Pelikan Puzzling Continued

Cabinet - a Pelikan design

Yes, it's time to continue the reviews of the upcoming Pelikan release. I have been playing all week and have just finished them this morning. 

Cabinet

Every now and then Jakub releases a Pelikan in-house design. They are usually boxes with clever mechanisms and you really won't be disappointed by this. At yesterday's MPP, one of the topics of comnsversation that I had was about the Karakuri puzzle boxes and how beautiful they are with simple(ish) short but very elegant solutions. I lamented that I didn't dare get into Karakuri collecting as it would be the death of my marriage and my bank balance but I agreed with the elegance and simplicity. I have to say that the Cabinet puzzle by the Pelikan team is worthy of this same admiration.

It is beautifully made - and wonderfully tactile. There are 2 drawers and one knob. As it arrives, there is a good bit of rattling from inside. The challenge is to open the drawers of the cabinet and find the gold bars and the jewel inside (plus an extra treat). Nothing moves at all at first but it won't take very many of you long to get the first drawer open to find a treat inside. After that a little exploration will reveal the first of the prizes. Aha! Real care and attention in every part. At this point you have what looks like it can be used as a tool...you will have done it countless times before on other puzzles and been able to manipulate the mechanism. I tried this repeatedly and had no luck. I began to think that maybe the mechanism was stuck. I tried variants of my manipulation many many times with alterations in the orientation of the puzzle and got absolutely nowhere. I tried this again and again and again. Nope! Nuffink! I then had another thought and tried that but still no luck. I tried for a whole week. Eventually, I contacted Ivan Danik to ask for a hint. He didn't say much but did manage to tell me that my original thought which I had been trying for a whole week had been wrong. Grrrr! I am not very bright. Having abandoned that completely I had a little feel about and had a wonderful Aha! moment. I had actually used the correct move but needed to do it properly. After another try my treasure was all available. 

The Cabinet is just like a Karakuri - it is beautifully made with perfect tolerances and a simple but very elegant mechanism. All of you collectors out there will need this.

Teapot

Teapot by Lucie Pauwels

Another tray packing puzzle by the incredible Lucie Pauwels! There is no limit to Lucie's skills! I reviewed an interlocking puzzle coming from her and Pelikan last week which was fascinating and here she turns her hand to a rather lovely and clever tray puzzle. This is very ingenious and a good bit harder than it looks. What goes in a teapot ? Tea of course! What goes in tea? Sugar lumps! Here we have a pot and 8 different varieties of tea (T) made from Pink Oak to be placed inside the pot. Two other variants will be on sale: Wenge/Maple and Purpleheart/Ash. There are 4 single voxel holes left after all the teas are inside and these can be filled by sugar made from Maple. Normally you'd put your sugar in your cup but here it gets added to the pot.

This is a deceptive puzzle - it really doesn't look that tough but the lengths of the stems of the T's make it difficult to pack the cavity efficiently leaving only small few gaps. I worked for a long time (hours) to find the solution and it was very gratifying to eventually manage it. I dare say it can be solved by brute force but the best approach is to experiment with how the T crosses and stems can interact with each other and then plan what you need to do to keep the gaps to a minimum. There is only one solution to this and it might take you quite some time to find it. Perfect for all levels of puzzler.

Olympic Rings

Olympic Rings by Lucie Pauwels

Yes, another tray packing puzzle by Lucie. This follows a totally different premise than the Teapot puzzle. Instead of having to fill a cavity with shapes that get in each other's way, the aim is to fill a pathway with relatively simple pieces but a very limited length to the paths. The complexity and the logic comes from the constraint formed by the intersection of the paths. This one has pieces made from Pink Oak but it will also be available in Merbau.

I started placing the larger pieces in the lengths of the paths and then trying to fill the smaller gaps that were left after that.This seemed like a really good idea but it did not lead me even close to a solution. My next approach was to take the  3 more complex pieces and place those at the path intersections and then work from there. This definitely improved the situation but did not get me all the way. I ended up resorting to Burrtools and just peeking at the position of those complex pieces. Once I had them placed properly, I was able to progress quite logically with the rest of the puzzle. If I had not been time constrained then I might have managed this without cheating. It is a very challenging but logical puzzle which should only need a little trial and error. It is very attractive when complete and looks great on display.

Fatino

Fatino by Dr Volker Latussek

Another masterpiece from the master of the packing puzzle! Dr Latussek has been challenging us with restricted entry packing puzzles for years now and every time a new one is released, I think that he cannot have found something new but he has. This one has been beautifully made with a Mahogany box and Wenge pieces.

This time it looks like the puzzle should be possible without rotations because the limited entry hole is still a whole number of voxels in each dimension. BUT don't let that fool you. The pieces are all pentominoes and hence quite long. Any of them that have to go sideways perpendicular to the hole will need rotating into place once inside or tilting slightly through the gap. The hole to be filled is a 4x4x2 space and we have a total of 30 leaving 2 gaps to be hidden somewhere inside. This is going to be fun and VERY difficult!

Volker said this about the development of the puzzle:

In the past, I’ve combined some of the 12 flat pentacubes with other polycubes to design packing problems. In addition to the well-known pieces of the SOMA CUBE, I’ve also used spatial pentacubes - which are described by a 3x2x2 envelope - in a rather unobtrusive way. There are 15 different shapes of these, based on a rather casual remark by George Miller I’ll call them Fats. The Fats possess a harmony that is indescribable to me when they are combined. I will present my special discoveries to you at Pelikan. 

I’ll start with FATINO, six Fats in the box so familiar to me with a centered slit opening. In fact, I already had this CASINO-like box and, with FATINO, the name of the puzzle for the first time before I began finding the six matching Fats that describe a unique solution. The Fats are really bulky, as if they didn’t want to fit into the box. Ultimately, however, six of them took pity on me and gave me a truly beautiful solution. I really hope you enjoy the game of the Fats so much that you look forward to the discoveries to come.

I had to use Burrtools to find me some assemblies and then experiment with them to try and get one of them inside the box. Even using BT this way, isn't a panacea as each shape that is found (there are 6 of them) will have 8 possible orientations to try and of course, then you will need to see whether the disassembly is possible through the slot in the top of the box. Once I found a possible assembly it was a lovely dexterity and sliding problem to get the solution.

Damn! That is tough!

This is a stupendously good challenge. It is definitely possible by normal human beings (many of you might need BT to systematically find the possible assemblies and try them) but after that the puzzling is wonderful.

Yasya-Flop

Yasya-Flop by Dr Volker Latussek

Another puzzle in the "Flop" series is one that is not to be missed. There have been quite a few so far and this one is by far the most difficult. Jakub and team have made this from a wonderful Saman wood (aka Monkeypod) and Purpleheart. It arrives with all but one of the pieces packed in the box and took me quite a bit of fiddling to actually remove the pieces. This bodes for a very difficult solution to get all of them back inside.

The box has a 3x3x3 cavity and a 1½ voxel wide slot in the top through which all the pieces of a standard Soma cube need to be placed. I have mentioned many times that I am terrible at assembly puzzles. My appreciation of this occurred many years ago when I bought my first Soma cube. So here, I need to find one particular assembly of the Soma cube and then work out which orientation to try and then how to get the damn thing into a box through a small hole using rotational moves! Does this sound like fun to you? Yes, it does to me too.

Volker wrote this about it:

Fritz Pingl (FRITZ-FLOP) and Dick Fosbury (DICK-FLOP) are the namesakes of my FLOP SERIES. The rotation of individual pieces in these unique packing puzzles is reminiscent of their high jump techniques.

While I was recently playing with my STEFKA-FLOP, named after Stefka Kostadinova, I unexpectedly found a new solution. This is, of course, terrible, since every FLOP is supposed to have exactly one solution. But this new solution is so beautiful - not least because, just like with the FRITZ-FLOP, the opening can be compressed to exactly half of one of the square sides - that I don’t want to keep this experience from you. A production by Pelikan was a must. 

While searching for a suitable name, I learned that Stefka Kostadinova’s long-standing world record in the high jump from 1987 was surpassed in 2024 by Yaroslava Mahuchikh with a jump of 2.10 meters. So I dedicate my YASYA-FLOP to this exceptional Ukrainian athlete, who is affectionately called Yasya by her friends.  While solving the YASYA-FLOP won’t let you set a new world record, I hope you understand why this solution has remained undiscovered until now.

There is an immediate way to cut down the possible assemblies as the final pieces to be placed have to be able to drop straight in through the opening as there will be no room for rotations at that stage. This helps considerably but if I was you, I'd have a BT set of Soma solutions available to search through.

Not for the faint-hearted!

In the end, due to time constraints, I had to get the solution from Pelikan to give me the intended assembly and orientation and then work out how to get it inside the box. The movements are very complex and require considerable dexterity as well as judicious use of gravity to place pieces. Make sure that you know what you have done as taking the pieces out will be almost impossible. This is an amazing challenge but definitely only for the most expert of puzzlers.

Less is More

Less is more by Dr Volker Latussek

This gorgeous puzzle from Volker has been beautifully made from Wenge and American Cherry. It is stunning to look at and beautifully made. I thought that it had been sent out in the solved position but reviewing the instructions revealed that there is much more to this puzzle than meets the eye. Yes, it is a tray packing puzzle with a 7x7 tray and there are quite a few assemblies in the tray.

Having taken the pieces out for the photo, I found even packing them back in the tray very difficult. Finding the one that left me that nice square gap was almost impossible for me. But, for all of you who want something more interesting than a simple square tray packer, there is a LOT more to do - this is also an anti-slide puzzle. In fact, it is a multi level anti-slide puzzle. This will keep you challenged for a VERY long time.

Volker said this about it:

Nine pentominoes in a square grid (7x7). So what. The idea behind this particular anti-slide puzzle - simple in concept - kept me occupied for several years, and its implementation proved too challenging for me. I had to seek advice from Andreas Roever and Peter Müller, an algebra professor at my university in Würzburg. In the end, Peter Müller calculated the solution sequences. Unfortunately, my knowledge of Fortran wasn’t sufficient. But now, after an initial prototype with 6 pentominoes instead of nine for the Nob-Yoshigahara Design Competition 2025, Pelikan can release a small series for enthusiasts of such puzzles, and I’ve met a mathematics professor whom I can now call Peter. Peter, thank you so much for your great support, which allowed LESS IS MORE to come to life. 

LESS IS MORE contains various challenges, but in particular sequences of stable arrangements: Pack the nine pentominoes into the frame so that they do not slide. Remove one piece - the remaining eight pieces still cannot slide. Repeat this step until there are only three pieces left that cannot slide. 

When I play LESS IS MORE today, I am still amazed by the interplay of the pentominoes in the sequence from nine to three pieces, which still surprises me with its length.

Another goal of LESS IS MORE: Select three or more pieces so that they do not slip, and no further piece can be added without slipping, and no piece can be removed without the remaining pieces slipping.

I preferred to do the puzzle in the reverse order to the suggested one by Volker. Take 3 pieces and create an anti-slide placement with them (that isn't terribly difficult to do). Then add another piece from the unpaved ones and just add it to the shape already made in such a way that the new shape also cannot slide (this took me a little while). You will probably need to experiment with a whole bunch of 3-piece placements before you find one that works when adding a fourth piece. It was quite gratifying to find a four piece anti-slide assembly. Next, try to add another piece in and still have it not slide. keep doing this until all 9 pieces are placed. This will be a huge challenge! I am not entirely sure that a human can achieve this. I did manage to create a 5 piece non-sliding assembly but that is as far as I got. The computer programmers amongst you might manage to create a program to do this. If anyone is actually able to do it all without computer assistance then I would love for you to tell me.

If you manage the primary puzzle then there is a secondary challenge: Find 3 pieces to create an anti-slide assembly but in such a way that it is not possible to add any more pieces that are anti-slide. This is not terribly tough but having done that, do it again with 4 pieces - none of the 4 can slide but it's impossible to add a 5th piece that doesn't slide. Keep doing this up to 9. So many challenges in one beautiful tray puzzle.

All of these are amazing puzzles! They should hopefully be going on sale later this week. My picks from them are Cabinet (who can resist a Pelikan design puzzle and this has a very ingenious mechanism), Swan cube (it's just beautiful logic) and Fantino for the elegance. But you cannot go wrong with any of them. 

Ze Next Ones From Pelikan Are Just As Much Fun

Diasafe by Lucie Pauwels

Last week I reviewed the amazing Minima-Ze series about to be released by Pelikan and saved the others for this week (yes, I didn't have time or ability to solve them all in a single week). I managed to get to the remaining wonderful puzzles this week and even solved some of them.

Starting with the rather unusual looking Diasafe by Lucie Pauwels, I couldn't work out whether it was a maze puzzle or a packing puzzle and eventually settled on the latter. We have a rather attractive set of Wenge pieces each of which has a rather colourful jewel on the top and a box made of Pink Oak which has an S-shaped path in the top surface. Clearly the aim is to fit the pieces in one layer inside the box via the 3 voxel opening in one side. The interior of the box forms a 7x7 square and the jewels are expected to protrude into the path. 

I started by just forming squares with the pieces and quickly realised that my usual approach with packing puzzles of starting outside the box was not going to work. I found rather a lot of square assemblies very quickly and a quick play with Burrtools revealed that there are 2004 possible squares. Time to make squares in the box using the pathway in the top and you will quickly realise that there is quite a lot of thought going to be required. I started randomly and found that it is possible to place many of the pieces somewhere inside quite easily but the larger ones are either very rapidly blocked from moving along the path and two of the shapes cannot physically be placed with out rotating them at some point whilst in the box. This forces the perplexed puzzler to think about the order of placement. These pieces that need rotation need space to do so. Maybe they need to be placed early before the pathways gets too blocked up?

I got stuck after 2 days of trying and was forced to go to BT to at least look at possible final square assemblies which ended having the jewels protruding into the pathway. Interestingly, there are only 3 possible ways to create a square with the jewels still in the S-shaped track. Of these 3 assemblies, just one can be physically completed. It is very clever and a fun puzzle to think about. This is perfect for advanced puzzlers and beginners alike.

Shrine

Shrine by Lucie Pauwels

Shrine shows off the breadth of Lucie's skills. Not only does she design amazing packing puzzles but she also can design very clever interlocking puzzles. The Shrine has been made from a vibrantly gorgeous Bubinga and an Acacia block which needs to be held securely inside the assembly. There are 6 pieces which are 1x3x7 voxels in size and each has a 1x3 voxel slot in it. They all have ½x1 voxel protuberances and cutouts at various points in them. Counting them reveals that there are just enough to have all holes filled. The end result shape is not terribly obvious and I thought that this might be a significant difficulty in the solution of the puzzle but in reality this is a really clever sequential assembly challenge. Finding which pieces cane interlock with each other shows that there are not many possible assemblies to try and it is just a matter of thought© to assemble one piece into another and progressively build up a pleasing shape. After a few have been put together the addition of a 4th or 5th (depending on which you start with) becomes impossible. Having met an impossible to finish position several times, it occurred to me that I might need to make two assemblies that fit together rather than each one after another. Once I had realised this, then the assembly is a fun exploration of which pieces fit together in which order. Another beauty by Pelikan which is suitable for all puzzlers.

I have put the final assembly behind a spoiler button:

This doesn't really tell you how to assemble it

Thyor

Thyor by Dr Volker Latussek

This rather stunning creation made from Wenge, Padauk and Maple by Dr Latussek is called Thyor. Was this something to do with the God of thunder? I was rather mystified at the name until I received an explanatory email from him with an explanation. This puzzle is a tribute to one of the original German puzzle manufacturers: THYOR is short for "Thirty Years Of Rombol". Volker wrote this:

"The Kröger family runs a small game publishing company in Paderborn, Germany. My friend Bernhard - whom I still addressed as Mr. Schweitzer back then - recommended my SOMA PACK for publication there. It was my first mechanical puzzle to go into series production at Rombol.

Recently, after the relaunch of rombol.de, I read that the Kröger family had already begun publishing designer puzzles in small series as early as 1996. With the company’s 30th anniversary this year and the handover to the next generation in the family, I also wanted to personally express my gratitude for the great collaboration. Since the Kröger family now also distributes Pelikan puzzles here in Germany, I asked Pelikan to publish my puzzle THYOR: Th-irty Y-ears O-f R-ombol.

For THYOR, I experimented with 1.5x1x1.5 instead of the usual 1x1x1 voxel. As always, even changing just one parameter opens a whole new world. In THYOR, I break down a 1.5x1x52.5 rod into 18 sections for the 6 pieces that need to be packed into the box. I’m very confident that the solution will be unique even after you’ve played THYOR; at least, some of my fellow metagrobologists have confirmed this."

Volker always defines a specific setup position for the transport of his puzzles and this alone can be a huge challenge. I removed just one piece for the initial photo and stopped there. The other pieces did not seem to want to come out terribly easily. I backed off for a while as I did not want lots of pieces lying around with me unable to put them back into the box again. 

When I did come to trying to solve this one, I was not disappointed! I managed to remove 3 of the 6 pieces without too much trouble but the remaining 3 just would not come out of the box. The lip of the box stopped them from just dropping out and it became clear that rotations were going to be needed just to get access to the pieces. I'm slightly ashamed to admit that it took me a good 30 minutes just to get access to the pieces and begin trying the full assembly.

This challenge is very different to most of Volker's previous puzzles. It does not require rotations to achieve the main aim (the rotations are only needed to get the pieces out). This one can be solved by Burrtools and creating the BT file after you have solved it will add to your fun. It's not an easy one to create (at least for me) - at one point it was going to take 860 millennia to find the solution! Maybe that will give you an idea of how tough this challenge is?

The Secret Of Two Friends

The Secret of Two Friends by Pelikan

This stunning Puzzlebox is a new design by the Pelikan team. It has been beautifully made from a rather dark oak and a metal lock, keys, hinges and decorations. The aim is to open the chest and see what is rattling around inside. 

The lock can be opened using one of the keys and the chest will still not open. Something odd is going on inside. There is no movement where you think it should be. Time to investigate further and something interesting shows up quite quickly. There is then a need to use what you have in creative ways. I did have to let the Pelikan team know that one piece is too fragile and they have assured me that they are aware and will be fixing that.

I have only found the first small part of the mechanism and have failed so far to complete the task. I have tried using all the pieces I have in ever more creative ways but cannot seem to unlock the chest. I do know how it should open but I seem to be missing a step in the solution. This is definitely a lovely puzzle for anyone's collection and as a rare Pelikan design it is worth getting hold of.

Is It Safe In Your Hands?

Safe from Pelikan Puzzles

This new sequential discovery puzzle box is due to be released by the amazing Pelikan team this coming Friday. It will be limited to a small release of 64 copies so you will need to be quite quick.

Instructions and a certificate

It is a stunning creation made from various woods - it looks like Acacia and Walnut at least. There are also metal components and magnets. It must contain something valuable because it is quite large and quite heavy. Dimensions are 11 x 11 x 15.3cm (4.3 x 4.3 x 6") and weighing 985g (2 lb 3oz) making it very tactile to play with. 

The story is that this safe belonged to George Thomas, a wealthy factory owner, and many robbers have attempted to get into it to steal the huge treasure that is inside. Your task is to get into it and retrieve the haul for yourself. It does not need any shaking, spinning or banging.

There is a door on the front held by an ornate hinge and a dial on the front for the combination. The dial clicks as you turn it to get to the combination. Apart from this, nothing else seems to move at all. The hinge is not a fake hinge and doesn't come apart. There are some interesting brass pins on the side of the puzzle as well. It did occur to me that the feet might be useful but they don't come off to reveal an alternative locking mechanism:

Those feet look like a possible tool or entry?

Small coin
NOT the treasure though

Once you have finished exploring what you have and getting nowhere then you need to think© about alternative approaches. I had my first Aha! moment after about 15 minutes - there is no hint from the outside that what I tried would work but I couldn't think of anything else to do. I was in the safe and found my first small prize - a small coin. Was this a hint at vast treasure still inside? There was clearly more to do. Maybe more coins further in?

I got stumped for a little while at this point. The temptation to shake it and spin it was there but I was a good boy and decided to use my tiny brain on it. The next few mechanisms were beautifully created and a delight to discover. I had my treasure after an hour or so!

Or did I?????

This is a wonderful creation designed by Jakub and brought to life by the Pelikan team. You won't be disappointed in this one. I suspect they will sell out very quickly - make sure you are ready on Friday 5th September.

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I blame Allard! Look what he made me do:

I got by a big customs fee but it should be worth it!

More Mathematical Beauty

Which Teaches Me To Count From Zero

Fibonacci Box from Jesse Born

Under surface is stunning too

Way back in 2018, I bought my first box from Jesse Born, the Pi Box which was reviewed here with huge pleasure. You all know that I "don't collect boxes" but if there is something else about a puzzle box that draws my attention then I bend my rule just a little bit - with the Pi Box, it was the connection to mathematics that did it for me. I have always loved mathematics (especially the abstruse pure mathematics) and have collected lots of recreational maths books and even attended the Open University for quite a few years to study maths before the job got so busy that I couldn't keep it going. So the mathematical connection of the Pi Box forced me to make a purchase - I was delighted and called it "possibly the most beautiful puzzle in the world". To be honest, having watched the incredible puzzles being made by Jesse, it took quite a lot of willpower to keep to my collection down to just the one box. However, I was ever mindful that I really cannot afford a divorce and Mrs S would not want hordes of bank balance busting boxes being brought to the door, I stayed with just the one.... until the Fibonacci Box was announced and I placed an order almost straight away. I hope that none of you blame me for buying another box? It again has a strong mathematical connection. It did take a very long time for Jesse to make them and it wasn't until March 2024 that it arrived. Complete with a certificate of authenticity - I am fairly certain that fake ones are not going to be possible!

To my shame, I took my photos and admired the manufacturing skill. It is another simply stunning creation to rival the Pi Box for beauty. It is made from Holly, Katalox, Cherry, Poplar, Brass, Richlite. I attempted to open it straight away and for some reason, I could never work it out. You all know the reason - I am not terribly bright! The description by Jesse claims that it should be easy but I was being dopey and not getting anywhere. I put it down on my desk after a week or so and it has been sitting in my study on the desk amongst an ever increasing pile of puzzles and was forgotten about until Mrs S forced a minor tidy and it was seen again. I spent another week or so before it was put down.

More recently, I did some more tidying and saw it again. I went back to the Pi Box and had a Think©.

Two of the most beautiful puzzles in my collection

One thing I noticed when I opened the Pi Box again, was the way I started counting and I had not been doing that with the Fibonacci Box. The important thing to realise is that mathematicians (and computer scientists) begin counting at zero! I should have realised that this might be important because the Fibonacci series starts at zero:

0   1   1   2   3   5   8.....

Looking tat the number of leaves/petals on the top of the box, I would not need to go that far along the Fibonacci series. Having worked it out and performed the series and unlocked the box and backtracked immediately. I then hit a snag. I had back-tracked and should have a locked box but it was still open. Very odd. Then I could not perform the sequence to re-open it. The last move wouldn't work. It was time to contact Jesse and receive some very nice support  via WhatsApp complete with a video of what he thought was happening. A quick click of the interior locking mechanism and I had it. Phew! Now I was able to open and close it at will.

Amazing work of art in the locking mechanism!

It was finally possible to have my two mathematical boxes open side by side:

Amazing mechanisms and beautiful workmanship

I would absolutely love to buy more puzzles from Jesse but fear for my life prevents it. Maybe I will get to try some more at an MPP in the future. It is not as if I have too few puzzles to play with. What I have is far too little time and not very much brain power to solve them!

I have made barely any progress on the Twins box:

Strijbos boxes

Smacking Moles Is Fun But...

After A While I Had To Use Some Pliers!

Smack-N Moles by Stickman

In 2023, Chinny collaborated with Robert Yarger to make a fabulous exchange puzzle, the "Smack-N Moles" puzzle box. Chinny gave it away to about 100 people in IPP40 at which I was not present. Luckily for a whole bunch of us who couldn't make it, there were more available direct from Stickman's website and I eagerly jumped at the chance to buy. My copy arrived in October of 2023 and has been in my second (or maybe third or fourth 😱) pile of puzzles to be solved. This time, my pile in the conservatory at the back of the house. I tend to sit there in the mornings at weekends and when off work and play with puzzles in the south-facing warmth. Sometimes I fall asleep, sometimes I play...I seldom seem to solve anything! The Smack-N Moles has been in that pile, played with weekly for about 18 months! I was beginning to get desperate. I felt a little bad for my failure but, in my defence, remember that I really seldom do puzzle boxes and don't really have a repertoire of the types of moves that they often need. Also in my defence, I note that Allard received his at the IPP in August and the write up was only published in December. Now, Allard is a huge Stickman aficionado with one of the few complete collections in the world and I am absolutely certain that despite receiving a lot of puzzles at the exchange, he will have made a beeline straight for this one and if it took him a few months then I can feel OK about taking 18 months!

This is a nice diminutive little box at 3.5x3x2.5" in size and my copy is made from Walnut. The aim is to open the box and release the moles. These cute little critters are engraved on the top of some Maple dowels that appear to be locking the sliding lid. Poking at a mole makes one or more of the others pop up when that one sinks down. You are given a tethered hammer to Smack/whack the moles but I doubt very many people are going to solve it by using the hammer that way. The hammer is tied onto the box by a loop of wire that is the perfect length to prevent the hammer being removed. Initially all you can do is poke at the moles and see whether there is a sequence of presses that will allow all the moles to be sunk below the surface of the lid.

I am slightly ashamed to say that I pushed and poked and even grabbed and pulled at the various moles for quite a long time trying to work out the sequence to release the lid. When I say a long time, I mean months! BLUSH! Remember that I am not terribly bright - it says so all over this website, so it must be true. At some point, I can't remember when, I managed to find a tool to be used but absolutely nowhere to use it so I carried on poking at moles and achieving nothing. I grew desperate - it's really quite frustrating to have a tool and nowhere to put it! I ended up shaking the box gently which also did nothing until I shook it in the right direction.Suddenly something happened and I was able to notice another "feature". After playing with said "feature" for a few minutes, I managed to manipulate it to get me a hole. At last! I had somewhere to put my tool. Now, now, keep your minds out of the gutter (especially you, Steve). I stuck my tool in the hole and wiggled it about and even rotated it for a while. Nothing happened, but it was very satisfying. Eventually, sticking your tool in a hole and swivelling it starts to get boring when there is no response - maybe it is my technique?

Here I stayed for over a year! On almost a weekly basis for a very long time I played with my tool to no good effect. I was getting to the point of maybe asking Shane for a clue when I had one of those rare thoughts© - maybe I should try this thing...   Nope, that didn't work and I stopped trying for another few months. 

Last week after continuing to think© I reached the conclusion that I had tried everything possible and something was stuck. I decided it was time for the big guns. Well actually a medium pair of pliers. Yes, I know, no external tools allowed but I had come to the conclusion that the next part of the mechanism was stuck solid on my copy and I had nothing much to lose. Needless to say, When you use brute force and pliers, things tend to loosen. Once my heart rate had settled a little, I found that I had a new tool and also a new set of things to try. Exploring with this tool revealed something very interesting and a possible way to make the two tools I now had interact with each other.

After a few moves something interesting was happening to all the moles and before long I had my wonderful long-awaited Aha! moment! Such a relief.

Moles are free and the box is open

I was now free to look at the mechanism properly and it is really quite clever. It really isms terribly difficult but the movement of the moles is designed to make you think all the wrong things and lead you in the wrong direction. 

The reassembly is significantly fiddly but knowing how it works means that a bit of perseverance is required. I then had a look at the piece that needed pliers and realised that some lacquer had gotten onto it and effectively fused it in place. There was absolutely no way that I was ever going to shift that without using my tool. This means that you can stop berating me! 

I can finally put another puzzle away and this will join my small, but well-loved, Stickman collection. I have missed out on the subsequent releases but I am ever-hopeful that Robert will let me buy another one sometime. 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻

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A little underwhelming?

Finally, with a little encouragement (but no real clues from Goetz) I can finally say that I have completed the Ages sequential discovery burr having found the compartment that contains the piece of Lightning Ridge opal. The opening of that compartment requires construction of a very clever tool and using it to manipulate the cover in a counter-intuitive way. It is classic Brian! Thank you my friend. I can finally put it away after so many years!

In the right light the pearlescent opal colours do shine

Perseverance Pays Off...

Finally!

The Snowman Puzzlebox by Kyle Chester-Marsden
Someone has stolen the poor snowman's nose

I hadn't managed to attend many MPP's last year and also don't really have time to lurk in the Discord and hence missed out on a few of the beautifully made puzzles from Kyle and from what I have heard, I have really missed something special. In mid November he put out a little announcement on the Mechanical Puzzle Community Facebook page that he was making some more of the Snowman boxes available again as potential Xmas presents. He had made these as presents for Xmas 2023 but as usual, I had not seen them and missed out. They had been reviewed back in February by Steve and looked fabulous. This time around I saw them announced and contacted him immediately! Phew! For once, I had not let it get by me. The handy thing was that he had one available at the last MPP of the year and I picked up a nice brown box and sneaked it into the house. "She who must be feared" saw it amongst all the other acquisitions on my return and, luckily, it didn't register when I told her that was going to be her present to me at Xmas. 

We don't tend to do Xmas presents much because, by and large, we each buy whatever we want throughout the year and it seems pointless to buy something just because of the time of year. I know "she" will be buying clothing etc and "she" knows that toys will be arriving. We just try not to complain about it too much unless the clutter escapes into the shared areas.

Nice box with magnetic closure

Beautifully packaged

I hid the brown card box box in my study and totally forgot about it! I'm an eejit! I blame work mostly because I ended up in the operating theatre through most of the holiday period and just didn't seem to have much time. Finally just in time for New Years Day, I remembered it and unpacked. Marvelling at the packaging, I was delighted  to see something just beautiful inside. We have a small box with a disfigured Snowman on top. The top and bottom plates of the box are made from vibrant Padauk and the main body along with snowman, made from what looks like Maple. When turning it upside down there is an interesting clicking noise.

Time to explore and I quickly found that the snowman could swivel on his box but only a fraction of a turn before stopping dead. It could return but that was all that was possible. Examining it from all angles showed me that things moved inside and sometimes they allowed the snowman to turn further or turn back further... and sometimes turning it didn't allow any turning. Hmmm!

Why would the extra rotation be allowed sometimes but not other time? Time to think© and listen. After a little while I made a crucial discovery and I could rotate at will in any direction that I wished. At least I could do that for a few turns until I couldn't any more. It seemed to be very tight and I didn't want to use force. Time to search for something else. I looked and looked and looked, and...found nothing. I was stuck!

This being stuck seems to be something that happens to me a lot. Mrs S says it's because I'm an eejit and rubbish at puzzles. She is starting to insist that I shouldn't ever get any more. Sob! I thunk for 10 days until it occurred to me to have a proper close look at the puzzle using a magnifier app on my phone. At this point I had an idea and tried to implement it. I was so certain that I was right that I put the puzzle in a room with a dehumidifier and after 24 hours my suspicion was confirmed. The puzzle seemed to be rather tight and loosened slightly with the dehumidifier. This then allowed me to carry out the next movement and with a bit of a squeak, I was able to see the rather clever mechanism inside. There was no nose to be seen but part of the mechanism dropped out and looked like something that had an additional function. A few minutes later, after nearly 2 weeks of trying, the snowman and his nose were reunited:

Even Mrs S thought this was delightful!

Thank you Kyle, I love it. It's a clever mechanism with a nice added extra step. My only excuse for how long it took me was being busy and the humidity in the UK just now made it really quite tight. This will look lovely on display.

If you get a chance to try it or buy it then you will not be disappointed. Unfortunately, I missed out on the Reluctant Drawer from Kyle which won accolades at the End of Year Puzzle Party as well as in the Mechanical Puzzle Discord. Hopefully I'll get to play at an MPP in the future.

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Last week, when I mentioned Juno's incredible Tornado burr, I showed off (one of my) trays of shame:

A LOT of unsolved puzzles here

After another 24 hours of playing with the Tornado burr, I finally did manage to reassemble it and even did it again a second time. It's a bit fiddly but certainly very approachable for a lot of you geniuses out there. Don't be put off by the "burr" in the name. It's really not a burr in the traditional sense - I would recategorise it as an interlocking puzzle. Juno still has a few for sale here if you are interested.

The white bag at the back of the tray pictured above has been there for 18 months! I bought the incredible Euroka 10x3 puzzle from Juno in Feb 2023 and put it on display on a windowsill for nearly six months when a moment of madness made me disassemble it. I thought I could do it piecemeal and take sequential photos which would help with the reassembly. I wrote about it here. 

Lovely on display

Unfortunately the puzzle doesn't really come apart sequentially. I took it apart from the top and removed 3 layers before my Aha! moment collapsed in a heap on me leading me to the epithet below:

You Stupid Boy!

Over the subsequent 18 months I have repeatedly attempted reassembly only to be surrounded by pieces, a very high blood pressure and a new-found reliance on swear words. I have access to an unlisted video from Juno showing the assembly as well as the picture on his info page about it. Multiple attempts have failed and after last week's success with the Tornado burr, I was determined to assemble the bloody thing.

held by rubber band

This time I had a new advantage! I had a rubber band! These wondrous items have never been allowed in our house due to the fascination that our cats have had with them. They adored chewing them and once broken would swallow them. It all sounds perfectly reasonable and slightly funny until 24 hours later they reemerge from the cat at the opposite end. Picture the cat zooming all around the house with an itchy bum and a rather hideous springy brown kebab emerging from his back end. Then add to this wonderful image add a picture of me chasing him around with a piece of kitchen paper to try and catch and extract said kebab and rubber band. Whilst this seems funny to most blokes, it is not funny to Mrs S and as a result rubber bands are VERBOTEN! 

Our last cat unfortunately left us last year and I felt brave enough to keep a band or two in my study for emergency puzzling situations. This was just such a situation and I put said rubber band to good use. I managed to assemble the bottom 5 pieces and placed the band around them. I then built up the next 2 layers on top and it suddenly became stable. After this, I just had to work out how to place subsequent middle layers and finally, after several hours of attempts, I got them all to engage with a click. 

Hooray!

I'm not taking that apart again!

Mrs S was actually impressed when I showed her that it was finally assembled and threatened for a moment to take it apart for me. I snatched it away! I now think I could do it again but not for a while!

My other tray of shame has been removed from the living room! The weight of it has marked the carpet and I am told in no uncertain terms that I must redistribute them so that there is less weight on the tray. Some of these puzzles have been there for several years, unsolved but with a vague hope that I might one day mange them:

Marks on the carpet? Whack! Ouch!

Some fabulous and difficult puzzles here

In particular the Popplock T13 remains unsolved as well as Brian Young's Ages sequential discovery burr (not even found the first hidden move! Sigh! I must try harder!