilst I was assisting Jerry Loo in his exchange, I saw Alexander's puzzle and decided that it looked a lot of fun and determined to obtain a copy at the main puzzle party the following day. 

Just a few challenges!

Alexander is a "completionist" - he finds a simple design, modifies it to add extra complexity and then looks for as many associated challenges as possible. I have quite a lot of these in my collection and I am absolutely terrible at solving them. Maybe this would be better? It is at its heart a tetromino tray packing puzzle. We have all played with these as kids - I know I used to play with one belonging to my older cousin when I was about 8 - I loved it. The 5x8 voxel tray can be fitted with 10 tetrominoes in many ways - that is easy. Alexander has created a LOT of challenges (the sheet has 48!) to decrease the options and make it MUCH tougher. The tray has holes in it and you re provided with a set of black blockers that can be inserted into it. The tetrominoes are now restricted where they can be placed because they must straddle the blocker. To get you used to it, he gives a couple of challenges with 8 solutions, 3 with 4, 1 with 3 and 9 with 2. All the rest have just 1 possible solution. 

8 possible solutions - easy?

Hell, NO!

I also took this to work and during a rather long boring orthopaedic operation (after 4 hours and no end in sight, I needed something else to think about), Colin and I set to work on one of the 8 solution challenges. 

This is really REALLY difficult! Neither of us were able to solve it in about an hour of attempts. I have been trying at home in the heat and still cannot get it. I need a way to think about these challenges. There must be a logical way to work it out but I am seriously struggling to get my little bwain around it. 

I appear to have Scroo'd by Alexander as well! Maybe I need another hobby? Whack! Ouch!

If you get a chance to buy a copy then you should absolutely do so. There are so many challenges and they are so approachable even if they are impossible. Alexander's puzzles are sold by PuzzleMaster, by Tye Stahly and possibly by Alexander himself via Facebook or Instagram. Drop him a line. He is delightful to chat to and his puzzles are amazing. 

I have not yet tried the One Way or Another puzzle which won a Jury honourable mention prize in the IPP design competition. That is quite a feat!

This Minima Is NOT Minimal

Minima Tokyo aka Jammed Coin - Tom and Team are BACK!

Minima Tokyo aka Jammed Coin from Frederic Boucher and Ars Aenigma

I'm back from the IPP recently held in Assisi, Italy and, as expected, promptly caught the lurgy in the airport and have been sneezing and spluttering for a few days. I'm rather sleep-deprived because Mrs S says it's like sleeping next to a swamp monster and she keeps punching me in the ribs to stop the awful gurgling and swallowing noises. Now, there's an image you didn't need! I had an incredible time catching up with old and new friends. Some of them I have communicated with for ages but never actually met. I did manage to buy one or two new toys and was delighted to be given a few as gifts as well. Mrs S asked whether I had many to bring back and I admitted to a few but didn't tell her how many for fear of murder. It is customary to take a photo of your haul before travelling home, and I managed to take this pic (only to realise that there are one or two more that were not included)

Don't tell her about this lot!

Today is a review of the Jammed Coin/Minima Tokyo that won a "top ten vote getter" award at the IPP.

When Tye offered Frederic Boucher's latest sequential discovery Minima puzzle up for sale last year (he had taken it to the Tokyo IPP), I jumped at the chance and received it in November. I hadn't actually realised that this had been produced by Tom Messina and his team at Ars Aenigma (they have begun producing again after their incredible mentor, Eric Fuller, died). I had actually been expecting this to be one of Tye's incredible creations like the Jammed Gem Again, but when it arrived I saw that it had been created from beautiful wood and was blown away by the quality. I still have Eric's Jammed Gem in my pile of puzzles to solve as I have not managed to even find the first move! All of these designs by Frederic are incredible challenges.

The Minima Tokyo/Jammed coin is a typical Minima puzzle having a 2x2x3 box with various openings and several pieces inside. But, different to usual, the aim is not to pack it, the aim is to remove the coin from where it is held captive, sandwiched inside a single cubie. Having admired it for a while, I set to trying to solve it before Xmas last year and delightedly performed the obvious first steps - unscrew the bold in one face which allows a domino piece to be removed. From this, a rod can be removed, and the remaining pieces now slide around inside the box.

First piece out and coin revealed

At this point you can properly admire the beautiful workmanship from Tom. The box is absolutely perfect, made from Walnut and Maple, and the internal pieces are a very vibrant Padauk. There remains three pieces captive inside, and they are able to slide about. One can even rotate. 

Here I got stuck! Just 3 moves in and I could get no further. I read Allard's review repeatedly in the hope that he might have given something away, but there's not even a vague clue there. After 5 months of attempting nothing new, I spoke to Allard about it at the last MPP and all he would say was that Tom was carrying on Eric's amazing tricks. Well that was singularly unhelpful. Every week or so I would pick it up from my desk and have another look. Nothing ever changed. I do know a few of Eric's tricks and tried to find something familiar inside the box, but nope, nothing, nada, nyet.

This puzzle was actually entered in the IPP design competition this year and was available for everyone to play with. The solution was there as well, but I was very careful not to look at it or to watch others solve it. At one point I did look up and saw someone with a LOT of pieces. This renewed my determination to solve the damned thing! It's such a shame that I'm rubbish at puzzles!

A few days ago, I restarted and did my usual few moves. At this point I got my torch and magnifying glass out and had a look at what I had. I did notice one anomaly that gave me a small clue of what might be needed. After a bit of fiddling in a way that I hadn't done before, I suddenly made a huge discovery. Another piece or two came out with a rather fancy move. YESSSSS! Except I was stuck again. But now I knew the kind of things that might be needed. The next move occurred in an unexpected direction to reveal the true woodworking mastery of Tom and team. Amazing! 

After those first well-hidden moves, the sequence continued with a series of tools and working out how to use them. The discoveries come quickly, and each step leads to another after a bit of thought. The Aha! moments are wonderful before the final tool is found to release the coin from its prison. Amazing!

Coin is now un-jammed.

I doubt whether these will be released again, so you should keep an eye on the various auction sites. Frederic has done it again, designing an incredible puzzle, and teaming up with Ars Aenigma is absolutely perfect - it's only fitting that Eric's protégés continue his legacy. Thank you, Tye for the opportunity. I hope that you enjoyed the gift puzzles that I sent back from IPP for you. 

IPP Madness! How To Upset The Wife!

There’s not going to be a review today. I’m in Italy at the international Puzzle Party. I’ve had a fabulous time meeting friends, playing with toys, eating and drinking. We started the trip with a visit to a castle in Panicale owned by Roxanne and George and now named the World Puzzle Centre. 110,000 puzzles is an overwhelmingly huge collection that even I wouldn’t want!

I did upset the present wife by sending her photos of a couple of bedrooms in the WPC and suggesting to her that we need to repeat this in our home. Needless to say, the expletives came thick and fast!

Normal service will be resumed next week….. if I’m still alive after she sees the puzzle haul!

String Or Wire? Or Both?

Should They Go On Display?

 

Concertina Wire by DDK made by Mr Gao - bought from Aaron Wang

A wonderful gift from Dale

Due to having a horrendously busy week with operations that went on and on (and on) beyond the normal working day, I haven't had much time to play. It was Mrs S' birthday on Friday and I felt that puzzling probably ought to take a second place that day. As a result. this article is a real short one and more philosophical than many of my posts.

At the MPP last weekend, I had a really nice chat with Dale (who gave me a copy of one of his old exchange puzzles from IPP 25 in 2005). Dale is one of the few puzzlers I personally know (apart from Dick Hess) who really appreciates disentanglement puzzles. Over the years od attending the MPPs I have worked many times on these fabulous challenges with him as we both seem to get stuck on the same types of thing. 

Lots of puzzlers seem to be attracted to the simple (and occasionally not so simple) interlocked nail puzzles but very few seem to really collect or solve the more complex wire puzzles and even fewer of the group love the puzzles that include string in them. Dale and I discussed why that might be as well as whether they should be displayed or even look good on display.

Whilst we worked together on a puzzle that he had been stuck on (it was a wood and string version of the classic ball and chain puzzle made with extremely tight tolerances), I had to admit that I did not display any of my disentanglement puzzles at all. It is difficult to be sure but I think I must have about 400-500 disentanglement puzzles and almost all of them are stored in Ikea storage baskets. The ones that I have solved are kept in the garage (I have a catalogue reminding me which ones are in which box) and a whole bunch of unsolved ones are in a wardrobe in the house. Only the one at the top of the post is currently on display and that is not because of the look... even though it is quite attractive, it is only on display because I am still working on it. I have been trying to solve this masterpiece by DDK and made by Mr Gao which was sold to me as part of the 2025 releases by Aaron Wang.

I don't find the diagrams help me much!

Dale and I were interested in finding out why so few puzzlers are really into disentanglement puzzles and those that are tend to be less appreciative of the ones involving string. I don't think we were able to come to any real conclusions. I personally have been moving away from the puzzles that involve string (unless they are Chinese ring variants) because I find many of them impossibly difficult to solve and in many of them the solving process can end in a dead puzzle with an irrevocably knotted string. I have been very grateful that Aaron's string puzzles for the last 3 or 4 years have included a quick reset mechanism. This is particularly useful when a knot occurs but also with the Chinese ring type puzzles, the sequence of moves is often so very complex that it is a frequent occurrence for a puzzler to lose concentration and either end up right back at the beginning without realising it or caught in a dead end and due to the huge number of moves to get there, it is often better to use the quick release and return to a known correct earlier position than to backtrack and get lost.

Circuit board I (also by DDK and made by Mr Gao)

Many of the non-Chinese ring type puzzles that have been produced over the last 5 or 10 years look fantastic (which is why I couldn't resist buying them) but require some incredible brain power to work out a solution. The Circuit board I above has a really short loop of string which would make you think it shouldn't be that difficult to wind it off the wire grid. However, I have been playing with this for a year as well and can honestly say that I am no closer to the solution now than when I first started. Indeed, Aaron did rate its difficulty as 10+ but I think only the very best of disentanglement enthusiasts will be able to work this one out. I consider myself to be above average on this wire puzzles but the sheer complexity of these is making me more and more hesitant to buy more string based challenges. 

I haven't completely given up on the Concertina wire puzzle yet because it is still attractive enough to leave on my puzzle tray and I do periodically feel I am making enough progress to come back to it periodically. I think that most puzzlers would hesitate to attempt the Circuit board and only a few more would be attracted to the Concertina wire because of the knowledge that it is a Chinese ring puzzle.

Grenade V by Shuai Chi made by Mr Gao

Having complained about string, I have to sheepishly admit that the new breed of designers are producing wire puzzles that are also immensely more difficult than the wire puzzles that I bought many years ago from Livewire. Many of those were incredibly tough but the wire from the likes of Aaron and Shuai Chi are several orders of magnitude more difficult. The Grenade series (there are currently 6 of them) look complex but not horrific but believe me when I say say that they are the very pinnacle of pure wire challenges. I have managed to get absolutely nowhere with them in a year of trying. At least I am not caught in an un fixable position but nothing I try seems to advance. 

Despite all of this apparent complaining, I adore these puzzles and have ordered a whole bunch of the 2026 releases (although only one which has string in it). I fully expect that most will be beyond my abilities and they will not end up on display but I will still have a lot of fun playing with them.

Now, Having spent a good while with the Concertina Wire and Dale's Elusive Chain Puzzle sitting on the table in front of of me whilst I type this, I have had an idea or two on how to progress so I had better get back to them now. Excuse me...