Euroka - not Eureka! Desperation Made Me Do It!

Or: "You Stupid Boy"!

Euroka 10x3 from Junichi Yananose

At the beginning of this year, Juno released another of his complex interlocking puzzles - the Euroka 10x3. I have 3 of these beauties already and they do look fabulously intimidating on display. I really enjoyed playing with a couple of them after being forcefully pushed but mostly they just look gorgeous and remind me that Juno has a terribly warped mind. I love the look of them but they really do frighten me to death. So why did I buy this one? I am not terribly certain, to be honest, and I think it was probably a big moment of madness - but not as big a moment as I had today!

Up until now I had been very careful and had put it on display in my study where it forms a sort of shrine to Juno's madness. 

It is pretty spectacular with a diameter of 240 mm made from 30 identical pieces with magnets and a Base. It is gorgeous made from New Guinea Walnut, PNG Rosewood and Fijian Mahogany. I had intended to leave it on display indefinitely but...

I have had rather a tough week this week with Mrs S up north , a few evenings of mild DIY and quite a long week of work (including Saturday). I had completely failed to find anything useful with Juno's Dial case and reached this morning without having solved anything at all. Drastic measures were required and I carefully lifted the Euroka off the windowsill and into the kitchen for some exploration - maybe this would be a great story of wonder and success for the blog? Erm......NO!

In the words of the great Captain Mainwaring talking to Private Pike:

You Stupid Boy!

It started out OK as I removed first one layer and then a second layer of the pieces came out by just simply tugging them along their axis. I thought to myself that this was going to be triumph for the blog! Erm......NO!

1st layer out

2 layers out - encouraging

At this point it felt pretty stable and I threw caution to the wind - carefully pulled out the first part of the third layer and it held together. Magnets are truly wonderful things.

This is going really well

There appeared to only be another 3 layers. I was full of confidence and continued the odyssey stupidity. I removed one single piece from the 4th layer....it looked good. Just a little wobble but looked reasonably firm. Sod it! Lets continue...

Oh Bugger!

Who's big idea was that? I had a pile o' very lovely wood and only a vague idea how they fit together. I also had the terrible realisation that it was really quite unstable with less than 14 pieces in situ. The very next thing I did was count my hands - I reached only 2 which I suspect might be a problem. I then counted the hands of everyone else who was currently in the house and reached zero (even if Mrs S wasn't in Edinburgh then I very much doubt that she would help me). I examined the cat's paws and figured that he was not likely to help me - he has a very paw attention span. This puzzle might end up remaining in pieces for the rest of my life which may be short if Mrs S sees a pile of pieces in the kitchen when she comes home. I really should have fully read the description from Juno:

"Euroka 10x3 is fairly stable once about half the pieces are assembled, but still difficult at the start. Juno himself struggled for nearly an hour to assemble a puzzle prototype without the proper jigs. To solve this issue, we also produced a base that can be used for an assembling jig. With the base, you can assemble the puzzle in less than five minutes if you are familiar with it." 

The flip side of the base does indeed have some holes in it to assist with the assembly:

Tidier, but I don't think "she" will be happy with this

It's a jig with Juno's mark

I have spent quite a bit more than the 5 minutes mentioned on the product page trying to put the first half together and am wondering where I can hide it in the house so that she doesn't notice yet another clutter. The New Horizon from Pelikan that I reviewed a couple of weeks ago (still available as I type) also remains in pieces in the kitchen and I had better move it before she returns home.

This failure to assemble puzzles is becoming a bit of a habit here. In fact, I seem to be failing to solve puzzles in general. You should probably ignore my ramblings from now on and just read the other guys stuff instead for real inspiration! Sob!

Right! Back to it. She's not coming back until tomorrow so I do have a bit more time to play. Happy weekend everyone.

A Second View Through The Window

Dick Hensel's Window Lock 2

Imagine my utter horror to be wearing the same dress to the party sorry, publishing a review of the same puzzle as good friend and much better puzzler, Allard! His post on this puzzle is much better than mine - go read it now!

I now have 3 Locks from Dick and every single one of them is Shane's fault. He keeps getting early copies (he’s a locksmith, after all) and showing them off on Facebook which, of course, tempts me into rattling off another email and once more, rattling off some PayPal. Luckily I took delivery of this whilst Mrs S was away at the outlaws. By the time she came back I had it secreted away amongst all the others. To all you men out there, you know the answer you get to the question "is that new?" (Shoes, clothes, handbags, jewellery etc.) and the answer is "oh no, I’ve had this for ages". This can apply just as equally to puzzles. When asked about whatever I’m fiddling with, I can reply: "I’ve had this one ages!" And luckily, to Mrs S they all look the same! This means I can sneak them in whilst she is away and she will never know…apart from the Ring door camera which does give things away a bit. Doh!

The middle puzzle lock in the group is the Hensel lock mark III and was the first I bought from him and even after nearly 6 years, remains unsolved. I have had it on my desk for years and can only find a few moves. I’m a puzzle lock eejit! I really enjoyed the first Window Lock - both of these are a mixture of a dexterity puzzle, a maze, as well as very constrained sequential discovery puzzle. The fact that it looks like a lock is entirely incidental.

They all look very similar in shape and size and I think this version is made from oak. It has 2 ball bearings inside and a rather complex maze of pieces which form a bewildering set of baffles. Some of them clearly block the opening of the shackle and others seem to be there for no good reason. But… everything is there for a specific purpose. The initial fiddle with the shackle shows it to be blocked by the large ball bearing so it’s time to try and move it out of the way. Easier said than done! It’s a bit of a bugger manipulating everything with just the small ball bearing as your solitary tool. Through the window you can see everything but not really knowing what to do, you end up trying a few things u til miraculously you discover some parts are held together by a magnet and you need to break them apart with nothing apart from a ball bearing. Having found the first sequence, I realised that that there was another piece holding the shackle in the locked position. Time to move the ball elsewhere and try to release it. Again, easier said than done. Trying to move the ball without losing the gain already made is a challenge in its own right and then trying to undo the path blockage you have made getting there is a fun diversion. 

I finally moved to the second challenge an unblocked the restriction only to find the shackle still had a third element locking it in place. Right then, off we go and release that. Erm…except I couldn’t! It would appear that I had done it in the incorrect order! Damn! Who would have thought that a lock needed a specific sequence of moves to open it? Not me obviously but then, as previously stated, I’m an eejit. I had to relocate the element I’d already done and move to the required position to start again. After that, time to backtrack and redo my mistaken second move. Aha! The lock opened and I was startled to see the way it actually opened. 

No clues here!

Re-examining the sheer amount of difficult moves that Dick had put into this design and the precision required to make the tiny pieces that move on each other, held by tiny magnets, I am staggered at how well it works. Re-locking the puzzle is "just" a matter of reversing the steps but because gravity and pushing/pulling against magnets is so important, this I actually NOT quite so straightforward. Slightly different pathways/moves are required and for one move in particular, quite a lot of dexterity.

I have solved this a few times over the last week and still enjoy the process. I know exactly what to do in what order but actually doing it remains a bit of a dexterity nightmare. I love it! If you can find a copy of this then it’s well worth it.

Now, who wants to help me "launder" more puzzle deliveries so Mrs S doesn’t find out about them? 

😈😈😈

Jerry Makes a Fidget Toy

Oh, and It's a Puzzle Too!

Fidget Burr
Yep! Free the lady is the aim.

Jerry McFarland and I chat quite frequently and I was most pleased to hear that he is being kept busy making BurrNova 3D (aka Magnetic Madness) puzzles after it won a prize in the Nob Yoshigahara design competition at the 2018 IPP. After the prize was won and I wrote my review (review of the 2D version here) many people contacted Jerry to get copies and he has been kept very busy producing copies for people. At the same time, his mind never stops - he has improved my version 0.8 (prototype) a number of times and is currently on version 2.5. Whilst discussing the possibility of upgrading my prototype to the latest (mine had seized up due to weaker magnets and British high humidity), he also dropped on me that he has been thinking about other ways to use wood and magnets and make fun puzzles. He has a mind like a trap that just never stops! In fact, he told me that he struggles to make lots of copies of older puzzles because he gets easily bored.

After some too and fro by email, a pair of boxes arrived much to the anger of Mrs S and much to the eager pleasure of the furry boy cats who lurve my boxes! The first one contained my new improved BurrNova and I could see the improvements immediately and also appreciated the use of Mahogany in place of Maple:

Version 2.5 on the left and prototype (now returned to Jerry) on the right

The new puzzle was in the second box and when I showed it off to "she who is getting rather pissed off with the constant puzzle deliveries", she did state that she was sure that I had one of those already. I corrected her but I can sort of understand - Jerry's work has a certain look...it is completely unmistakable. Yes, she is right, I do have several of Jerry's masterpieces in my collection and hence a number of puzzles that look similar. I emphatically stated that every single one of them was extremely different and she sort of grumpily accepted it.

This latest puzzle (prototype again) has a number of names: Fidget burr, Dollar burr, Chin burr or BurrNova parallel - reasons for most of these later but I think only the first 2 may stick. Yet again, Jerry added a little whimsy to the whole thing by adding the free the lady in distress element to it. It is very offputting to pick up the puzzle and see a girl staring out of it at you - Mrs S says he's got a sick mind! Immediately I found out why it is called the Fidget burr - pushing that very inviting central key piece results in a wonderfully loud and (if you're not expecting it) surprising automatic sequence of moves of 4 pieces around the edges:

Just one push leads to a whole sequence

After this, something else is possible...or not, depending on which direction you pushed the key piece and then nothing, nada, nichts and bugger all! There are inviting notches in pieces and the appearance that other pieces of the puzzle may move. I spent a day or so exploring these other pieces and realised that all is blocked. It is at this point that the name comes into play. I was singularly failing to get any further in solving this but had a wonderful time pushing it all back to the start and then Thrrrrrrrrp! setting it off again! This is a beautiful fidget toy with the added bonus of making a lovely racket that annoys the hell out of the present wife. I seem to recall that at one point she threatened to throw it out a window - disgraceful!

I fidgeted away with it for nearly a week and thought. This is an exercise that does not come easily to me and I find quite painful. I recalled other puzzles that Jerry had made and decided to try something that had worked in one of them. Suddenly I had a new move! Yessssss! In my surprise, I sat back and reset it by accident. Slightly stupid and disappointing but at least I knew what was required. It would appear that this is a fidget toy, a burr and a dexterity puzzle.

Having made the crucial hidden next move, I wondered whether any more like that might be required. Searching for them just ended up with me resetting the puzzle a few times so I looked elsewhere. The next move requires either knowledge of others of his puzzles or a very close examination of the pieces that are visible. Surprisingly, I managed this step quite quickly and found myself with a partially dismantled puzzle and a frightening step to do next...I had to remove the automatic section with its very strong magnets. All is there to be seen and it quickly came out and was set aside.

Finally, after nearly 2 weeks of play, I had a nice pile of pieces or "kindling" as Mrs S has taken to calling these sorts of puzzles:

Fabulous! The mechanism is edited out so no use peaking!

The attention to detail is wonderful, right through to the initials and year as well as a perfectly cut out hole for the princess to sleep in:

Such attention to detail!

No clues here - all details edited out

Of course, this puzzle was going set me a further challenge! How to put it back together. Jerry expected this to be quite tough and even sent a sealed envelope with a suggested approach on it. I initially tried without the instructions but could not remember what went where and looked at them after a short while. Jerry's approach did not help me at all! After an hour of trying to repeat what he had said, I gave up and went back to searching for my own method. I was eventually able to work out where the specific pieces went and then using a fair bit of dexterity I was able to assemble the automatic section in the centre of the frame in a rather fun 2 or 3 stage process which led to another of those wonderful Thrrrrrrp noises again and the rest of the puzzle was assembled. Finally back to the beginning and I had to report back. Jerry, this puzzle is a winner! Lovely idea, beautifully made and quite a challenge of both thought and dexterity in several places. I loved it.

But...........why is it called the "Chin burr"? Apparently, the reason for this name is that the final step in the reset of the puzzle needs more hands than we have. Jerry solved that by using his chin! I laughed at how dense I was but had to admit that in my case I would have called it a "nose burr" (think about it!)

This puzzle is NOT available as yet - please don't pester/ask Jerry for a copy as he is not making them for sale just yet. He is still working on it and may improve it further and it will probably be seen in an IPP design competition occurring in the next year. When it eventually does reach a stage where he is happy with it, it will definitely be worth buying.

Now I should probably put it away before Mrs S goes ahead with her threat to chop my fingers off if I keep making that Thrrrrrrp noise!