Happy New Year! My top ten(ish) puzzles of 2024

Happy New Year to you all! I have no idea what happened to 2024. Actually I have a vague idea that I worked my way through it with not enough breaks for enjoying what I love. I only managed to get to 2 of the MPP's of the year which is a bad sign that I am working a lot of weekends. New Year resolution to work less!

Welcome to my customary end of year post looking back at my puzzling highs of 2024. As always, thinking about it was triggered by Peter Hajek's request for the top 3 acquisitions of the year. Peter wants to know the best arrivals in the collection and I always write about my best puzzles solved which makes it a little harder to come up with a good list. I have had a pretty good year of puzzle purchasing much to the disgust of the current wife, but it has felt like a bad year for me in terms of puzzle solving. Having looked back through my year of posts, there have been some absolutely amazing creations. 

Nowhere near solving!

Smack-n-Moles by Stickman - this has been sitting in my conservatory next to me for over a year now and I picked it up regularly throughout 2024 and got absolutely nowhere. I have made a few discoveries but nothing is useful. It remains in my naughty pile and is not getting put away until done!

The coloured plastic version of the Crazy double circle cube was refought towards the end of 2023 when the black version began to have issues with the inner circles catching on me. I duly scrambled this version and whilst it has worked flawlessly, I don't seem to be able to solve it. I get really close to the end game and then lose it - sigh! Another one I will keep going on.

Vertigo from Dee Dixon - it looks and smells lovely! It remains in my kitchen (much to the disgust, yet again, of Mrs S) and to my eternal shame, I have not even managed to find the first move. The top inner disk spins freely and that is it - Aargh!

Blinded, also by Dee Dixon. Another one in my kitchen and if this continues then I am going to get a Whack! Ouch! very soon.

Box of Celts - this won quite a lot of votes at the last EPP and I was very lucky to manage to get one early in 2024. I haven't even found the first step yet.  OMG! I am so bad at puzzles!

I missed out on Juno's tour de force (the Hippo) but at the beginning of the year I did manage to acquire this gorgeous puzzle, the Dual Meanders Box. There are a lot of moves possible with so many maze plates that can move as well as the centre of the walls. I seem to make progress in two possible directions but always seem to hit a dead end no matter what I try. This has been shelved for a while due to frustration.

The Fibonacci box from Jesse Born. Having collected and solved the Pi box, I had to have the next in that series - it is simply gorgeous and has a very complex mechanism with some serious brass inside. I have managed to make things slide but absolutely nothing seems to lead anywhere and I cannot find any connection to the Fibonacci number series. 

Of course, let us not forget that Shane has been quiescent for a while (note that I did not say quiet because Shane is NEVER quiet!) He produced, in collaboration with the Two Brass Monkeys, the Who Dares Wins lock. I am not very good at locks but this one is kicking my butt - yet another puzzle I haven't even found the first move for. I can see something that I'd like to try to do but I don't have anything to do it with - sigh!   

Finally managed to solve with a good bit of assistance

Orbit by Dee Dixon. This took over a year to solve and was only possible with a decent hint at the last MPP. Maybe there is something about Dee's puzzles? There is a massive challenge to them and I just cannot seem to solve them easily. Very good value for money!

Almost made it

There have been so many great puzzles that I had to relegate a few - this doesn't mean that they aren't good - they still deserve a mention and here's a few almost there puzzles:

Mibinity designed by Michel van Ipenburg and beautifully created by Jack Krijnen is a delightful and unusual manifestation of the N-ary puzzle group. It's a lovely little delight, not too hard and fun to fiddle with and, of course, beautifully made. It has reminded me that Stephan Baumegger has created a whole bunch of new N-ary puzzles that I haven't bought yet due to funding constraints. Sigh!

Every year I buy a whole bunch of disentanglement puzzles from Aaron Wang and most of them bamboozle me for the whole year before I give up. This year, Aaron helped produce some wonderful wire only puzzles which had just the right difficulty level and some wonderful Aha! moments. I have not yet managed the string puzzles but I'm hopeful!

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Finally...On with my top ten(ish) puzzles solved in 2024:

Every top ten needs to start at least at 11 because I cannot count! So here we go.

11) Incredible Packers

Over the last few years I have been delighted by some truly wonderful packing puzzles with something very special about them. It may be the wood or it may be the odd technique needed to solve them. In either case they all share a fantastic delightful Aha! moment. Here's a few that I had to mention:

Persistence of Memory by Alexander Magyarics
Made by Brain Menold

Nested Soma by Dr Volker Latussek with Lucie Pauwels
Made by Pelikan

Also from Mine-san:

Perfect entrance

3L x2

Sukiyaki by Frederic Boucher
Made by Pelikan

10) 234 Puzzle Cube

When Mike Toulouzas designs and makes something you know that it is going to be very special and a perfect challenge. This came out of the blue as a gift at the beginning of 2024 and delighted me with it's sheer beauty as well as a challenge that is just tough enough to make me feel foolish and yet smile at the same time. Thank you Mike!

9) Chained Key

Luke Waier had a really good idea

Lots and lots of people have gushed about this beautifully crafted puzzle this year and, as usual, I was late to the party. I quickly saw why so many people loved it - there are lots of steps and each one needs some careful logic and thought©. I have had to put it further down the list because one part of mine had a step that had been overtightened and I could not progress until I received reassurance at the MPP and then had to use an external tool to loosen that bit before continuing.

8) Minima Puzzles - so so many of them!

Frederic Boucher had an idea - he created a 2x2x3 box with holes in various places and odd pieces to fit inside. Sometimes it needs odd rotations, and sometimes there need to be odd holes to allow these rotations. It is soooo good that he made quite a lot of them. I haven't gotten around to solving them all yet but I am working my way through them. 

Minima Tower by Frederic

Recently Minima Smiley

Minima Domino by Frederic

Minima Texas

Minima Ludique

Minima Twig

I think the world thinks it was a good idea based on great reviews from others and the fact that so many other people jumped on this bandwagon to produce their own variants.

The great Laszlo Molnar designed some

Lucie Pauwels couldn't resist it

Even Dr Latussek added something special

7) Vertigo Puzzlebox

Yes, I actually solved a Vertigo puzzle (just not one from Dee Dixon

This is the second of the puzzle boxes made from Lego that I have from Quizbrix. Every time I see a Lego box, I am sceptical but every time I am amazed at the incredible complexity and fun mechanisms that can be fitted into an amazingly small volume. I adored this one and it is still available here.

6) Oleg's Wardrobe

Oleg's Wardrobe by Dee Dixon

I have this here because it is a fabulous puzzle and beautifully made by Dee Dixon. The mechanism was incredible and really fun to solve. It isn't higher up the list because I just cannot seem to reset it at all. I will need to take it to an MPP next time and see if anyone can do it for me!

Whilst I am thinking about Dee's creations, I have to include the Uplift puzzle here. I received it in 2023 and spent months and months spinning the damn thing around. I then finally made progress this year and solved it with a wonderful Aha! moment and a silly grin at the end!

Uplift

5) Twister Box

When Pelikan produce a box it's a "must have"

Jakub and Jaroslav appear more than once in my top ten(ish) of 2024 because they produce some gorgeous puzzles and work with some of the best designers in the world! However, when they produce one of their own designs, everyone should sit up and take notice. Also when they produce a box, it will be something special. Their craftsmanship is second to none and their ideas are amazing! This box made me laugh out loud! I solved it by accident as most people will but the understanding of the mechanism is the fun part - then you can do it easily every single time! Brilliant!

4) Free Me 9

Joe produces an amazing challenge

When Joe Turner sends out an email about yet another of his brilliant Free Me puzzles, the puzzling world really pays attention! I said yes as soon as the email arrived and was not disappointed. The aim wasn't just to free one coin but 3 with a whole series of mechanisms. It really took me some time and needed a little hint.

Three coins this time!

3) Picolock

Boaz Feldman does it yet again!

This amazing puzzle lock by Boaz Feldman won a huge number of accolades at last year's EPP. I finally stopped buying wood for long enough to pick one up and loved every moment of the solve. It's classic Boaz with beautifully hidden mechanisms that are a delight to find.

2) Matchbox playground

The Matchbox Playground by Pelikan and Peter Gal

I adore a puzzle set but I seldom actually attempt more than a few challenges from them. This wonderful set is a fabulous collection of matchbox challenges stunningly made by Pelikan comprising the exhaustive analysis by Peter Gal. I keep returning to it. Even the box looks like a matchbox. Amongst all of the beautiful puzzles that I received in 2024, this is probably the most beautiful item on my shelves - it is simply stunning.

So many pieces - it's a challenge to put them in the box

The simplest challenge

1) Brass Monkey Sixential Discovery puzzle

You knew it had to be this one!

This is an absolute masterpiece of puzzle design and manufacture by Big Steve and Ali. It's a fitting end to the Brass Monkey series. I doubt it can ever be beaten - it might be the best puzzle ever made! There are so many beautifully made mechanisms that lead to one Aha! moment after another. I wish I could solve it all over again. I hope the guys are feeling the pressure because I want another tour de force like this again.

Solved after so many steps!

All six Brass Monkeys

Do you agree with my top 10? If you have any different thoughts then please comment below or even use my Contact page to tell me how wrong I am. I look forward to your thoughts. 

Happy New Year to you all!

I really hope that you all have a fabulous year in 2025 with good health, success and plenty of wonderful puzzling. I look forward to entertaining and maybe helping many of you in this year. 

Two Guys and a Gal...

Guess Which Was the Toughest?

Free Me 9 aka Two Guys and a Gal (named after the heads of the coins)

Update from last week - my solution for the Rippl puzzle turned out to be completely correct! After checking with Aaron, the critical move that I felt was too tight turned out to be the correct move - my copy of the puzzle was just a bit tighter than it should be. I persisted in doing the tight move because I felt that I had completely exhausted all other options for that section of the puzzle. The rest was an absolute delight and a bit mind boggling. Phew! I'm not as thick as I thought.

I can almost hear your sigh of relief! He finally managed it! Yes it took a hint and partial collaboration with Dominic to get there and it has taken me more than six weeks to get there but, Oh boy, was the journey worth it.

I have only been collecting the puzzles by Joe Turner for a few years and they have never failed to delight me. They are always beautifully made and a combination of wood and metal combined into a very non-intuitive sequential discovery puzzle. Usually there is just a single coin to work out how to release by activating the most ingenious mechanism his diabolical brain can come up with. The mechanisms have been so interesting that the amazing Jon Keegan even collaborated to reproduce the iconic Free Me 5 in metal - I did not have the cash to buy one at the time but they looked amazing and Allard loved it.

For this year's outing Joe upped the ante and gave us 3 coins to release - it has two JFK half dollars (guys) and a Statue of Liberty (gal) one dollar coin - I had no idea there was any such thing as a Dollar coin! This puzzle was Joe's entry in the IPP design competition but amazingly did not win anything due to the incredible list of amazing puzzles entered this year. It will certainly be on my list for top ten of the year.

As usual the coins are held in the block with a dovetail cap at each end. Starting out, progress begins reasonably quickly which gives you some (misplaced) confidence. There is a pretty classic move that Joe has used before that starts the first dovetail sliding. The interesting thing is that this confidence dissolves very fast when that first move stops dead after a mere 3mm of movement. Whatismore, not only does the slide stop dead, it also won't go back! OMG! A bit of frantic fiddling with the puzzle gets it to go back and then there's obviously something else needed. There are not a lot of clues but eventually another aha! moment happens and progress is made with the reward of the first guy. It's nice and shiny and I also receive a couple of tools. These have been causing the locking up and a quick inspection reveals the ingenious way that Joe has made it happen.

After the first coin removal, and the use of the light on my phone to peer inside, I realised that the next coin had to come out the other end. The tools were going to be useful at this point, I was sure of it. There's an obvious place for them to go except sometimes they won't fit and sometimes they will - you need to work out what to make it happen and once you do... nothing gets released! Of course, he's not going to make it easy!

Ok, let's try that classic move again at the same time as using the tools elsewhere. Hahaha! You all know that he's not going to use the same trick twice! Well I didn't know that and spent a very long time trying to make it happen. Yes, the Einsteinian method fails again. There is a tantalising little click and a few mm of play in the second dovetail but it goes nowhere. I have lost count of the sheer number of times I tried the same thing or variants of it in different orientations or with spinning and very nearly submerged in gin. I was stuck.

I was stuck for weeks! This is where Dominic came to my rescue with an itsy bitsy teenie weenie yellow polka dot bikini clue. All he said, basically was to use ALL the tools given. Not much of a clue was it? Of course, I am very stupid and started looking at the coin for removable bits (similar to a classic by Boaz Feldman) but that was not it. I had misinterpreted what was meant as a tool. after another day, I had my Homer Simpson "Doh" moment and realised what tool Dominic was referring to and I heard a satisfying click inside and praise be, there was some movement. Finally! 

I have to sheepishly admit that this had taken me so long because I had gotten completely fixated on one or two mechanisms and been unable to break out of that mindset without a nudge. I dare say, Joe knew that many of us would fall into the same trap. Or maybe it was just me?

After a little more fiddling with other mechanisms I had my second dovetail end removed and my second guy out. Phew! I was on a roll! Except I wasn't. Stuck again...the gal had to come out and the only way out was through one of the existing holes but she was blocked. Looking inside, the basic approach to the removal seemed obvious and I had my tools. But again, it wasn't working. I tried the gin trick (drinking it rather than submerging the puzzle) and that helped me realise something else that was possible but I was stuck again. My goodness! This is a stupendous challenge.

I kept think©ing and kept failing. I even received the solution from Joe (he sent it out to all recipients last weekend) but I was very careful not to look at it. I HAD to solve this thing myself even if it was going to kill me - with all the swearing I was doing, Mrs S might have killed me! Then, after lots and lots of thoughts© I was hit by Mrs S a bolt from the blue and I tried something extra. Wow! That is really clever! I had my gal and a huge sigh of relief!

OMG! Brilliant!
Only took me 6 weeks

Having taken my photos and worked out the reset mechanism, I can now solve the puzzle in one swift fun sequence. It is a work of puzzling art which everyone should try - this is a simply beautiful challenge. Tanks to Dominic for the tiny clue and a special thank you to Joe for the opportunity, I cannot wait to see what you produce next year.

I Think I Cheated...

Did I?

Rippl by DDK

I had hoped to be able to review a different type of puzzle for you today but despite weeks and weeks of trying, I have still not managed to finish the Free Me 9 puzzle from Joe Turner. I had been stuck on the second coin up until early in the week when a good puzzle friend and I started a combined attempt at solving it. Dominic gave me a little teeny hint and I suddenly found what I needed to free the second coin and now the two of us are stuck on the third - we are both noticing the same things, trying the same things and despite two of us doing the same thing over and over and over again, nothing seems to be changing for us...sigh!

In desperation and in the many many moments when I put down the Free me in disgust, I started playing with the Rippl puzzle from Aaron and managed to get very confused very quickly. The rings are threaded such that they straddle two "lanes" of the spirals and the shuttle is through all 8 of them. I thought that this would be a simple N-ary puzzle and with "only" 8 rings should not be too arduous. After all, it's ONLY a level 9 puzzle which must make it relatively simple?

Oh boy! I got a shock! Yet again! I explored this over the last week or so every time I put down the Free me puzzle. Mrs S was most displeased with me because this one really jingles a lot.

The shuttle comes off the first ring and the second very easily but then the third ring is completely blocked. I figured it was N-ary and went back to the first ring and replaced it hoping to get access where I needed it. Nope! That didn't work. I am sure that you noticed that the shuttle can be threaded through the rings both forward and reversed and after an embarrassingly long time, I also noticed that and after trying it with both the first and second rings, I found the one that worked. I had my access to the third ring and the shuttle was off of that one. 

And here I remained for over a week! I tried every combination of forward and back with the shuttle, through the rings forwards, through them in reverse and every single time I was blocked from releasing the shuttle from the fourth ring. What on earth was going on? I just could not get any further! What sort of puzzle blogger am I? A bloody useless one, I think - I should be ashamed of myself! There was a significant chance that there would be no blog post for you today! I have only ever missed one due to illness or death and really didn't want to do it again with no adequate excuse. Is being rubbish at puzzles an excuse?

Finally after 5 or 6 days I found a move. It had the desired effect of getting me access to the next ring but I wasn't happy with it. I kept putting the puzzle back to the beginning because that move I found did not seem right. It required me to slightly flex the spiral to allow the shuttle to be pulled through, I don't think any of DDK or Aaron's puzzles have ever needed even that tiny amount of force. So I kept returning to the beginning and trying afresh. Finally, this morning I bit the bullet and continued with that move and it opened up a whole new section of the puzzle which got very interesting very quickly. It also got really quite confusing but I was determined and carried on. Finally, just minutes before starting this post, I had a solved puzzle:

I have taken it apart but...
have I actually solved it?

Once I had taken my picture, I felt that I had better put it back together and check with Aaron whether I had cheated (I am pretty sure that I did on that one step). 

Erm...putting it back together was a whole extra challenge! I had, as usual, not really paid enough attention to how it came out and then got mightily confused when it would not go back in and when I did get it started on the return journey, I found that I could not seem to get the second ring on the shuttle. Wow! Despite being "only" a level 9, this was a really really tough challenge. Eventually I got to the mid point and tried the final moves to return to the start. Unfortunately one of the rings had unwound itself and was only held on one of the arms of the spiral and I hadn't noticed it. Another 30 minutes of swearing at it when I couldn't get it back to the start and then another 30 minutes swearing at my own stupidity when I noticed the problem. Finally it is back at the beginning and I am hoping to find out whether I had done something wrong at that crucial early step.

Yet again, an absolutely amazing and incredibly difficult puzzle from Aaron and DDK. It shows that disentanglement puzzles with wire only really can be incredibly tough and confusing - it has N-ary elements to it but only a couple of parts are - the challenge is navigating between them. Great value and a hugely bamboozling challenge. My head hurts now and I think I need to lie down for a while.

Free Me From All This!

Is that something that Mrs S has muttered at me having opened the door to the UPS guy twice in one week? No, it is the motive for the latest challenge from Joe Turner - Free Me 7:

Free Me 7 (back to the usual format)

We have all been waiting quite a while for this to be released. Joe is a busy man and producing puzzles to satisfy the community's insatiable appetite is a long difficult process. The email about both Freem Me 7 and 8 came out way back in the middle of 2020 in which Joe explained that number 8 was going to be released a lot earlier than number 7 and, of course, I couldn't resist one of those. I am not entirely sure why he didn't just change the numbering so they were sent out in order but I am not clever enough to be a puzzle producer. The Free Me 7 was delayed because he was struggling with the required tolerances. It must have been a huge struggle because the offer of the next in the series didn't arrive until a few weeks ago. As you know I am never one to refuse a sequential discovery puzzle (or any puzzle for that matter) and I sent of some of my hard earned GBP (converted to USD) and risked the ever increasing ire of "She who must be feared".

When it arrived it was accompanied by a sealed packet containing specific instructions and a solution leaflet which so far I have resisted opening. As always, the aim is to take the coin out of the box whilst using only tools that are released as you play. Joe's wood craftsmanship is visibly progressing as he makes more puzzles. My first one was the Free Me 6 and, whilst a great puzzle, was not anything much to look at. Here we have a puzzle that is nicer on display and finished beautifully.

I couldn't resist! I had reached a dead end with the Abraham's Well from Brian Young and had this one on my pile'o'puzzles to solve next to me and went straight to it.

It is quite obvious that the end comes off but there is only a tiny amount of movement in the dovetail before the blockage is evident. OK, how do I release the blockage? There really isn't much available at this stage. Turning it over and over in my hands, I can hear things moving inside but no matter what direction I turn and what angle I am at I cannot release the dovetail. I consider putting it on the lapcat and spinning it but decide that isn't a good idea - it has been a few weeks since we trimmed his claws and I didn't want a "lap" injury when he zoomed off. I also wondered whether spinning the puzzle might actually be considered shaking? I carried on doing the same thing over and over again for a whole evening thinking I had a broken puzzle.

Of course, I did not have a broken puzzle! I was just too stupid to think of what else was possible. After a soothing day (?) in the hospital, I came home wonderfully refreshed and ready to puzzle again. OK, maybe that is a little exaggeration but I had been thinking about what else I could try and again with cat on lap, I tried something new. This time there was a change inside and the top slid off - yay! In my usual way, I wanted to understand what had happened and tried to reverse the process and lock it back up again but, yet again, I couldn't do it. I was able to replace the lid and lock it on but it was always trivial to unlock again. I could not seem to understand how it was properly locked. Time to give up on that aspect and continue...

Looking inside I could see that the coin was held securely in place by a piece of metal and I clearly needed to move or remove that object. I tried all sorts of orientations and moves and had to stop myself again spinning the bloody thing. It was not going to come free easily. Another evening passed and it was back to work again. The next time I played (starting from almost the beginning) I made a discovery... it is really quite important to enjoy a puzzle slowly and listen as well as feel and look at what it happening. I heard something happen at one point and repeated that move a few more times. It happened every time - Aha! What if I????

Having made a nice discovery that could be heard and felt but not seen, this started me on an interesting path of discovery. I noticed things changing but never quite enough. I need to think© a bit more. 

After I had thunk, I realised that this sequential discovery puzzle is special in that there are almost no useful tools. I had been hoping that more stuff would fall out but what was really needed was to use the tool I had properly:

That took me several days!

After my shout upset Mrs S, I went to take a photo and then reassemble it. I suddenly realised that I had not fully understood the mechanism. I could put it back together but it was quite easy to open again and remove the coin. There was more to it aka "you did it by pure luck!" 

Finally, after another evening of toil, I think I have understood the puzzle mechanism. It is all hidden and needs to be manipulated blind which is not one of my strong points. Much less complex a construction and solution than either FM 6 or 8 but requiring very accurate movements. I can see now why Joe struggled to produce these - the tolerances would have to be fractions of a mm. Delightful and really good value puzzling - I am delighted to have this in my collection. I wonder when version 9 will be coming?

Juno Sequentially Discovers a Cube

Sequential Discovery Cubed Box

I am unfortunately at work again today and have rushed to solve something and have posted this in advance to keep you amused. My backlog seems to be getting bigger and I may be looking for someone to let me sleep in a spare room soon because Mrs S might well chuck me out the house when the bunch of puzzles that Mine has posted arrives!

Previous puzzles in the series

We have all known that Juno has been planning something big, something special, something to continue the puzzling line of the Sequential discovery burred boxes (reviewed here, here and here). The anticipation has been rising and many puzzlers have been worried that the puzzle flippers would get hold of it quickly to make a quick buck. True puzzlers absolutely hate those people and none more than Juno (and Yukari) who has written a blog post about how he plans to prevent it from happening - I really hope that he was successful. He will in the future choose not to sell to people who he discovers flip his creations for a quick profit. I whole-heartedly agree with him. I am aware that I am privileged to have a good job and can afford to buy but selling within days is just a sign of disrespect to the creator. At some point I may have to sell some puzzles either to make space or to downsize my house or, more likely, to prevent a murder in my home but at the moment my collection is my pride and joy and I love owning and displaying them as well as solving them.

Ages - still not solved!

The sequential discovery cubed box went on sale and sold out completely in 4 minutes (all 140 copies) - I got a warning from a friend that it was about to happen (thanks so much Jay) and was logged in and ready when the site loaded with the puzzle and boom...in and out with my preciousssss. Postage from the other side of the world was remarkably fast considering the pandemic has trashed world wide flights and post, I got my mitts on it on Thursday night and set to work. Turning it over and over to admire the beautiful workmanship revealed a rattling noise inside - what could it be? It is an absolutely lovely object - Fijian Mahogany is used for the main part of the puzzle, and the wood used for the internal parts is mainly Iroko, Jarrah and sapwood of Bubinga, with Jarrah being used especially for the parts that require durability and wear resistance. The base is not part of the puzzle, it is there to display the puzzle - it is made from Spotted Gum.

You might be wondering why I started work on this puzzle when my most recent additions have also been wonderful sequential discovery puzzles from Brian Young and Joe Turner? Lets just say that one has been solved without understanding how it works (I'll get there before long) and the other has me stumped at the moment - in fact I am still stumped on the third move of Brian's Ages puzzle bought way back in November 2019. I also could not resist starting on the Cube because as soon as I picked it up I could feel something moving...just a few mm but definitely moving.

This something moved and stopped and then moved back. It felt "odd". It's a bit like having something painful on you - you just can't stop yourself prodding at it. Each time nothing would happen and it would return to the original position but one time it went clack when I wasn't really looking and I had a really big hole. OMG what had I done? It wouldn't return to the start position and I realised I was committed to working on it properly. I managed to take the photo at the top of the post with the puzzle in the moved position and the changes were carefully hidden from view. We had to have dinner and then it was time to play with a customary cat on my lap and the TV on. Having made that first inadvertent move that I couldn't reverse, the puzzle started to move in ways that a lot of interlocking cubes do. I have hidden the later pictures behind spoiler buttons - I have tried to avoid showing off too much but don't look if you don't want even a small chance of a clue.

It moves and reveals "stuff"
I can't get at this stuff or get beneath it but it is there for later

After some of this movement we see Juno's classic hand made tools - one is available for the picking and others are stuck in place ready for later. The first tool is now available and easily used (it's just asking for it) and I have the opportunity to return to the beginning. I have a huge grin on my face because the way that first move works is now understood and it's delightful. I put it all back together and have my nice springy area again and OMG! cannot do that first move again! Lord! I am rubbish at puzzles. It is at this point that I recall looking inside and noticing something that didn't really impinge on my consciousness at the time. What if I??? Oh yes that is delightful. A really nice touch to the first move that happened accidentally the first time but should be done with thought.

Couldn't do it without him!

Time to continue the journey. I do my first few moves again and get to further configurations before coming to a halt. Stuck again and time to Think© which seldom works for me. I then get reduced to randomly trying stuff before realising that metal has a very interesting property. He's a very clever devious man is Juno. More progress but only momentarily as it suddenly undoes itself. Stuck again, I look at the cat for assistance and he suggests something. Should I listen to a cat? Well, this cat did manage to solve my disentanglement puzzles recently so I took not of his suggestion and I tried something new. Yet another Aha! moment and the whole puzzle became rather unstable. Gulp! Time to backtrack...except, yet again, I couldn't! One of the moves seems to have been irreversible! Stupid cat! At this point it is time for bed and I carefully put it down in such a way as to not let it fall apart. Another day at the hospital and I was ready to continue my assault.

The next evening, I am back and listening to the cat. I refuse to continue until I understand what has happened and am able to reverse my current position. It takes a while and a bit of deduction. I have a plan and manage to carry it out in both forward and backward directions although I cannot seem to do it every time I try. Time to move on I think to myself. At this point we see that it will come apart (like most interlocking cube puzzles) but there are still compartments to open. Again...if you are awaiting this puzzle or just don't like spoilers then stay away from the next image (don't press the button).

We have several pieces of the cube with grooves and compartments to open
There really isn't much of a spoiler here

I now have a number of pieces and only my original tool. Now what? I need more tools. Coming right up said Juno and the cat. Actually it took me quite a long time to find the next tool and then another long time to work out how to use it. It continues along like this and then we reach the final compartment - oh that is a clever locking mechanism. I now have found the source of the rattling noise - at least this time it is not bread!  

One cube inside another cube! Solved it.

Reassembly is a nice process with only the difficulty of the quirky move that I struggled to understand the first time. With a bit of practice, I can solve this puzzle at will. I am delighted - it is not the most difficult of puzzles but is truly delightful. I really hope that Juno has more ideas for puzzles in the series - I will definitely be wanting to continue adding these to my collection. Now I need to get back to Free Me 7 and Abraham's Well and maybe play with Derek's latest dastardly creation made by Big Steve, Polar Burr

Remember to stay safe guys - our numbers are rocketing up and the younger unvaccinated population are the ones who are now being admitted to hospital and our ICU. If you haven't yet, go get a vaccine as soon as you can!