A Huge Selection Of Pelikans!

Upcoming release from Pelikan

Couldn't fit into the grid 

A rather large box arrived earlier this week and an annoyed Mrs S muttered "not again" to me. I gritted my teeth, kept my head down and promised not to leave them lying around once I had solved them (there is a rather embarrassing number of puzzles just strewn all over the house just now and I need to put some away before there's a bloodbath in PuzzleMad HQ.

This time there is a huge selection of puzzles from your favourite designers and a variety of different types of puzzle with varying difficulty levels to suit everyone. 

From top left above:

Zack Die Krone by Stephan Baumegger (2 versions available)

The Horns of Booth by Dr Volker Latussek

PSI by Girish Sharma

5 Balls by Frederic Boucher

One Match Left by Jorgos Anastasou

Serial Square NTC by Lucie Pauwels

LOL by Frederic Boucher

Sam Duo by Frederic Boucher

Heavy Lifter by Girish Sharma

Yes U Can by Frederic Boucher pictured separately

Jakub has asked for me to give some reviews as quickly as possible and so I will be spreading them over two weekends of blogs. Expect them to go on sale quite soon.

Zack Die Krone

There will be 2 versions of Zack Die Krone by Stephan Baumegger, both are absolutely beautiful. This fabulous puzzle is not for the faint-hearted. When I first picked it up, I thought it was a 6 piece burr in a frame and expected a huge struggle as a result. When I had a closer look I was relieved to see that it is "just" a mere 3 piece burr within a cage that has a big hole in the top. How hard could it be? OMG, it is a serious challenge!

There are a few possible moves at first but after that the possibilities open up quite a bit as there is plenty of space to look at what is happening and also plenty of space to move the pieces around each other an around the frame. Initially the frame really gets in the way of what you want to do but after a bit of fiddling a way method of getting around it can be found. Once this has been done, you will need to carefully control the pieces as they appear to become quite unstable. Rotations won't happen easily but are possible and you will need to prevent that. I managed to unlink one side of a piece from the others and then got very badly stuck being completely unable to progress and needed to backtrack to the beginning again. Luckily, I found that it's usually pretty easy to backtrack if you paid attention but I dare say some of you might get lost at some point.

I remained stuck at the same position for a whole evening before I managed to find a possible move. It's a huge advantage being able to see more or less everything that is going on and sort of planning what you can do. With great satisfaction I found a path to release a piece from both the others and then a simple matter of releasing it from the frame. I had my 4 pieces and could take a photo. At level 21.8.3 for the complete disassembly, this is a huge challenge for anyone and only the very best of you will be able to reassemble it without Burrtools (I certainly needed it)

An incredible challenge The magnets hold it stable when assembled

One Match Left 

Looks just like a matchbox

As expected - one match inside

A new designer I've not heard of before, Jorgos Anastasou seems to have been designing for a few years but this is the first of his that has been mass produced. This beautiful cute little puzzle is made to look like a matchbox (very reminiscent of the matchbox playground from last year). It's made of Jatoba, Wenge, Maple & Cherry. Only two of the woods are visible from the outside of the box. There appear to be two but pieces inside the box which can slide and reveal a lovely little single match left in the box (hence the name). 

After six moves the match can come out but the tray formed by the two but pieces still won't slide out. A further 7 moves leads to one more part removal and a further 2 to complete disassembly. It's not terribly difficult but it's lovely and really quite cute. I suggest that you leave the pieces for a couple of days before attempting the reassembly. It will keep you nicely for a little while. Not hard but just right for a little light puzzling.  Indeed, Jorgos wrote about it:

"Sometimes the simple things can be the most enjoyable! The "One Match Left" is a moderately difficult level 6.7.2 disassembly challenge with a unique solution reassembly. It's fun to determine the position of the small match piece trapped inside the seven unit burr pieces and frame. Τhanks to Pelican for making my design a reality with their high quality construction and materials! Have fun!"

He's right, it is a simple thing compared to may others that have been made but it is a delight and very beautiful.

Leave it for a few days and assemble from scratch

Heavy Lifter

Arrives incorrectly assembled

5 pieces

This wonderful interlocking 4x4x4 cube puzzle is by the amazing Girish Sharma. It has been stunningly produced in some lovely woods - Zebrano, Acacia, Wenge, Maple and Massaranduba. It has been incorrectly assembled for transport and quickly comes apart into 4 rather complex shapes and an L. I did not receive any instructions and from the start assumed that it was a TIC. As a result, I set to work looking for the position of all the pieces and then rotational moves to get them interlocked. The process took me about an hour whilst watching TV with Mrs S. It was really very satisfying to work it out and seat the pieces into place. I was so delighted that I did it repeatedly that evening. 

The following day I got my instructions from Jakub and was stunned to realise that it was not meant as a TIC...he wrote:

"Over the last few months, I have been tinkering with the idea of high level 4x4x4 IC which form a full visible cube. So far, I've known the highest level to be 11 by a few designers. The challenge I took on myself was to design something with a higher level. This is first of the many designs that I have coming up in future. 

Heavy Lifter is a level 12.2.2.2 IC with 5 pieces. The puzzle comes disassembled and the goal is to assemble the pieces into a 4x4x4 cube. Once you have assembled the cube, you might realise the importance of the name of the puzzle."

Amazingly, it was actually an interlocking cube very similar to many of the wonderful Microcubology puzzles I bought way back at the beginning of my puzzling odyssey but MUCH MUCH tougher. The following evening, I just had to try again and do it without the rotations. This was a huge challenge as the TIC part had given me some preconceived ideas that I needed to get rid of. Girish has created an absolute monster of an interlocking cube which is absolutely wonderful to work on. The "proper solution" took me well over an hour and was joyous - this might well be my absolute favourite of the bunch.

This was an absolute joy to solve

LOL

Laugh out loud?

This made me laugh when I managed it

How can anyone resist a new puzzle designed by Frederic Boucher. I certainly can't and if it's called LOL then there is guaranteed to be something sprecial about it. This puzzle is very reminiscent of the Galette by Osanori Yanamoto in that there is a small flat box with a limited entry and a set of pieces to insert inside. There's no window in the front so it will all need to be done with dexterity and gravity along with quite a lot of thought. The puzzle is beautifully made from Jatoba and Cherry with the puzzle name on the surface which I think might be Marquetry (it's something I've never seen from Jakub before). 

The 5 simple pieces are to be put inside to make a 4x5 voxel rectangle. It's made more complex by the fact that the largest piece can't even fit through the 2 voxel opening - it requires a rotation to get inside and maybe there will be rotations needed inside the box without easy access?

There seem to be only a limited number of ways to create the rectangle and some of them are quite obviously impossible. I found a couple that potentially might be possible but finding a way to get them in the box is a huge challenge. The pieces block each other from getting into position and manipulating them through the tiny entrance hole is a frustratingly difficult experience. At one point I had a really good idea and it worked. But then the next step wouldn't work at all and I had a mini heart attack trying to undo the first supposedly good idea. It took me a good 30 minutes to get the pieces all out again and calm myself down.  There had been quite a lot of swearing during that process and Mrs S kept glaring at me! Having retrieved all the pieces I had a little think© and found myself trying to do the same thing over and over again. At one point, a little experiment with the pieces revealed a very subtle design element and yes, thank you Frederic, I did laugh out loud. A few minutes later I had my assembled puzzle:

Phew! That took a while.

Subsequently I received the instructions and found there was another challenge to be had:

Frederic wrote about it:

"LOL is an assembly puzzle with a very simple goal: Assemble the five pieces to make the acronym LOL, respecting the following rule: the 3 characters must have the same size (height and width). Will you discover the trick and succeed in the challenge? Exclusively for the PELIKAN version, a box is included. As a second challenge you must pack the pieces completely into the box. I hope this puzzle will make you laugh out loud!"

It appeared that I had only done the secondary challenge. The primary challenge still awaited me. This took me another hour or so yesterday and the important thing is to assemble the letters standing up on a flat surface. There is a very special trick that has had be done during the manufacture of the pieces to make it work. Another laugh out loud moment!

Sierpinski's Burr

Sierpinski's Burr by Tyler Hudson

Finally for today, I have a wonderful caged 6 piece burr from Tyler. He has been quite prolific over the last few years and has designed several different kinds of puzzle. This is a caged 6 piece burr which has had 2 opposite corners chopped off to allow quite a lot more freedom of movement for the burr sticks. It really adds to the challenge and allows it to reach quite a high level. I loved it but it might be too difficult for many of you if you are nor big burr fans. It has been beautifully made by Jakub and Jaroslav in Mahogany and Acacia. The angles of all those cuts must have made manufacture a bit of a nightmare to produce but the effort was well worth it. Obviously, it needs disassembly and then reassembly.

Tyler wrote about it:

"Sierpinski's Burr is a variation on the traditional framed 6 piece burr, in which 2 opposing corners have been removed. The resulting shape is one I hope you find quite interesting! It adds a few extra moves to the puzzle, and also provides small windows through which possible moves can be deduced. At level 40, it may sound a bit daunting, but keeping track of the solve is manageable, without too many dead ends. I don't think this one will be the hardest burr out there, but it should be a lot of fun to work out. Of course, the puzzle is named after the Sierpiński Triangle, which the triangular faces of the burr resemble. Pelikan's build of my design adds a lovely tactile feel, as well as being a beautiful wood combination. I hope people enjoy it! :)"

He is absolutely right! This is a huge challenge but is definitely manageable.there is a particular sequence that recurs several times and each time it is done it allows further progression before being undone and moving other pieces. The entire disassembly is level 40.6.3.1.2.2 so once the first piece is out then the rest will follow quite easily by looking inside and working out what is possible. 

A fabulous burr

Having taken my photo there was absolutely no way I could reassemble it myself and off to Burrtools I went. So much fun in one small cube! 

I have only had 5 days with the puzzles so far and managed to solve 5 of them in that time. I plan to work on the rest for next Sunday - come back for them.

My pick from this bunch is the Heavy Lifter and the LOL puzzle but all are absolutely fantastic!

Pelikan Summer Bonanza Part 1

Upcoming release from Pelikan puzzles

Thank heavens for Jakub and Jaroslav and team! I have received quite a few fabulous puzzles over the last few weeks and thought that I had lost my mojo (yet again!). I had not managed to solve very much at all and for some of the recent arrivals, I had not even managed to find the first move! I must be really dim! Then along comes Jakub with a beautiful package of 6 lovely puzzles giving me at least a hope of solving a few of them. I cannot do it all in a week and so have split the reviews over this week and next.

In the picture above starting at back left:

Lapsus 2 by Alfons Eyckmans

Kamelle by Volker Latussek

Petit Sucrier by Volker Latussek

3 Candles by Osanori Yamamoto

Commotion by Tyler Hudson

Brick Wall by Lucie Pauwels

Jakub has been slightly worried about the fact that some of the creations are not selling as well as he would hope and wondered why. Whilst I adore burrs, I am aware that many puzzlers don't love them and prefer a different challenge. The puzzles in this release are a bit different from the usual and hopefully will be of interest to all you addicts out there. There is one burr but even this is different to the usual.

Commotion

Commotion by Tyler Hudson

Tyler has been quietly working in the background designing very interesting puzzles. They have tended to be various burrs or maze type interlocking puzzles and all have been really good. Certainly they have been good enough for the guys at Pelikan to mass produce and they have always sold out. This one is something totally new and an absolute delight. When it arrived, I took all 5 pieces out of the tray and wondered what I was supposed to do with it. I had to ask Jakub for instructions and Tyler also chipped in to tell me. My initial photo had been with the pieces removed and I had no idea how they had been arranged. 

I was instructed to reassemble it in the above conformation (Tray made from Garapa, 4 flower petals made from Wenge and leaves made from Padauk - it is really quite vibrant). There is a small gap in the tray at the top left and an obstruction to right. The aim is to slide the pieces around in the tray ending with the removal of the red leaves through that gap. 

I tend not to be a huge fan of the usual run-of-the-mill sliding piece puzzles because they end up being a huge amount of toil and trial and error. I usually solve them but in many times the number of moves that is the optimal. This creation by Tyler is totally different to these classic sliders. There is not a set move number to aim for - the challenge is being able to remove the piece at all! The movements can get really very restricted due to the size and shape of the pieces and some of the moves are coordinate motion (something I have not seen in one of these before) and a fair number of rotational moves involving one or more pieces simultaneously.

This was the first puzzle from the batch that I started with and really struggled for quite some time as it locked up again and again. Each time I backtracked and tried something different and found a new path opening up and sometimes being able to take it further. It took me 2 days of real concerted effort to find what I needed and removed the piece. This is an absolutely wonderful new take on a classic genre and is a significant challenge. Well worth buying when it goes on sale.

3 Candles

3 Candles by Osanori Yamamoto

Osanori-san features very heavily in this blog! He is an incredible designer - so much so that Pelikan use one of his creations in almost every single release. He specialises in packing puzzles with limited entry boxes but has designed in many other categories. This one is something rather special and fun. It is absolutely perfect for a puzzler of any level. I guess that I could now be considered an experienced puzzler (even if I am not very good at them) and this challenge really enticed me and I found it to be great fun.

Jakub and team have made the 6 pieces in this puzzle from a lovely rich and deeply grained Merbau with a single block of Maple. Initially, I thought this was a version of the Soma cube but the pieces are larger and there appear to be 28 voxels in total (one more than in the Soma cube's 3x3x3 requirement). I again, had to ask for instructions and was told that these pieces can be assembled into a cube with a single voxel protrusion and the aim was to do this with the protrusion being the white Maple cubie - the flame of the candle. There are 3 challenges for this puzzle: that flame can be in one of three different positions - centre, edge, corner.

I am not particularly good at assembling shapes from polyominoes - the Soma cube still is difficult for me despite having many solutions and I have so far completely failed to solve the Sisu puzzle from the last release (it is still in stock if you want a challenge). This challenge really gripped me - the premise is so simple and there is a major clue to start off with knowing the position of the flame. It is still a fabulous challenge which took me several hours before I had found all 3 solutions.

3 possible solutions

This, again, was so different to Osanori-san's other challenges and so accessible that it is a no-brainer purchase. Perfect to challenge yourself as a puzzle addict or to challenge e the significant others in your life.

Brick Wall

Puzzle face

Storage tray face

I have been watching Lucie Pauwels' designs with great interest over the years. She seems to create them in her head using simple home-made blocks and always manages to produce puzzles that are very different to those of the other designers out there today. There does not seem to be a computer used in the design process and this means that the puzzles that she creates are human solvable and require proper thought and logic to do so.

The Brick wall is a chunky puzzle (20.5x15x3cm) made from a gorgeous vibrant Bubinga and Maple. The reverse side of the puzzle is a tray which holds the pieces (Maple) which are to be the grout in the tiled wall. There are 11 differently shaped pieces of grout which need to be assembled inside the wall. The premise is very simple but the actual solution is not. I started as I always do with a random insertion of pieces in positions that looked good. With Lucie's puzzles, this approach really doesn't tend to work well and it ended for me several times with an almost, but not good enough assembly:

Well that didn't work

After a whole 2 days of failure, I decide that it was time to think© and use some logic. The pieces are shaped in such a way that there can be only one solution and the best way to go about it is to restrict the positioning of a certain few pieces from the very beginning. Once that has been done, the sequence for insertion is really pretty logical - there is a little trial and error where a piece has a little vertical symmetry but it only requires a quick test to see which way around it goes to allow other pieces in.

Despite the fact that this looks like an impossible trial and error challenge, believe me, it is not. Like most of Lucie's puzzles, this is a test of logic which you will really enjoy once you have decided to go that path. It will also look absolutely gorgeous on display.

That is it for this week - hopefully I can solve the other 3 for next weekend. There is a very challenging puzzle from Alfons Eyckmans and also something ferociously tough from Dr Volker Latussek. I know they are tough because it took me ½ an hour just to remove the pieces from the delivery configuration in the boxes! 

The upcoming puzzles will probably go on sale after 16th June.

Maybe a Xmas Present is Here?

Pelikan release for December 2023

On Tuesday, I received 6 more beauties from Jakub with a request to review them as quickly as possible because he is already being asked about when they are to be released. The pressure is on.

From Back left we have:

Rug Rug by Alfons Eyckmans

Who Filled The Sorter Cube by Volker Latussek

Kreeft by Alfons Eyckmans

Padlock by Tabor Mikloš

Kuchenstuck by Tyler Hudson

Rhino by Theo Geerinck (and the late Symon Hovinga)

I have worked my little fingers off to do as many as possible in the 4 days I have had them and have managed to solve 4 and play with the other 2 for a bit.

Rhino

Rhino by Theo Geerinck (and the late Symon Hovinga)

I had gotten used to the Pelikan own designs for their continuing series of animal shaped puzzles and was expecting another one. This time I was delighted to see a wonderful design by Theo with his good friend Simon to accompany the earlier creation of the Bison from Jack Krijnen. They obviously had been either working together or competing to create puzzles on the theme. The Rhino has been beautifully crafted using American Walnut and Maple and is scarily realistic with a white horn and even pupils in the eyes.

The sequence for disassembly is not terribly difficult since the puzzle is mostly a series of plates on a spine but they don't just slide off and there are a couple of gotcha moments during the disassembly and a nice Aha! moment as well. Once it is apart, the reassembly is not hugely tough but having left it for a while, I had forgotten the orientation of a few of the plates and struggled to get them back in line on the spine. It's a lovely idea and will look amazing on display with the Bison (don't tell Mrs S!)

Kuchenstück

Kuchenstuck by Tyler Hudson

Yes, it's a piece of cake complete with layers of sponge and a glacé cherry on top! Beautifully made from Wenge, Maple, Padauk and Cherry woods, this design from Tyler Hudson is anything but a piece of cake to solve. The puzzle is actually a trio of maze plates that interact with each other and with the outer box producing a maze that effectively changes as you navigate it. Initially there are a few options for the pathway before you will find the one that proceeds further into the solution. 

Once you have set out on this path the options open out. I found mapping impossible because everything changed with every move. The exploration is fun and gradually you get a feel and then a glimpse for how the plates are interacting with each other and even can see the gaps in the pates where presumably they will come apart from each other. There are quite a few dead ends and loops in the solution and I got lost many times. Despite this, it seems to always be quite easy to find your way back to the beginning again.

I was beginning to lose hope because I could not find any new openings and put it down for a while. I picked it up again the next day and suddenly found something new and a whole new section of the puzzle pathway opened out. The sequence is a huge 28.2 for disassembly and will leave you with a whole new sense of achievement when you finally manage it. This one definitely required the use of Burrtools for the reassembly.

Kreeft

Kreeft by Alfons Eyckmans

This is a lovely chunky 9 piece burr by Alfons made from Wenge, Acacia and Purpleheart. It has a lovely size to allow easy play and from the outset there is a nice exploration. There are 3 possible moves as the first move and only one leads anywhere but it quickly becomes apparent that all of the found moves will be useful at some point. The progress is delightful right up until you can't find where to go next and you wander round and round in circles. Again, I had to put it down for a couple of hours to rest my weary brain and then start again later. The rest did me good and after following my previous paths, I found another lovely Aha! moment as another sequence opened up and shortly afterwards I removed the first piece. This did not lead to a sudden sequence of disassembly and there was a fair bit more backtracking and looking for another path to remove the next piece.

As is usual with Alfons' puzzles the difficulty level and exploration is just perfect at 15.5. The puzzle remains quite stable for quite a long time and I was even able to reassemble it without Burrtools. Of course a Burrtools file challenge is all part of the fun after you have done it.

Padlock

Padlock by Tabor Mikloš

Tabor has been designing interlocking puzzles for a few years now and they do look interesting. This stunning puzzle, made from Wenge and Limba resembles one of those little combination padlocks that we use everywhere to secure lockers etc. There are 6 keys and a shackle which need to be manipulated to open the lock. There are a few that can move immediately and one or two straight away open up some much more interesting moves involving the shackle. This then opens up a whole lot more choices and you need to decide what is the best way to go. I chose wisely and made good progress. After 13 moves the first piece can be removed and the rest follows in a nice sequence.

I was staggered to see that the buttons of the burr are only of 2 very simple types and this should mean that the reassembly without Burrtools should definitely be a possibility. I did not have time this time to attempt it but had a lovely time with Burrtools making the reassembly. If you collect padlocks then this is a must buy. I have quite a few wooden padlock puzzles now and this one is a very welcome addition to the collection.

Now onto the two puzzles that I have not yet had time to work on and only just had a little play with so far:

Rug Rug

Rug Rug by Alfons Eyckmans

This gorgeous and chunky burr from Alfons is made from Wenge and Limba. It is formed from a 6 piece burr that contains a smaller 12 piece burr inside. I suspect that this will be a huge challenge. The disassembly level is "only" a meagre 13.2.1.2.2 but with so many pieces interacting with each other the number belies the actual difficulty of the disassembly. My initial exploration has showed only a single initial move being possible and then a whole array of choices for moves 2 and 3. The solution will need to use my too and fro approach. I am greatly looking forward to it.

Who Filled The Sorter Cube

Who Filled The Sorter Cube by Dr Volker Latussek

This incredible creation almost made my heart stop! There seems to be no end to the amazing manipulation of geometric shapes by Dr Latussek. It consists of the same box (albeit a good bit larger) as the wonderful Bastille puzzle. Packed inside are prisms made from the first 6 simple regular polygons (Circle, Triangle, Square, Pentagon, Hexagon and Octagon). They are made from Wenge, American Walnut, Bubinga, Jatoba, Walnut and Maple and the box made out of American Cherry. It is gorgeous!

My first thought when I received this was "thank goodness that this is an unpacking puzzle and not a packing puzzle! It is almost a disentanglement puzzle. I look at this and marvel at how Volker's mind must work. It is 9cm in each dimension and the holes are all 4cm across in the middle of each face.The holes in the sides are big enough to hook your fingers in and manipulate the pieces but not big enough to allow a decent grip. You must use gravity as well as your fingers to make the pieces roll over each other to make space for the first one to be pulled out through a hole. It looks incredibly tough and I am worried that I will never manage it but it will be a lot of fun trying.

If you are looking for a Xmas present for you significant other puzzler or even a big hint for your non-puzzling significant other to buy you then you will not be disappointed with these. Also, the last time I looked there were still a few of the designs from the last release available including most of the Flop puzzles from Volker and the lovely Octopus.

I Have a Parasite

And it affected my brain! (no I am not Venom)

Parasitic Burr by Tyler Hudson from Cubic Dissection

I am so delighted to see that the guys at Cubic Dissection are continuing Eric's legacy by producing puzzles that are both interesting and fun to solve (not just incredibly tough or high-level) and also stunningly made. This burr is definitely both of those. The level is just a level 3 to remove the first piece and then it comes apart sequentially and this might make you think that there is not much fun or challenge to it. The pleasure of a puzzle is far more than the number of moves - I have never managed to solve my SuperNova or Tiros burrs and don't actually enjoy trying to solve puzzles like that. The incredibly high number of moves required makes it less than fun. This level 3 puzzle is sent out as an assembly challenge and is just the right difficulty level. It really hurt my tiny brain.

It was available in two different versions (unfortunately sold out now) and I chose the 3 (4) colour version made from Maple, Purpleheart and Jatoba, with Black Limba parasites. Whilst the other version (Jatoba and Ash) was stunning, I figured that since I was so terrible at assembly puzzles, I would need the extra help provided by the colours of the pieces. 

A few burrsets!

Yes, I know that it is "just" a six-piece burr with some extra pieces added but that "just" is unnecessary. The TICs are "just" interlocking cubes but that doesn't make them less of a challenge or less fun. The pieces have been beautifully made with nice chamfering both externally and internally. One of the complaints that many of us had over the years was that Eric would never add internal chamfering to his burrs and this could often make solving them very difficult because the movements sometimes were too difficult to get started due to edge catching. This puzzle has a teeny tiny chamfering internally and this means that the moves are just possible as long as the pieces are lined up. My first aim was to assemble the burr. I have a LOT of burrsets in my collection and to my eternal shame have to admit that I am absolutely terrible at assembling 6-piece burrs (I stand no chance at all with the 18-piece set!) I have known it to take me a whole day to assemble just one burr from some of them. I love them but am rubbish at them.

I fully expected to need to resort to Burrtools for this but I really did give it a try. It actually took me a week of play to assemble a 6-piece burr and then I had to find a way to insert the parasites (as a medic, that sounds very wrong!) The problem for me was that there were several ways to assemble the burr and working out which way to place the extra pieces nearly caused the parasite to eat my brain. I realised that the burr could be created with two different external results for the colouring i.e. chirality and each of those chiral structures could be disassembled in more than one way. That first week of play had assembled the puzzle the wrong way and it took me the best part of another week to realise that there was no space inside for the extra pieces. I am not very good at visualising inside things blind. At the end of that second week of failure, it dawned on me that I could not find an assembly with all 8 parts and there must be another way to put the burr together. Sigh! At least this was making the puzzle very good value for money.

In the third week of play, I finally found another assembly that did not have visible external holes and noticed straight away that there was space inside for the 2 identical tetrominoes to fit inside. And here I got stuck for a VERY long time! I knew where they went but every time I tried to put them inside, I was blocked. There are 4 different assemblies of the burr in this chiral form and 3 of them have space for the parasitic pieces. However, only one of the assemblies is achievable. I discovered this retrospectively this morning using Burrtools to model the puzzle and the different colour scheme variants. In retrospect, I realised that I actually found the correct assembly the first time but could not get it to work.

The interesting thing about this challenge was that I got stuck on the movements because of the parasitic paralysis of my little grey cells. When assembling the correct burr shape there are several assembly methods when not using the tetrominoes. I got completely fixated on one particular assembly/disassembly method and no matter what way I placed the extra pieces, I just could not find my way past that assembly. Finally, on Friday night whilst chatting to Derek, I realised I needed to think outside my brain and maybe try the same assembly but look for a different sequence to achieve it. 

Trust me, the parasites are inside.

It took me over 3 weeks but I finally got there and feel really chuffed to have done it without using BT. Of course, using BT afterwards to complete my analysis was also a lot of fun. It did reinforce to me that I was completely right to buy the coloured version as the non-coloured 6-piece burr has 132 different assemblies with 68 of them having an achievable solution. If I had chosen that one then I would still be trying in several years. 

Thank you to Tyler for a great challenge of just the right difficulty level and thank you to the team at Cubic for continuing Eric's legacy.