A Trio of Pluredro Gorgeousness! It's NOT my fault.
Yes, I know! I'm always blaming someone else be it Oli, Allard or the Puzzle Pusher himself and I stick to my claims - it is NEVER my fault...I am just easily lead astray! When Junichi Yananose (Juno) set up his own online store, I jumped to support him but tended to go towards the Burr side of his production and even made a deliberate decision not to buy the rather lovely boxes that he produces. I have really enjoyed all of those purchases but still kept eyeing the boxes up sneakily hoping that no-one would notice. I wavered a little when Allard reviewed the Diamond case and was so enthusiastic about it. I got to see it in the flesh/wood at an MPP early this year but again shied away in fear that I would be corrupted. It was particularly intriguing to me that Allard had found such a little box so difficult - he spent weeks on it without success and only after the Puzzle machine, Louis Coolen, solved it, did he manage it himself (having asked for a clue or two).
I had seen the announcement of the Ixia Box release and stayed away because firstly, it is a box and I DON'T collect boxes (Blush!) and also because it was a reasonable sum of money - not hugely expensive but enough to make me think first. Then recently at the 32nd Midlands Puzzle Party, I saw several people playing with it. My downfall came about when Wil and Allard began to discuss how complex it was and how enjoyable and clever the mechanism was. My interest was piqued!!! Hence it's Allard's fault! I didn't play at the MPP because I had resolved by the end of the day that it would have to join my collection as a sequential discovery puzzle because this is how Yukari described it on the Pluredro blog (NOT a box of course!) Finally when Allard wrote up his review of the day and mentioned again that after a month he has still not managed to solve it then I was lost! A visit to the Pluredro store and I had one Ixia box in my shopping cart. Now it always feels wrong to buy a single puzzle and make it travel the world all alone so I added a couple of other puzzles to keep it company. This left me with a moderately hefty bill that Mrs S doesn't know the full value of and she shall never find out! Whack! Ouch! Sorry dear, it's for your own good!
The third puzzle added to my cart was the Club case, a follow up to the Diamond case and I am reliably informed by the Box meister himself, Steve Canfield, that Juno is planning on making the complete set of suits (the Heart case is next). I can add Steve to my list of people to blame - he knows that I cannot resist a series (be it novels, notebooks, pens or puzzles). The money changed hands and I tracked the path around the globe until....Parcelfarce held onto it for quite a long time! The customs fees were raised and I waited for notification, the customs fees were re-raised and I waited, the notification was sent out and I waited! Do they not realise that I have little enough hair left to have any more fall out? Eventually, the nicely packed box arrived and I was able to take my group photo above! Then time for the puzzling to begin:
Made from Silver Ash, Bubinga, Queensland Maple, and Jarrah this is an attractive little box and more solid than it looks. It is quite small by puzzle box standards (from my limited experience) at 120 x 45 x 33mm. Juno claims that the trick to it is very new but for me, they are all new. I started with this one and immediately noticed the sliding section and an associated movement. A quick fiddle revealed to me that the exact pattern of movements seemed to not be fixed which was odd. Then I had a little further thought and was able to visualise in my head (which was empty as usual) how this might be working. If a puzzler of Allard's calibre took several weeks then I expected to be stumped for several months. No matter how much movement I performed of the initial pieces, the lid remained firmly shut. It was Friday evening and I had had a very long day at work and began to fall asleep in my chair whilst watching TV with Mrs S. Just as I dozed off I had an epiphany...I could tell how the lid was locked in place (or at least had a good idea) and suddenly had a vision of how I would design an opening mechanism in such a puzzle.
Opened! No clues here....move on!
It took a few more minutes of fiddling and I had an open box and could see Juno's brand on the inside. The mechanism is incredibly simple and yet unbelievably well hidden! I have not seen anything like it before. The Aha! moment was delicious. I am slightly surprised that Allard struggled as long as he did - I solved my copy in about half an hour. I suspect this will accompany me to work so that I can torture some colleagues! There are still 5 left in the store so get one quickly...especially if you want to collect the whole set of suits.
Flushed with success, I went to bed before I began to snore in front of the TV! The following day I picked up the absolutely gorgeous Club case. This is made from Karri, Koto, Burmese Teak, and Zebrano and is a good bit bigger and heavier than the Diamond case (although still not particularly large) with dimensions of 96 x 96 x 45mm. Even Mrs S appreciated the beauty of this one and liked the idea of a series linked to playing cards...Yay! I might have permission for the others! Whack! Ouch! Pretty please? There is a bit of detail visible through the club-shaped hole in the top which gives a hint of what might be required as a general approach. Yukari agreed with this idea of the hint but she was unable to solve it herself.
I love this kind of puzzle and after doing the weekly shop with Mrs S yesterday (to try and earn some brownie points), I sat down with a nice coffee, a delicious Fat Rascal (probably the best scone in the world) and a new puzzle. Boy! This is one very confusing puzzle. There are 3 moving pieces that are all linked together and sometimes are blocked and other times change direction unexpectedly. At times there are so many options that I struggled to develop a mental image of what was going on as I manipulated it. This one was quite a bit tougher for me but after a couple of hours of confusion and investigation, I had my Aha! moment.
No clues here, move on!
Very pleased with myself, I took my photos and set to with the reset! I had absolutely no idea the exact set of moves that was required and it took me another hour before I got back to the start. I was seriously sweating...a solution is provided for the wimps but I was determined not to use it. Mrs S commented that I had probably just solved it by luck (she can be real mean sometimes! Whack! Ouch!) to which I responded that if I could do it repeatedly, it wasn't luck. I am slightly ashamed to say that it took me the rest of the day and about 20 attempts before I could open and close this box every time without getting stuck! This is a gorgeous puzzle and very well implemented. It is not only for puzzle box fans, even us general puzzlers can enjoy it.
Currently, there are 11 of these left in Juno's store and I can heartily recommend picking a copy up. In fact, you should probably do what I did and get these two puzzles at the same time as the sequential discovery Ixia box. Go on you know you want to!
So what next? I happen to have a few more puzzles in transit just now as well as the Ixia box and a big backlog of Burrs, and Aaron's wire (still up for sale on Paradise) and a prototype that arrived yesterday. I also need to clean up my study which looks worse than it has ever been before!
Hi everyone - first of all let me apologise for the lack of a blog post last weekend (that is the first missed weekend post in 4 years). I had to work at the hospital last weekend and had a good junior with me and was planning on making him do all the work whilst I drank coffee and posted this article from the Puzzlemad foreign correspondent. Unfortunately, just as I was beginning to think about finding a computer to work on, a lady came in with a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm and responding to these cannot be be delayed. After nearly 6 hours and a fair bit of blood and a safe delivery to the ICU I was just not up to editing a blog post and so it got skipped. I know that it's a very poor excuse but it's all I have. You'll be pleased to know that the lady is making good progress.
So today I have for you the Puzzlemad foreign correspondent, Mike Desilets' wonderful article on a brand new puzzle from a brand new designer and craftsman. I am hugely grateful to Mike for all the work that he puts in and I know that you all enjoy a having a new and fresh pen to read. He has even interviewed the designer for us which is something never seen on this site before. Here's Mike:
Aloha Kākou puzzlers,
Thanks Kevin, for that kind introduction (I never actually know what he’s going to say in the preamble, but it’s usually very flattering - Ed - I do my best). This edition of Puzzlemad brings you a special report on the recently released No. 808 puzzle from Pyrigan & Company. Never heard of them? Well, I aim to rectify that in this post. Pyrigan and its owner-designer John Partridge should absolutely be on your puzzle radar. John actually has a blog with some great posts of his own which you should check out (Kevin, you must get the Pyrigan blog on the side-bar. Quickly man! (Ed - done!)). But beyond this, he has succeeded in bringing a very special puzzle to the market and it deserves the attention of all serious puzzlers and collectors. I was lucky enough, through a bit of a fluke, to get one right away and I’m very happy I did.
3D printed prototype of the No. 808
A little history first, as we always do. I first became aware of Pyrigan during one of my bouts of internet puzzle searching. One link led to another and somehow I ended up at John’s page. This was back in 2014 or so and the No. 808 was still in the development stage. John had made a 3D print of his design and was still working out some bugs, but with the avowed intention of eventually producing the puzzle in aluminum (most likely, there were some other material options). I thought it looked pretty intriguing and unlike any other puzzle I had seen before. I bookmarked the page and then immediately moved on to other stuff, forgot about the 808, and neglected to ever check back in. As you all know, a tremendous number of puzzles get to the 3D print stage and advance no further. I had no reason to be particularly hopeful for John’s puzzle, nice though it looked in prototype. Little did I know, however, that John would continue to labor away on the No. 808 over the following three years (he does have a real job to maintain, after all). Then on June 28 I received an email that the puzzle was available for sale—in aluminum—on his etsy site! It was a bit of a shocker. I went to the page and sure enough, there was the No. 808 in all its glory. It was a real eye-catcher (Ed - it certainly is). Perfectly proportioned with a great two-tone matte finish. I wanted it immediately. I looked at the not insubstantial price tag, hesitated for about two seconds, and then decided that I still wanted it. The No. 808 will run you $120US. It’s a serious puzzle for serious puzzlers and collectors. But in the realm of precision engineered metal puzzles, this is really not an unreasonable price tag at all. In fact, it’s a bargain. Projects like this require vast amounts of time and energy that can’t realistically be added to the price of the puzzle. They are really a labour of love by puzzlers for their fellow puzzlers.
Nicely engraved
John dropped my No. 808 in the mail and it arrive at my office (Ed - I wish I could have puzzles delivered to my workplace) less than a week later, well wrapped and in perfect order. This puzzle is just as beautiful in person as it is on the Pyrigan website. As you can see in the photos, it consists of two halves joined together with a pair of dovetails to form a solid bar. Solid except for the two holes, that is. One side is matte black and the opposite is a matte silver, both bead blasted and then anodized. Model No. 808 is stamped on one end of the silver side and the Pyrigan logo is very nicely stamped and painted red at the center of the black side. Dimensions are 6.5 inches long, 1.25 inches wide, and 0.75 inches thick (Ed - aaargh! Why can't the US use sensible units?). It feels solid in the hand and is a little under a half pound in weight (Ed - aaargh again!). The two halves are machined from T6061 aluminum with a tolerance of +/- 0.002 inches. When you finally solve this puzzle, you will get to experience the kind of fit and movement such fine tolerances produce.
Silver side with model number.
Black side with red logo, tastefully done.
The No. 808 took me a few days to solve, but that’s partly because I try to spread out the enjoyment of any puzzle costing over a hundred bucks. I really don’t want or need to rush to the solution. It’s better to enjoy the mystery for a while. But of course, after not too long, I DO want to solve the puzzle and get increasingly serious about it. Eventually, after much fiddling, I cracked the No. 808 and was rewarded with a “token” of appreciation from Pyrigan in the form of a red plastic coin/token/medallion with the Pyrigan logo printed in black. I love little touches like that in a puzzle.
Halves apart and token released. Just as pretty in the solved state.
Of course, I can’t tell you anything particular about the mechanism. As usual I’ll try to skirt the edges enough to give you a sense of the puzzle without giving anything away. There is one thing I am permitted to tell you regarding the solution: it does not involve violence to the puzzle. So don’t hit your No. 808. It will only make you feel ashamed. The first thing you should know is that this is pretty much a ‘black box’ puzzle. It does give you some very subtle feedback, but it’s very limited. I know some puzzlers are not particularly enchanted with secret internal mechanism puzzles, feeling that they involve too much random action and, well, luck to solve. I can sympathize with that attitude, but I also feel that you will miss out on a lot of interesting puzzles if you take it too far. It’s just a different kind of solving experience and I’ve come to learn in hindsight (post-solve) that many of these puzzles are susceptible to a higher level of deduction than one would think. The No. 808 makes just a little faint bit of noise when shaken gently. Could it just be the token? Or could it be something else? Although the fit of the two halves is nearly air-tight, there is a miniscule amount of movement. These things can matter. They may not get you to the solution in a straight-line path, or at all, but when you solve the puzzle you’ll wonder why you didn’t read the clues better. I always do (Ed - me too).
I had a great time with the No. 808. There was a great deal of shaking, turning, twisting and that type of thing (I tried it all - Ed - did you blow on it or submerge it in gin? If not then you didn't try it all!) and the puzzle eventually opened. I hadn’t figured it out properly, but with enough fiddling the correct positioning and/or sequence of movements allowed it to open. Inspecting the innards, I felt I should have been able to solve it properly. The mechanism uses a known principle, but in a fresh new implementation. The addition of the dovetail element, with its tricky but ultra-slick movement, adds another layer to the opening and really sets the No. 808 apart. Inspecting the fine engineering and machine work on the inside was a joy unto itself.
Resetting the puzzle requires some additional fiddling, but is otherwise painless. In my correspondence with John, he clued me in on an aspect of the puzzle that is actually pretty important. The No. 808 can be reset in at least three different ways, each of which changes the difficulty level of the puzzle. One way will make the puzzle fairly easy to open, for the experienced puzzler at least. This would be a great setting for certain puzzle-impatient friends or family, assuming you let them play with your good puzzles that is (I don’t!). The other modification simplifies one aspect of the puzzle a little, providing a kind of medium setting. Unfortunately that’s all I can really say. If you buy a Pyrigan No. 808, I’m sure John will divulge the details. But better still, consider finding the alternative settings an additional challenge. Yet more value from the No. 808. (Ed - I NEED one!)
As a first puzzle from a relatively new designer, I think it’s a real triumph. For any serious puzzle collector, this is a must-have item. Doubly so for those who enjoy fine metal puzzles. I’ll admit my bias right now, I enjoy fine metal puzzles greatly. This one has gone straight to the top shelf. Pyrigan have produced exactly 106 of these puzzle for sale. It’s a limited, numbered run. Your number is on the inside, waiting to be discovered.
As far as replay value, the No. 808 has plenty. Even after studying the internals and understanding how the puzzle functions, you will not necessarily be able to reopen it easily. It is a whole new challenge, of a different type, to find a technique that will open it with a minimum of random movements. It still takes me at least a few minutes to open mine, and it’s a two-phase process. The puzzle will open part way with one set of movements, then there is some additional work to achieve full release. I’m getting closer, but I wouldn’t say I have it mastered yet.
Now for the special part of this article. I thought it would be of interest to the readership (and to me) to get some information about the No. 808 straight from the source. This was easy to arrange since John and I had already been emailing about the puzzle. He graciously accepted the interview and the results you can read below. Personally, I find it extremely interesting to hear how non-professional puzzle designers manage to get their puzzles manufactured and out onto the market. I suspect many of you do too. So read on . . .
Mike: This is an obligatory question, but it simply must be asked in every puzzle interview: How and when did you become interested in mechanical puzzles and what are your favorite types?
John: I remember playing with my father's "15" puzzle when I was very young, probably six or seven. I'm talking about the classic sliding number puzzle. It was beautifully made from stainless steel and I felt very pleased with myself for figuring out how to solve it. I also remember my grandmother giving me a 6 piece burr puzzle, another classic, at about the same age. I really enjoyed it too and when I let my parents and grandmother know how much I liked those kinds of puzzles, every birthday and every Christmas brought more. Over the years I've developed an appetite for sliding block puzzles (e.g. "Dad's Puzzle"), ring and string topology puzzles, tavern/wire puzzles (e.g. all the old Puzzletts), Japanese puzzle boxes, etc.
Of course, the puzzle that tops the list is Rubik's Cube. When an ad for Erno Rubik's "Magic Cube" showed up in the back of Games magazine, I jumped on it and I still have my original Hungarian-made cube. That puzzle was just stunning and I still enjoy playing with twisty puzzles. It took me a couple of months to figure out the general solution but it was totally worth it - that was the most satisfying puzzle experience I've ever had (Ed - amen!). These days my favorite type of puzzle is the kind I make, namely high tolerance machined metal puzzles like Wil Strijbos'.
Mike: A relatively small fraction of puzzle enthusiasts decide, at a certain point, to try their hand at designing. What inspired you to take the leap?
John: Honestly, I'm not sure. I had my first idea for a puzzle back in the 1990s and the more I thought about it - driving to work or while falling asleep at night - the more I became convinced it could work. So it wasn't so much a "leap" as a gradually developing conviction that it was doable.
Mike: Not only did you take the leap, you leapt directly into the most rarified puzzle class, precision-engineered metal. Do you have some background skills or training that made this seem less intimidating?
John: Thanks for the kind words! I chose machined metal because the mechanisms I come up with are sensitive to misalignment. I don't think they'd work well, maybe not at all, if I tried to make them out of wood or had them cast. No, I don't have any professional skills or training, just a hobbyist's interest in mechanisms and machines. I've been tinkering with stuff since I was a kid. I was into electronics and built Heathkits for a while; I was also into tuning and fixing my bike and later into tuning and fixing my car. I took a machine shop course one semester and learned how to work a Bridgeport milling machine. That gave me a rough understanding of what kinds of things it was possible to make and an appreciation for mechanical engineers and machinists.
Mike: How would you describe your creative process for the No. 808? Flash of inspiration? Long evolutionary development? Trial and error? Little of each?
John: Part of the inspiration for #808 came from the "impossible dovetail" puzzles that Norman Sandfield and others have made. I really liked the way they looked and decided I wanted to try my hand at it. Model #808 is actually the third puzzle design I've come up with but I made it first because I thought it would be the easiest of the three to have a machine shop make. I'm pretty sure I was wrong about that!
Never trust a dovetail.
Once I had the idea for the mechanism, I looked for a CAD (Computer Aided Design) tool that I could use to model it and soon discovered OpenSCAD which was open-source and easy for me to learn. I generated some .STL files to give to a local 3D print shop, found that the prototype worked beautifully, decided the solution was too easy, added some complexity, and then spent three years refining the design and finding a machine shop to make what I needed. I guess that's a "little of each".
Mike: Moving from concept to prototype to final product undoubtedly involves a lot of refinement. Where would you say the most fundamental changes to the original concept were made and at what point did it become just fine-tuning?
John: The most fundamental change occurred after my first functional prototype where I decided the puzzle was just too easy. So the puzzle sold today – which is Revision 15 – is functionally the same as Revision 2. I can't talk about the more important changes made in Revisions 3 through 15 without giving the solution away but I would say the biggest jump was going from Revision 1 to Revision 2.
Mike: Did the design need to change significantly due to manufacturing constraints?
John: No, not significantly. What changed the design the most was usability issues. I'm not giving the solution away when I say that there are parts inside the puzzle and in the early designs those parts were likely to fall out when you solved the puzzle – which is not what a puzzler wants at his moment of triumph! So I had to solve that. A bigger challenge was to come up with a way to keep the major pieces correctly aligned. I went through at least a half dozen different ideas trying to get that solved.
Mike: From your blog, I understand the entire process to produce No. 808 took 3 years. If you knew at the start what you know now, how long do you think it would take to produce the puzzle?
John: Oh golly, probably six months. I lost a lot of time not knowing how to pick a good machine shop and ended up wasting twelve to eighteen months going back and forth with a machine shop who just wasn't making progress. The other big thing I learned is how important it is for a professional mechanical engineer to create design drawings for the machinist at the machine shop to read. I'm just a hobbyist with no training on how to correctly and rigorously compute tolerances – they call it "GD&T" for Geometric Dimensioning and Tolerancing. I wish I had known three years ago how important it is!
Mike: On a personal note, at what point did you pull all your hair out and consider dropping the project?
John: I got pretty discouraged when months were going by with no progress from my machine shop. But the solution was simple enough: switch to a different machine shop.
Mike: On an even more personal note, are you married and if so did the No. 808 project cause your partner to consider smothering you in your sleep?
John: Fortunately, quite the opposite! My wife has zero interest in puzzles (Ed - sob, mine too) and although she finds my interest in solving and making them incomprehensible, she totally supports creativity in whatever strange form it may take. I'm a very lucky man 9 (Ed - yes you really are)!
Mike: I know you’ve also produced some classic geometric dissection puzzles in acrylic. Do you plan to explore other materials in the future or will you continue to focus on metal to capitalize on what you’ve learned?
John: For 2D puzzles, acrylic is great: it's inexpensive, looks great, and pretty easy to fabricate with. For 3D puzzles, I think aluminum is the best choice. It's no more expensive than plastics you might want to machine (e.g. delrin), it gives you lots of finishing options (e.g. bead-blasting, anodizing), and all machine shops are equipped to machine it. I think I'll be sticking with it for a while. I have a half dozen or so design ideas that I'd like to have made and all of them would work great in aluminum. Actually, I'd really like to make one in stainless steel but steel is much more expensive.
Mike: Based on your experience with the No. 808, what are two pieces of advice you would give to aspiring puzzle designers (especially those who still need to keep their day job)?
John: Well, because of cheap/free software and cheap 3D printing it's never been easier. Learn a CAD tool like OpenSCAD, Fusion 360, or Onshape – those are all free for hobbyists. Get a 3D printer for prototyping or find a local 3D print service (if you have kids, a lot of high schools have 3D printers). And then get into the Test-and-Revise cycle; iterate as frequently as time, money, and interest allow.
Mike: What can we expect next from Pyrigan? Can you give any hints on the mysterious No. 360?
John: I've got some designs coming that I'm very excited about but I have to be disciplined about how much money I spend on what is, after all, just a hobby. I can't afford to start on Model No. 360 until I've sold most of the 808s but I think the mechanism is really clever, if I say so myself. Maybe I'll do a Kickstarter or something.
An early No. 808 prototype plus some upcoming Pyrigan designs: Model No. 518 (multi-colored cube), Model No. 921 (circular), and Model No. 360 (rectangular with red logo).
Mike: And finally, I must ask, don’t you think Kevin Sadler is an all-around stellar chap for letting us do this on his blog? (Ed - aw shucks! Where do I send the cheque?)
John: Indeed he is! I tried my hand at reviewing puzzles on my Pyrigan blog and the result is pretty disappointing - I'm not very good at it, I have to admit. Kevin's blog does the job properly! (Ed - now I'm really blushing!)
Thanks again John, for that interview. You’re a great sport and I’m sure I speak for the entire readership when I say we will be keeping Pyrigan on the radar. But no pressure!
Readership, I need to mention that John was much too modest about his blog posting. His posts are excellent, informative, and much more to the point than the long-winded stuff I generate (Puzzlemad pays me by the word (Ed - OMG! Do I?)). I suggest you check it out. The link should be on the Puzzlemad sidebar by now. John also gave what looks to have been a fascinating presentation on modeling curvature at the 2016 Celebration of Mind in Massachusetts. Check out the powerpoint here. Really cool stuff. When you visit the Pyrigan blog you will also get hints on other Pyrigan puzzles in the works like Nos. 360, 518, and 921. Which reminds me, I forgot to ask John where he gets these numbers.
I will just conclude by repeating that the Pyrigan No. 808 puzzle is a real winner. It is of unbelievably high quality for a first puzzle, or for any puzzle for that matter. I recommend you treat yourself and pick one up. Back to you Kevin....
Wow!!! What a fantastic blog post! Thank you so much Mike and also John for contributing your time as well as your skills. I will be looking to buy one of these after the financial hit of IPP has wained a little.
This post will be a bit shorter than normal - I've had a central heating engineer here most of the day as our heating packed in. This means that I'm starting late. I was contacted by Kelly Snache (aka Kel Snake) a few weeks ago. He was touting his wares and knew how much I loved beautiful wood. He was right and I immediately collapsed and sent some PayPal. It is even nicer in real life than the photos show. It is also really quite large - at 13x22.5x12.8cm. Mrs S was immediately horrified: "where is it going to go?" I actually don't have a proper answer to that just now as a major reorganisation to create space is required for all my latest puzzles (most of the ones from this year).
I resolved that this puzzle was allowed because it was really a sequential discovery puzzle with a cavity but many of my puzzle friends seem to be unconvinced.
Hi guys, I've had a rather busy weekend at the end of a week of annual leave. My week has been full of household chores (leaving me rather stiff and sore) and then finished off with a special Midlands Puzzle Party in the home town of Dr Simon Nightingale, who has received more IPP design competition trophies than anyone else in history. We had a great time and lots of recent IPP puzzles were shown off and even a magic show was delivered. This has left me with very little time for a blog post so I am delighted that the Mike Desilets, the PuzzleMad roving reporter, has stepped up to the mark and delivered a public service announcement for you.
Aloha Kākou gentle readers,
It’s a rather sad occasion for me as I find myself the bearer of less-than-happy news about a new puzzle that has just hit the market. I actually had some other work underway for Puzzlemad, but a catastrophic puzzling experience this past week has stimulated me to produce this rush job of an article. I’ve rushed it to press because I suspect that there are folks out there with a finger hovering over the “buy” button for this particular puzzle and I wanted to get this information out quickly to facilitate informed decision making. Informed spending, I should say.
Euro Falle 05 - a Siebenstein Spiele production.
The puzzle of which I speak is the very recently released Euro Falle 05, the fourth in a series that seems to have started, oddly, at 02. You can find my review of the earlier Euro Falles here and here if you are new to the blog. With some slight reservations, I have been a fan of the series and was happy to have purchased and played with them. My misgivings were due largely to construction problems. I experienced more of these issues subsequent to the blog reviews, but did not see fit to make an issue of it. However, having plunked down yet more good money for the new Euro Falle 05 and given it a play, I feel I will now have to terminate my relationship with them, effective immediately (Ed - very strong stuff!). Unfortunately, I cannot divulge the exact nature of the deficiency without completely spoiling the puzzle. What I can say is that in the course of two solves of Euro Falle 05 (solved correctly, as designed, I assure you) the puzzle has become completely unusable. As you may know, damaged goods always find their way to me for some reason. I have come to terms with that fact and learned to take it in stride. However, I believe the issue with this puzzle is no fluke. I don’t think I simply got the bad one in the lot. The problem seems to be directly related to the engineering and construction of the puzzle. I could be wrong (I sure hope I am), but I think this is going to be the norm with this puzzle, and I want you to be aware of, at the very least, the potential to have completely wasted your money. Well, I guess you will get to play with it at least once, so not a complete waste, but nearly so.
That’s really the most I can say about it on the front page of Puzzlemad. However, if you already have this puzzle and have solved it (I saw a shot of it on Allard’s blog, amidst his IPP haul, so I assume there are quite a few out there already), or if you don’t intend to buy it anyway, or you do but you don’t care about the solving experience, then click the spoiler button below. Behind that button I show the innards and explain the nature of the problem in excruciating detail, as well as discuss repair options. Again, this will be a complete spoiler, so think it over before you click. Along those same lines, I may spoil other puzzles for you behind that magic button if I feel the need to make comparison with other puzzles and mechanisms. That section is really meant for the serious collector, designer, and/or puzzler who doesn’t mind an unbarred discussion. You’ve been warned!
One other piece of information I think puzzlers should know regarding Euro Falle 05 is that the solution is the same as for another very recently released, and very attractive, puzzle from Siebenstein Spiele. Exactly the same. If you are like me, you don’t really need to have two similar forms of the same puzzle. Or at least when you do, you make the decision consciously, due to some aesthetic or collectability factor. Personally, I was more than a bit disappointed when I discovered these two were functionally the same. And then, to add insult to injury, one of them self-destructed! Know, however, that the ‘other’ puzzle, although having the exact same mechanism, has functioned just fine so far and I am very pleased with it in all respects.
If you have had a different experience with Euro Falle 05, please do register your opinion in the comments below. If for some reason I received the only bad one in the batch, it would be good for everyone to know that and downgrade my dire warnings accordingly. If you are the adventurous type and just have to experience it for yourself, Euro Falle 05 is now up on the shelf at Puzzle-shop.de and, of course, Puzzlemaster.
Well, I am very sorry to write such a bummer of a post. Kevin works hard to keep Puzzlemad upbeat and positive. That’s pretty easy to do with the top-notch (burr pun) puzzles he reviews. But this, too, is part of the puzzling experience. Sometimes stuff doesn’t work the way it’s supposed to. I’m just thankful I have a place to vent about it (Ed - I welcome all types of review and whilst I do try to keep positive, sometimes it is necessary to provide real world experience that may not be as we would wish). But I promise you that my next contribution will be wildly positive (Ed - thank Gawd for that!). In fact, let me say one positive thing right now: the Euro Falle 05, conceptually, is a great puzzle. That’s small comfort if it doesn’t work more than once. But the fact remains, it’s a great idea and it really stumped me for quite a while (I actually solved the ‘other’ puzzle first, so that was where the stumping occurred, but as mentioned, same solution). It is quite tricky and fun, and therefore all the more tragic to write about. There I go again. Ok, I think Kevin should take over from here.... Ed - I guess that is my cue to put one of those javascript hide and reveal buttons just about now....
If you clicked the button, you now find yourself here reading a post-mortem page. Congratulations! If you didn’t mean to click, then for God’s sake avert your eyes. At this point it bears repeating that although Kevin grants me the honor of contributing to Puzzlemad, he is in no way responsible for this particular content other than editing out the foul language (Ed - I have plenty of foul language of my own - I was born in the East End of London!). It’s all on me, baby.
Euro Falle 05 solved and showing it's innards - a very neat idea!
Let’s keep this quick and clinical. The Euro Falle 05 is conceptually brilliant in that it relies, at least to some degree, on a puzzler’s knowledge of the construction and functioning of the prior Euro Falle puzzles. All previous Euro Falle were constructed using fully screwed-down layers of laser-cut wood. The screws were not part of any trick or solution, rather they were perfectly functional in holding the puzzle together. Euro Falle 05 presents the same construction - apparently. But in reality, the screw heads on the front and back are not connected. The structure is actually two separate halves held together at the center with very strong neodymium magnets. To free your 20 cent coin, you simply need to pull hard in opposite directions, perpendicular to the plane of the puzzle (or nearly so, more on that below). If you pull hard enough, the halves separate and your coin falls out. At this point you realize that the one cent coin on the back side was a complete decoy, again playing on expectations from the earlier Euro Falle. Excellent!!
The two halves, showing magnet arrangement. A lot of power for a lttle puzzle
The problem with the puzzle is that, apparently, the magnets that hold the halves together are simply too strong. They are so strong that the adhesives and the (non-existent) surface tension of their holes cannot keep them in place. The magnets would much rather remain with each other than remain part of the puzzle. Upon my first opening of the puzzle, one magnet detached from its spot. I stuck it back in, rejoined the halves, and opened it again. Now I had four detached magnets and one other partially out. In staging the photos for this post, all of the rest came out. Furthermore, one of the back-side false screw heads fell out. These back-side false screws are simply glued in. The front-side screws are actually bound pin-to-screw, thankfully, and quite secure. But the back ones seem to have only a tenuous hold.
Magnets everywhere... except where they should be!
The puzzle doesn't work well in this state.
A screw loose, to say the least!
Analysis: The magnets may simply be too strong for the puzzle. They are very strong indeed. When you don’t have the leverage of the puzzle, and they are just stuck to each other, they are almost impossible to separate. It is clear that glue was used in each hole and its glossy, perfectly smooth surface is clearly visible. If you’ve ever tried to glue two very smooth surfaces, of different materials, you know that the hold will probably be bad. I’ve never had much luck with it. So I think it was a mistake to depend so much on the glue itself. Of course, it does need to be glued, but that alone is insufficient. What is equally or more important is the grip provided by the side-walls of the holes. Good purchase can always be had with a nice tight fit. The fit should ideally be such that you need to tap the item in firmly with a little hammer. They should just barely squeeze into the hole, pressing hard against the wood. Alas, not so with my Euro Falle 05. The holes are, in my opinion, significantly over-bored. The magnets fit loosely in the holes and there is no tension whatsoever holding them to the puzzle. The glue bears all the burden. A good tight fit, with glue, might have held these magnets in. I say might because they are just so darn strong.
I forgot to mention one important aspect of the solution earlier. There are three pairs of magnets holding the puzzle together. Two paired circular magnets and one other pair consisting of a circular magnet and a small, slightly weaker square magnet. All are spaced equidistant around the perimeter. Because of that one slightly weaker magnet, you theoretically should be able to separate the haves with more of a peeling action, opening a gap at the weak corner. I think that’s how it was supposed to function (Ed - how would anyone know which corner to begin peeling in?). But even the smaller magnet is pretty darn strong. The difference between the strong pairs and the weak pair is not really sufficient to make the trick work. Great idea, but as with all other critical elements of the puzzle, poorly engineered. So to sum up the puzzle: great concept, poorly executed. Expecting a dab of glue to hold a metal pin in a significantly larger diameter wooden hole seems particularly egregious. It does not seem that there was much effort expended in field testing these puzzles, if any. It’s hard to believe these issues wouldn’t present themselves pretty quickly.
Repair Options
Very few I'm afraid. The holes are overbored and there is no changing that. I don’t believe they make these magnets in millimeter increments, so it’s unlikely that there is a slightly bigger magnet that one could tap in snuggly. The only option I see is to work the adhesive angle. I think Gorilla glue may provide an option. As I’ve recently learned, Gorilla glue expands as it cures. If one were to carefully apply it in the right quantity, it might bind up and hold the magnet in place. This is risky though, because this glue expands a lot, something like four times its original volume. No Gorilla glue should be put at the base of the hole because there is no room for expansion. The magnet will be forced upward and break the plane of the puzzle surface. This would be fatal since the magnet needs to be flush for the puzzle to close tightly and seamlessly. Application around the sides may work. Any excess will ooze out the top, but can then be cut away. For the screw, same basic deal. I don’t see any other option but heavy duty adhesive. Another option, aside from Gorilla glue, might be some form of epoxy. This would avoid the expansion problem. Far from ideal situation either way, and I’m therefore going to wait a little while to stew on it before I do anything. All suggestions welcome.
Final Comments
In the final analysis, even if all the magnets were secured properly, I still feel this puzzle is a little overpowered. It takes quite an effort to pull this thing apart. So much so that it borders on the puzzler’s bane, “use of force.” (Ed - IT IS VERBOTEN!!) A lot of people will not even be able to get it apart probably. Arthritics need not apply, nor children. I suppose they are not the target audience, but you get my point. The required effort is such that even if you had the genius to guess the solution, it would be perfectly reasonable to conclude you were wrong after moderate effort didn’t open it. It’s a fine line, of course. It has to be tight enough to be secure and not fluked, but I think this puzzle should yield just a tad sooner than it does. That’s just my opinion based on the two times I opened it.
The issue of overpowered magnets has come up in the past. Other good examples are found in one or two of Mr. Strijbos’ puzzles which I think most folks agree have a tad too strong embedded magnets - forgive me Wil, and please don’t take me off your mailing list! That issue, however, is easily fixed (if there is interest, I can explain how in a later post). Euro Falle 05 might not be repairable by the average puzzler. It will certainly be hard to do so without making a mess of things. I nearly ruined my Euro Falle 02 trying to get its magnets back where they belonged. Yes, that’s right, this problem is not restricted to the Euro Falle 05. One of the magnets is currently detached from my Euro Falle 04, for example. I was able to repair the 02 with the aforementioned Gorilla glue and the 04 luckily remains functional as-is. But this fatal flaw is potentially present, to one degree or another, in all puzzles of the series. I now dread playing with any of them.
It's not all bad....
But let’s end this post on a high note! Puzzle Box 001, also brand new from Siebenstein Spiele, is absolutely fantastic! It is quite a beautiful puzzle and functions perfectly. I very highly recommend Puzzle Box 001. It shows the heights that Siebenstein Spiele can reach when they are on their game.
Ed - Thank you Mike for such a detailed exposition about the failings of a very popular puzzle in a great series. I personally do not own any of these puzzles and am very grateful for the warning. It has been said that I very seldom, if ever, post a bad review and this may make you feel that I am in the pocket of the designers and producers. Maybe I have been very lucky or maybe I just choose well but I have very rarely had a problem with any of my purchases. I do tend to not review something if it is less than good but if there is a systematic problem then I will not shy away from informing people of it.
If any other puzzlers feel the urge to post a review as a PuzzleMad roving reporter (good or bad) then please feel free to drop me a line via my Contact page. If English is not your first language then that's not a problem - I edit everything (even Mike's wonderful prose.
Not just any box! It's the Stickman Edelweiss Puzzlebox
It's not a box! It's a packing puzzle!
The decision on the winners of the 2015 IPP design competition should have been decided by now so I can safely publish my review of my latest toy!
At this time of the year certain select people on the Stickman mailing list will receive an email informing them of the availability of a new puzzle box. The number made has increased recently but it is still a pretty limited edition run. I have been lucky enough to be on the receiving end of the list for a few years. I reviewed the Pirate’s wallet chest last year and reviewed it here. I had heard rumours of a collaboration between the Stickman (Robert Yarger) and the incredible William Waite this year and was very excited to receive an email again a few weeks ago. It was in my inbox when I woke up in the morning and before I had even eaten my breakfast some PayPal electronic money was sent! It's such a shame that PayPal money ends up being real money!
Now you all know by now that I don’t collect boxes (I have been threatened with a lot more Whack! Ouch! occasions if I do begin collecting boxes) so I can hear you all screaming at me how can you possibly justify these? Not only is it a box but it is a pretty expensive box! My excuse is that I CAN buy a box if there is some other puzzling aspect to it. Last year’s puzzle was a sequential discovery puzzle and this year it is a 2D packing puzzle (hence the connection with William who specialises in this sort of puzzle). Therefore I CAN justify it. Plus of course, I can justify it because IT’S A STICKMAN! So the Stickman Edelweiss Puzzlebox #28 was purchased and on it’s way across the pond to me.
Perpetual Hinge
remains unsolved
My friend Shane got his copy first and immediately set to work and sent me tales of woe at how difficult it was and how much he was struggling to solve it. That didn't surprise me - I have a Perpetual hinge which I have owned for 3 or 4 years and have yet to solve it. Stickman does describe it as "Difficult" which gives me a small excuse. I refuse to look at the solution so that might stay closed for a few more years yet!
The customs officials held my Edelweiss puzzlebox hostage for a few days and extracted their ransom before it finally arrive chez moi. The first thing I did was admire the fantastic woodwork and finish. Mine appears to be made from Walnut and Maple with a very nice laser cut laminated wood on the top and bottom forming a pattern. It is hexagonal in shape and layered too. The diameter is 12 cm edge to edge and it is 7.5cm high. There are different pieces on the top and bottom. The bottom revealed that mine was limited edition number 73 out of 100.
Bottom of the Edelweiss Puzzlebox/packing puzzle
The instructions say there are:
“2 secret compartments which become accessible only after fitting the pieces into the tray to produce either a flower or a snowflake.
Flower and snowflake solutions vary somewhat in difficulty, but both are extremely challenging. As an aid to solving this puzzle a simpler 3-section puzzle is also included on the reverse side, and its solution will provide the correct position of all pieces.”
I was not sure that I understood the instructions but I sort of realised it was a tray packing puzzle (which I am rubbish at) but like Shane I threw caution to the wind and removed all the pieces from the top. I decided I was not going to use the clues on the 3 pieces below for help and set to trying to put it back together. At this point I gained a little idea of the internal mechanism - the pieces sort of “snap” into place in the tray and also when you put them all in a heap they link together. Yep! There are magnets inside these beautifully made pieces. They must interact with something under the lid to release a locking mechanism (although for the life of me, I could not envisage how that might work).
Lot's of pieces - different colours and some even etched
Like Shane, I struggled to get the pieces back into anything resembling a flower or snowflake - I am so bad at this sort of thing that it took me 3 days to make anything that would fit in the tray. Having finally made a shape that would fit, with great glee I tugged on the tray in the opening direction and……. it was still locked! Hmmm! Now I was really stumped. I tried different orientations and it didn't work. I then decided that there must be another way these pieces went together so I took them all off and tried again - another day went by and I couldn't find an alternate assembly! Oh the pain!! Now I was buggered!
So I eventually decided to try to solve it using the simpler 3 piece puzzle and put them in place in LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of different directions and orientations and NOPE! Still locked! I'm not good at combinatorics but I think there are 72 different ways to put the 3 pieces in the tray and I really struggled to keep track of what I had tried. I gave up in disgust! What next? I was stumped but still determined not to look at the instructions. I was discussing my failure with Derek last Friday evening and was pleased to hear that he had the same problems as me. He made a little suggestion which I’m not sure he really meant but something inside my tiny mind clicked and I tried something new. Suddenly the first compartment was open and I was able to see the locking mechanism. Very clever and actually a very simple locking mechanism but really not an easy thing to fathom or solve intuitively. I took a quick pic and emailed Shane who was rather stunned that I had managed it (not as stunned as me). Having done one side, I put it down to eat dinner with Mrs S - I couldn't risk another Whack! Ouch!
Try balancing puzzle pieces
on that!
After eating and cleaning up, with thoughts whirring in my head I sat down in the living room to watch some TV and continue puzzling in the pleasant company of Mrs S and a cat or 2. It is unbelievably difficult to solve a tray puzzle with a cat on your lap but I was determined to finish it.
After a bit of thought and some fiddling I was delighted to have the second compartment open and a second mechanism was revealed. I idly wondered why there was any need for a second mechanism at all - it is not like Rob to put anything unnecessary into one of his masterpieces. I sat and examined all the pieces I had in my lap and thought for a while. I then had an incredibly amazed moment of understanding - 2 mechanisms are required for a very unusual reason. And I cannot tell you that reason without giving too much away but needless to say, I was amazed that he had carried such a thing off - in Yiddish it would be described as Chutzpah! When any of you who own this puzzle open yours, you will realise what I mean and maybe one day I can reveal why.
Opened both compartments - NO hints given in this picture!
Robert and William have this entered into the IPP design competition and hence my delayed publication of this review. By the time you read this (and when I have woken up on Monday morning) the world will know whether they have won. I think it does stand a good chance - it has the right combination of beauty, craftsmanship, cleverness and also simplicity! I love it and am very grateful to have had the opportunity to solve and own it. I think this will live outside my study with other spectacular puzzles!
I've been trying to keep my blog posting to just one a week so as not to overload you all. But today I received a nice little packet from Allard after his return from the IPP in Japan. It would appear that he had a great time and his exchange puzzle was well received. I know I am eagerly awaiting his and Rox's reviews of the exchange puzzles? This packet contained 2 wonderful goodies: Jerry's Ball in Cylinder II and Allard's own Magic suitcase puzzles.
A few days before the IPP was held, I received an email from Jerry Loo informing me that he had version 2 of his ball in cylinder finished and would appreciate my opinion of it. To save on postage across the world he proposed giving it to Allard who he would be meeting at the IPP so Allard could bring it back in his luggage. After a short humorous exchange about luggage allowance during which it would appear that either he had paid for many Kg of extra weight or, more likely, he had forgone any change of clothing and just taken empty suitcases! Can anyone report on how Allard smelled after several days of puzzling?
Yes, on March 13th 2011 Puzzlemad was born! It does seem longer than that! It feels like I've been writing about this stuff forever.
I have had a hell of a journey over the last 2 years. I started puzzling nearly a year before I began blogging and in that short period of time I have managed to accumulate over 570 puzzles, solve most of them (there is a moderate queue waiting to be solved) and make a huge number of friends from all over the world. I even get to meet a few of them fairly regularly at our Midlands puzzle parties - all welcome!
The topic today is not a review of a particular puzzle but a list of my top 5ish puzzles of all time from my collection. Believe me, this is a really hard set to choose and any designers and craftsmen out there who might be miffed because I didn't include you, don't be! My top 20 or 30 puzzles all came out pretty close to each other.
It may not seem like it from the title, but this is a review of the latest creation to come out of the brilliant twisted mind of Wil Strijbos (aka the Puzzle pusher). This one, which I'm sure you all are aware of, is The Lotus puzzle. It has already been reviewed by 2 of my fellow bloggers so far (Allard and Jerry) but there does seem to be a general clamour for more about it, so here you go.
"Why the silly title of the blog post?" I can hear you scream at your computer. There is a reason for it which I'll come to later!
At the last MPP held in the UK I got to have a very brief look at the prototype of this puzzle. At that time, it was non-anodised but still beautiful. It was handed out to see what we could do with it. I only had a few minutes and got nowhere at all but was intrigued enough to say to Wil that I would definitely want one when they were ready for production. So just before Christmas when Wil's email newsletter came out offering it and a few other goodies for sale I jumped at the chance. It was not cheap - it was €90! But I have to say, for me, I think it was worth it! This puzzle habit is ruining my finances! If you are not yet on Wil's email list and you have fragile finances then stay away!!
I am truly terrible at opening the aluminium puzzles from Wil Strijbos! It took me weeks to open the cylinders. I spent 2 months on the Opening bat from Mr Puzzle. Maybe I shouldn't have bought the Alcyl designed by Iwahiro because on arrival it was almost open and I quickly just tightened it shut and now cannot open it at all! Absolutely no movement whatsoever!!!
In my desperation! Look what I did:
Vertical view
Horizontal view
The problem? Even with these Xrays, I still can't open the damn thing!! Maybe I need to stop puzzling!!!
I really do apologise for the delay since my last blog post! Work seems to get in the way of the more important things in life like puzzles sometimes. I will try my hardest not to let it happen again. This time I am going to review the Cast Nutcase from the Hanayama puzzle company. This one came from Puzzle Master where it is a very reasonable $17. It was designed by the amazing Oskar van Deventer.
It comes well packaged in the usual Hanayama black box - It is a rather nice galvanised bolt with two nuts on it. So why is it called a nut case? Because if you shake it you can hear it rattle and when you look for the source of the noise you can see that there is a cavity in this puzzle containing a small nut! The puzzle is 5cm tall and 3.4cm in diameter - it looks and feels really quite substantial. It has been reviewed before by my fellow puzzle bloggers - Neil, Brian and Jerry.
Puzzle Master have rated it as 10 out of 10 (Mind Boggling) in difficulty and this matches Hanayama's own rating of 6 out of 6. I have to say that I think the comprehension of this puzzle is much easier than that (maybe 8 out of 10) but the execution is considerably tougher. The fact that the other reviewers have stated that they completed this one in an hour or less does mean that this is not as tough as some of the other top level puzzles which may have taken many hours to solve. As with all the Hanayama puzzles - no solution is provided. If you find you want one then it can be downloaded from Puzzle Master here.
