The remainder of the puzzles just released by
Pelikan
If you had not been informed by email from Jakub, then you should know that the
puzzles from the current release are now up for sale in the
Pelikan store.
All except the Minima Magnetik and Rising Peaks - Everest are still available.
If you still want the Minima Magnetik then you badger get the version Tye
Stahly from the NothingYetDesigns store to make another batch of
his version. I don't know whether Pelikan will make any more.
Today's blog is about the remainder of the summer release from Jakub and
Jaroslav. I am sure that I can help you spend some more money!
This is yet another tray packing puzzle from the amazing
Lucie Pauwels. Except it is not “just” another tray puzzle! Lucie seems to have the
unique ability to design these puzzles with something about them that makes
them more than trial and error. Jakub obviously is very good at recognising
the value of these amongst all the designs that he must see. The
Broken Frame and Window
is a brilliant, beautiful and challenging logical design. It consists of a
complex tray made from Maple (137 x 137mm) with a very specifically shaped
gap where the frame should be and then a square hole in the centre (the
window). To be fitted in, there are 14 unique pieces made from a deep
vibrant Purpleheart.
When I first looked at it, I sort of quailed, thinking that this would be
many many hours of trial and error and I have the memory of a demented
goldfish so have a huge problem remembering previous patterns that I had
tried. However, when I set to playing with it, I quickly realised that this
is very much a logic challenge. There are some pieces with very restricted
placement choices and a couple of gaps in the frame that have very limited
options for which of the pieces can go in them. This made the puzzle much
more compelling.
It still was not easy and took me several hours of play before I reached the
point where the frame was filled. Much to my chagrin, I had made one
assumption about one of the gaps in the frame and kept trying the wrong
approach until exasperation made me think a different way. I am sure this
was a deliberate design feature by Lucie meant specifically to trap me! The
central window is just a 5x5 square and should be relatively easy to fill
once you have worked out which pieces are left over from the frame. The only
problem is that there are 5 different ways to fill the frame and only one of
them leaves the correct pieces to fill the window. There is still some trial
and error but it is great fun!
Over the last few years of reviewing the puzzles designed by
Volker Latussek, I think the
Flop series
is my favourite because of the fabulous accessibility and challenge. I had
thought that the series had ended but was very gratified to see the
Coffin-Flop
in the current batch. This one is beautifully made using American Walnut and
American Cherry. It is beautifully chunky and consists of three tetracubes and
three pentacubes. They are to be fitted into a 70mm across box with a 3x3x3
cavity. The pieces consist of a total of 27 voxels which will completely fill
the box with no gaps.
Volker designed this and named it as a tribute to the great Stewart Coffin -
there was even a conversation between the two puzzle powerhouses:
"Dear Mr Coffin, when your HALF HOUR was published as a packer at
Cubicdissection last year, I myself played with your basic idea of
splitting a 3x3x3 into three penta-cubes and three tetra-cubes to add a
cube-shaped box with six pieces to my FLOP SERIES. That doesn't work with
your HALF HOUR, but there is actually a similar set of six pieces that has
nice movements in and out of the box. I wonder if I can call the puzzle
COFFIN-FLOP? Pelikan will publish the puzzle.”
STC: "After all these years, what a surprise. I never was very good with names.
Often that was the hardest part. I have been so busy with other projects
lately that puzzles are now in my past. But they were fun, especially
dissections. No opinion on type of wood. I used whatever was available.
Keep up the good work.
Stewart Coffin (STC), Massachusetts"
You know from the beginning that this is going to be a huge challenge of first
construction of possible cubes and then finding the single way they can be
inserted through the limited opening (less than 2 voxels across). There will
be rotations and there will be swearing! In fact there was swearing right from
the beginning as the special transport placement of the pieces actually proved
a challenge for this puzzler to remove from the box just so that he could get
started.
The solution of course requires rotations and also the ability to control
rotations deep inside the box with no room to insert your fingers - if you can
find a way to control gravity then you will have a significant advantage. If
you are one of us normal humans who cannot change the direction of the
gravitational field as required then some real dexterity is required.
Yessssss!
Taking it apart and returning it to the transport position is another huge
challenge!
I adore these puzzles and was very gratified to solve it after just 2 days of
work! If you have any of the previous Flop series then you should buy this one
- it is brilliant!
Another incredibly challenging packing puzzle -
The Real Euklid
has seven cubic and cuboidal pieces to fit in the 9x9x9 box with the usual
limited entry at the top. It is rather lovely to look at being made from
Mahogany and Wenge - using these woods also gives the puzzle a nice weight.
Yes, Dr Latussek has done it yet again! There is yet another puzzle in his
incredible
Euklid packing series. This one must be really special because Volker named it as “the
REAL Euklid” as if all the previous ones had been fake. Volker
wrote the following about this design"
"Finally, we've arrived! After a few wrong turns and some significant
misjudgments, such as seemingly unique solutions suddenly turning into
double-digit numbers of solutions, I am now proud to present THE REAL
EUKLID. The task I set myself over six years ago should now be complete:
Find a 9x9x9 cubic box with a centred 5×9 opening and seven different
cuboids with an edge length of between 3 and 6 units AND A UNIQUE
SOLUTION!
In fact, I changed my design strategy for THE REAL EUKLID. Until now, I
have always focused on the most beautiful sequence of movements possible
for seven cuboids, but this time I did it the other way around: I let
the possible cuboids sink in and saw which sequence they showed me - I
tried to take on the role of the solver who wants to discover the
designer's idea but initially only sees the pieces. Looking at the
cuboids without any preconceived sequence of moves broadened my
perspective so much that I was able to complete the task. When I saw the
solution for the first time, I couldn't believe that I had achieved my
task. I was very sceptical because of my experience with EUKLID. Maybe I
didn't want to believe it because I secretly hoped that there was no
solution to my task. Overall, I had a great time designing THE REAL
EUKLID.
Now take a look at the seven cuboids and the interplay with the box for
yourself. Then you too can have a great time with THE REAL EUKLID."
There are at least two in this series that I have still not solved despite
going back to them on and off for years now. I would not be surprised if
this one joined that group. I have only really had an hour or so to play
with this one so far and have not got a clue as yet. These puzzles are not
for the faint hearted. All the shapes to be fitted inside have a side length
as a multiple of 7mm (21, 28, 35 or 42mm) and the interior is 63mm in all
directions - there is a sort of beauty to that and I am sure that knowing it
will be a help to some of you but to me - I haven’t got a clue. Good luck to
all who buy - it will be a great challenge.
You know you need this one for your collections - it is lovely, it’s a huge
challenge and the continuation of the series. No puzzler can truly resist a
puzzle series - especially if they are this good.
I am sure that there are some puzzles for you here! There is so much to
choose from with puzzles from 3 of the best designers in the world. Get them
whilst they are still available.
This may well be a little late for many of you who don't keep an eye out on the
Pelikan website or follow me on
Facebook. I
received a package out of the blue about 10 days ago and had very little time at
first to do any more than open it and take my photos. I am definitely not clever
enough to solve all of these challenging puzzles in just 5 days and Jakub wanted
to get them up for sale before he and his team go off on their well-earned
Christmas break. These puzzles went up for sale on Thursday and I'm afraid that
at least 2 are sold out already. If there is anything that you particularly want
to buy then keep an eye on the auction sites or see whether Jakub might agree to
make another batch - sometimes if enough people ask then he does get agreement
from the designers to make a few more.
In this release there are some truly stunning and clever designs: Minima
Smiley by
Frederic Boucher Trimini Frame by
Lucie Pauwels Euklid's Cabrio by
Dr Volker Latussek Nested Soma by Dr Volker Latussek with Lucie Pauwels Lunchbox by
George Miller
Minima Smiley
There have been quite a lot of Minima puzzles over the last few years. The
series started out as fun small packing puzzles with relatively simple pieces to
fit in a small box with restricted entry and usually some odd holes or slots to
allow rotations to occur. I have now bought lots and lots of these and
thoroughly love the combination of thought, fiddling and Aha! moments. Several
other designers have jumped on the Minima bandwagon and I have, of course, added
these to my collection (partially thanks to Tye Stahly's Nothing Yet Designs
site as well as Jakub and Jaroslav's Pelikan puzzles.
When I received this one, I really wasn't sure what to make of it. All the
pieces were inside and there seemed to be a ball in there too as well as a
bolt in the side. What on earth was going on here. It cannot be a packing
puzzle - is it an unpacking puzzle? Does such a thing exist? It would appear
that Frederic has branched out into other genre's again (remember the amazing
Res Q
and my own special
Visitor Q?) This time the aim is to work out how to release the ball.
Initially only the ball moves from one empty space to another but no further
than that and therefore the only thing available to me was to remove the
bolt. I got a bit of a surprise at the sheer length of it! After removal,
there was suddenly the ability to slide a piece around and this opened up a
bit of pathway for the ball. Except it wouldn't go very far and then nothing
else happens. I was able to work out what the shapes were inside the box and
map them out - there is absolutely no way any more is going to happen. Now I
know that Frederic is a sneaky so and so and Jakub is very happy to
encourage this sneakiness. A little exploration with fingers revealed
something interesting and also some rather strong magnets. a tiny bit more
progress happens but I get stuck again. Whilst exploring at this point, I
realise that a piece can rotate and I eagerly encourage it only to find it
doesn't really help me. Once I realised this, I tried to get it all back to
the start and, OMG, it wouldn't go! Cue, minor panic before I got it all
reset after 15 minutes of swearing at myself whilst Mrs S giggled at me and
said that I don't seem to be very good at this puzzling business - oh, the
shame!
I was stumped and had to draw the shapes and the box to work out a possible
alternative sequence. Only after I had drawn it out was I able to make
further steps and I could see the reason for the name of the puzzle:
Now I have to get the little bugger back inside
Having taken my photo, I tried to reset it, only to hear a lout "clack!" as
the pieces reset themselves. OMG, my heart leapt into my throat again and I
was forced to work it out from scratch again. For a while I kept trying it
wrong and repeatedly heard that clack again and again until I realised the
move needed to prevent it.
This is wonderful - very clever and shows that Frederic is able to set his
talented brain to all types of puzzle. It has been absolutely beautifully made
by Pelikan in Mahogany and Maple.
Trimini Frame
Trimini Frame by Lucie Pauwels
There have been a couple of incredible packing puzzle/antislide puzzles by Lucie
this year (Minimal Frame and
Open Frame which is
still available
as I type). I really struggled even to solve the basic packing element of these
and completely failed with both of them to solve the antislide challenge. I was
amazed at the last MPP when Wil Strijbos sidled up to me and showed me the he
had solved it in about 10 minutes. I shouldn't have been surprised as the man is
a total genius at design and solving. That display made me all the more
determined to succeed at the latest of the challenges. Based on a triangular
grid there are 8 oddly shaped pieces to place in a frame with only a single
triangular voxel at the corner to hold the pieces in place.
Pepper Castor (another triangular grid)
This time I decided to be more analytical rather than just randomly place
pieces in the tray. My usual approach to packing puzzles really isn't terribly
efficient. A little trial and error revealed that certain pieces would either
have to be oriented a particular direction if the abutted an edge or they
would need to be positioned in the interior. This realisation was the key and
significantly decreased the number of random moves. It didn't make it easy by
any stretch but a true analytical approach made this solvable even by an eejit
like me! After about 30 minutes of swearing under my breath, I had a true Aha!
moment and it was solved. Absolutely wonderful to play with a triangular grid
for once (very few designers do this - the best that I can recall is Alexander
Magyaric's
Play-girl
and
Play-boy
puzzles as well as his
Pepper Castor). There are still 13 in stock as I type - well worth buying to challenge
yourself and even non-puzzlers.
Not only is this a packing puzzle...this is a sliding piece puzzle. Getting
everything in place is going to need careful placement and then careful
jiggling about inside to make room for subsequent pieces. I needed another
couple of days to figure this one out in my head (luckily there is plenty of
space in there). I let out a huge shout when I finally closed the box with all
the pieces inside - that man is a genius!
Make sure that you pay proper attention to what you do and how the pieces sit
inside because it will require an exact sequence of moves to get them out
again and initially you will be blind with a box that is closed or only opens
a little bit. As you would expect, I got the box stuck in the closed position
for a panicked hour as I shook it about and desperately tried to work out how
to open the bloody thing! I actually had to sit down for a bit and think to
open it and felt a sudden urge for a gin when I finally did it. I have managed
it a few times since then and it is incredibly clever. This is an essential to
all followers of Volker and all packing aficionados.
Nested Soma
Nested Soma - a collaboration by Lucie Pauwels and Dr Volker Latussek
Lucie has recently designed a new puzzle in the Minima series, the Minima
nest (I haven't gotten around to it yet), and she decided to try and create a
bigger version using a shifted 3x3x3 box. When Volker saw the puzzle idea, he
suggested that she try and use slightly altered Soma pieces and sent her a
couple of designs for the pieces and then the Nested Soma was born.
The manufacturing skill for this puzzle is totally off the scale! It is
stunning made from Elm and Bubinga. The puzzle screams to fit the pieces
inside and as you do so it quickly gets blocked up leaving spaces inside that
cannot be reached. Time to solve it outside of the box and then you realise
that it isn't very stable when the pieces are piled up on a table or your lap.
A combination approach would be good. My trial and error approach rapidly
failed. There are some very peculiar shapes which have to be fitted into a
very restricted part of the box and quite quickly I saw that one piece could
only fit in a particular orientation and, gulp, it needed a rotational move -
Burrtools won't help much here.
I spent about an hour having increasingly useful breakthroughs and inched my
way forwards progressively. The final Aha! moments are delicious. I have
posted the solved puzzle because it appears on the Pelikan page - it's a
minimal spoiler as most of it cannot be seen.
Solved - really not much of a spoiler here
Lunchbox
Lunchbox by George Miller
I think this might be my first puzzle by George which is strange because he
has been very prolific for a very long time. Recently he
and Roxanne have
been focussed on creating the greatest puzzle museum in the world.
George wrote this about it:
"Lunchbox is a variation of a puzzle I found in a pile of puzzles I
had purchased in Prague. One of the puzzles was simply 10 pieces of
wood with no clue as to the goal. I guessed it had to be a symmetric
solid shape and began to explore all of the possibilities. This was,
in essence, a meta puzzle – that is – and the goal, then solve the
puzzle by stacking the pieces into the shape of the goal. The ten
pieces were all the ways four 2 unit squares of one unit thickness
could be glued together at with two unit cubes cubes glued to the
squares to form a checkered patterns on each piece.
I made a copy of the ten pieces on a 3D printer. I used BurrTools to
test using these ten pieces to pack a 4x5x3 shape I called a
“sandwich”. I forced the squares to the top and bottom and the red
cubes to the middle making it look ever so much like a jelly
sandwich.
A simple packing puzzle is fun, but making a good puzzle involves a
presentation mode plus a theme or story. A presentation mode too often
is simply the solved puzzle. This takes away the pleasure of a
discovered solution. Again, using BurrTools I found a solid packing of
a set of steps with a unique solution. This led to the development of
a box in the shape of a lunch pail with the inside conforming to the
shape of the set of stairs. The story then becomes that of a young lad
taking to school a lunchbox prepared by his mother. When he opens the
box he finds his lunch in many pieces he has to pack together into a
delicious sandwich before eating his lunch. Putting the pieces back
into the lunchbox presents a puzzle unto itself."
This challenge is incredibly well presented - it arrives in one of the
solved positions with the pieces packed in the box. Tipping them out
reveals the wonderful variety of ways that 2 cubies can be placed on the 4
tetrominoes with gaps.
All the tetrominoes with checkerboard patterns
The first challenge is to create a sandwich from the contents of the
lunchbox. Jakub has made the pieces in such a way that it looks like a piece
of meat between 2 slices of white bread. I initially attempted to make it so
that only checkerboard pieces were next to each other. This seriously
restricted the pieces that I could try in each position but left me unable
to form the 4x5x3 shape. Once I had determined that it might be impossible
with pure checkerboard positioning, I looked at other arrangements and with
some thought created lunch:
One ham sandwich
Burrtools tells me that there are another 3 ways to make my sandwich - I will
keep working on it. Getting the pieces back into the box has so far proven
impossible for me. I know the shape to achieve and it is not a simple cuboid
which seems to be confusing me. I will be using Burrtools in the
meantime.
Unlike the sandwich, the orientation of the white bread is not all in the same
direction which seems to confuse my feeble brain a lot. It is very similar to
the Tabula cubes I
wrote about
way back in 2013 which I really struggled with:
Tabula cube 1
Tabula cube 2
Tabula cube 1 pieces
Tabula cube 2 pieces
These puzzles are selling very fast - order them quick if you don't want to miss out. They are all amazing. My favourites are Minima Smiley, Nested Soma and Euklid's Cabrio.
Pelikan spring release - coming 17th April 2pm CEST
I do apologise to all of you and especially to Jakub and team about spreading
the reviews over 2 weekends! I was just too busy to work on all 6 in one week
and have any chance at all of solving and understanding them. It did not change
Jakub's intended release date but has inconvenienced him by being late getting
my reviews for him.
Today I finish off the final 3 and they are something else in terms of
complexity and difficulty. They are also very beautiful!
Euklid for Bernhard
Euklid for Bernhard - simply gorgeous
This fabulous addition to the Euklid series (I have still not managed to solve
the
Euklid for Nick!) is a tribute from Dr Volker Latussek to the amazing puzzler, collector and
friend, Bernhard Schweitzer. Volker wrote the following about the design of
this puzzle:
"When Bernhard Schweitzer told me that he was winding up his puzzle
collection, I remembered our first meeting at Bernhard's house. Back
then, I had designed my first puzzle, which I wanted to enter in the Nob
Yoshigahara International Puzzle Design Competition in 2011 after doing
some web research. I didn't know that the IPP was being held in Berlin
at the time, and Bernhard hadn't told me, but he encouraged me to send
in my two copies. WAY is still the most important puzzle for me today. I
called it the Puzzle Construction Set because it could be used to
formulate very different challenges. I didn't win a prize at the IPP,
but the puzzle was published by Popular Playthings under the name
ROUNDABOUT. Unfortunately somewhat modified. But back to Bernhard.
Bernhard showed me his collection at the time. I had never seen
anything like it before. He told me stories and anecdotes about some of
the puzzles from the community, a world that was completely unknown to
me. I still remember the HASELGROVE BOX by Jenifer Haselgrove: it was
probably my personal key experience that gave me time to think about
what I should, and hopefully will, come up with over the years.
With EUKLID FOR BERNHARD, I want to say thank you for the encouraging
comments on my ideas and the time we spent together at the puzzle
parties at Bernhard's home in Glattbach.
It has become a EUKLID with an addition. When the six blocks are packed
into the box, give the puzzle a good shake and then open your ears for a
short walk with Jenifer Haselgrove to empty the box again.
Thank you, Bernhard."
Volker tends to stipulate not only the delivery packing as well as the
dimensions of his puzzles but also the wood choices as well. His decision
this time was absolutely inspired as it is an absolutely gorgeous
combination of Purpleheart for the box and Downy Birch for the pieces.
Interestingly the pieces are all very similar in size - 21mm deep with 3
pieces 47x25mm, 1 of 47x47mm, another 47x30mm and the other 52x25mm. There
are only a few combinations of sizes that will fit within the walls of the
box.
Now I had not read this tribute when I received and worked on my copy of
this puzzle and had no idea that it might have a common feature with the
Hazelgrove box. That would not have helped me much because I don't own and
have never played with one of those famous puzzles. I set to in the usual
way that I do with this sort of puzzle - I look at all the pieces and try to
see which dimensions are combinable inside the confines of the box.
I found several ways that all the pieces would fit inside but the restricted
opening meant that I was unable to achieve the vast majority of them. I
played for a couple of days with it and failed every time until I had a
sudden Aha! moment and all 6 pieces were inside. I was very pleased with
myself and took my obligatory photo. Only when I received the introduction
from Volker did I begin to question myself. My solution did not have any
fancy locking mechanism and seemed a lot simpler than most of the previous
Euklid puzzles. I looked at the solution that was provided by Jakub and my
solution was different. You have 2 challenges here - an easier one (mine)
and a REALLY fancy one that was the one intended by the
designer. The intended solution requires thought and dexterity - it is very
impressive (rather like Bernhard!)
Stefka-Flop
Stefka-Flop by Dr Volker Latussek
This is another (and to me, unexpected) entry in the Flop series of packing
puzzles. I have said on several occasions that this Flop series
of puzzles by Dr Latussek are an incredible feat of puzzle design and when
coupled with Pelikan's magnificent craftsmanship and wood choices, they are
some of the highlights of my packing puzzle collection. This one was
stipulated to be made with a glorious Purpleheart box and Acacia soma pieces.
Volker wrote the following about this puzzle:
"Since 1987, the 1996 Bulgarian Olympic champion, Stefka Kostadinova,
has held women's high jump the world record with a height of 2.09 meters
- providing a fitting conclusion to my little series of packaging
puzzles with the STEFKA-FLOP. As previously announced, LITTLE TETRA-FLOP
will come as an encore, however, I would still like to pursue the
principle further and use the term FLOP here and there, e.g. perhaps for
a COFFIN-FLOP.
STEFKA-FLOP with seven pieces follows DICK-FLOP with its six Tetra
cubes and FRITZ-FLOP with only five pieces. The boxes are completely
filled, and the opening is so large that some pieces have to tumble out
of the box. STEFKA-FLOP has a very unusual, and very beautiful, new
turning movement in before a flop.
Oskar van Deventer has previously published STEFKA-FLOP under the name
UNFOLDED-FLOP. The seven pieces corresponds to the SOMA CUBE with an
unfolded v (I). That was a consolation, because at first, I couldn't
find a SOMA-FLOP with all seven pieces of the SOMA-CUBE."
They are not just packing puzzles with restricted openings...they are
also variants on the Soma cube, using entirely Soma shaped (or a subset of
them) and also are TICs as well with the very important requirement that a few
of the pieces cannot fit through the entryway without rotation and then often
need rotation into place inside the box which adds a special requirement for
the correct order.
The Soma cube has 240 3x3x3 assemblies and I am still ashamed to say that it
takes me quite some time to find even one of them! And that is without the
restriction of doing it within a box and also without further hindrance of
restricted entry and rotational moves! This is going to be a hell of a
challenge for any puzzler. I spent 3 days attempting this amazing feat of
puzzle design and had to peek at the solution to find the last 3 pieces to be
inserted. Having restricted the number of pieces I needed to experiment with,
I finally managed to find a bunch of cubes that assembled that way and then
still could not get them into the box. With a deadline looming I looked at the
cube assembly that was required and spent another happy hour or so working out
how to put it inside the box. Even with a huge clue, it is still a decent
challenge. I am sure that the rest of you with more time to play will manage
this without help.
This is a fantastic addition to the series and I cannot wait to see the others
that Volker intends (I am sort of hoping they won't be quite so tough).
SISU
SISU by Benjamin Heidt
The word Sisu is a Finnish word - it is not easily translatable into English
but it roughly means:
Strength of will, determination, perseverance, and acting rationally in
the face of adversity. Sisu is not momentary courage, but the ability to
sustain that courage.
Does this mean that it requires enormous strength of will to solve it? I
also noticed that there is a hole in the box which goes all the way through
and remembered the scene from the recent movie where the hero stabbed a Nazi
in the head through and through with his knife. I've added the image below - it's not suitable for people of a nervous disposition or children - You have been warned! Don't look unless you really want to know what the Finnish war hero, Sisu did.
It has been beautifully made by Jakub and team from Mahogany, Ash, some magnets and a steel ball bearing. It is a restricted entry packing puzzle as we have seen many times before and also has pieces that are based on the Soma puzzle. Making this one very different from the others we have seen before, the pieces have some beautifully drilled holes in them. Some of these holes are blind ending and others are part of a channel through the piece and out another hole. The aim seems to be to assemble the pieces in the box and close the lid on top and then to roll the ball bearing through the maze that has been created until it comes out the other side. This means that the assembly requires the formation of a maze that goes entirely through the puzzle. This significantly adds to the challenge!
Now this is an interesting puzzle to write about! I have so far not come even
close to solving the full thing. Just before starting to write this review, I have finally managed to assemble the pieces into a cube shape - I am ashamed to say that this has taken me a whole day! I then went to BT and discovered that there is only one possible assembly for these pieces into a cube. I will then need to see how to get them into the box through the H-shaped entry - I assume that only one of the 6 possible orientations of the cube will be possible to assemble in the box and probably not without some fancy sequential moves. The pieces that have rotational symmetry will need to be oriented correctly to form the complete maze - whilst the piece shape might be symmetrical, the holes and channels are not. After this I will have a blind maze to negotiate with the ball bearing.
I love a puzzle with multiple challenges and this will require some significant "Sisu" to achieve it! Despite not having completed the challenge yet, I know that this will be an essential purchase for you all. Hopefully Mrs S will not get upset with my muttering and stab me through the head later tonight!
Thank you Jakub, Jaroslav and team for the wonderful challenges and also to the amazing designers - you are all brilliant.
Get there at 2pm CEST on 17th April to get your pick of these puzzles.
Stunning new releases from Jakub and Jaroslav's
Pelikan Puzzles
The pressure was on! I had received these wonderful new toys from Pelikan and
they wanted to put them on sale in 10 days. I got a deadline of thursday night
for the reviews and they went on sale late last night (Czech time). I'm afraid
that the Euklid Meets Fuller puzzle has already sold out but I do hope that they
will get permission to make another batch because it is a wonderful difficult
challenge with only 4 blocks!
This is the second of the puzzles designed and made by Pelikan
themselves (I really hope this becomes a series). Yet agin it is a
“creature” and this one is absolutely adorable. The snail is constructed
from Wenge and Maple with dowels to produce eyes on stalks. As before
the aim is to disassemble it and then put it back together. It is not a
difficult puzzle but the process is wonderful with a couple of nice
little Aha! moments. You end up with quite a few pieces.
I love it - it is fun to play with, good for beginners (as long as they
can be trusted to be gentle with the fairly complex pieces) and will
look great on display. It will be another one kept in the menagerie in
my living room.
This very attractive diminutive 9 piece burr designed by Alfons Eyckmans
is gorgeously made from Padauk, Wenge and Ash. It is a wonderful
challenge, perfect for puzzlers who want to be certain of burr success.
Alfons has enormous design skills and has created incredibly complex
high level burrs that are almost impossible for anyone other than the
burr expert (that does not include me) but also designs puzzles that
have more moderate disassembly levels, amenable to the more general
puzzler. This is a very interesting design having one giant burr stick
pointing up/down and then 4 in each of the other directions. It has a
level 18.3.4.2 and is perfect for exploration and disassembly. At first
I did wonder whether it required a rotation because after a few moves it
appeared to be possible to rotate the large single stick but I have
never known Alfons to design these and persisted with linear
moves.
I was not disappointed and had it in pieces after a couple of
evenings of struggle. It is also perfectly possible to assemble this one
if you have concentrated on the disassembly. I don’t think I could do it
from scratch but I am sure a few of you could.
Alexander Magyarics has had a bumper puzzle release this time! This is
one of my favourites of this release. Lomi Lomi consists of a fairly
simple frame made from a glorious Bubinga and lovely contrasting white
Maple pieces. The frame is just a simple 5x5x5 affair with a 3x3 gap in
each face and only a few extra voxels filled in on 3 of them. The 4
Maple pieces are identical and fairly complex. They are also a shape
that really resists much movement when inserted through a face. The aim
is to place all inside with everything ending up flush. The faces do not
end up completely filled and there is quite a lot of space when it is
assembled. This made it impossibly hard to find an assembly outside the
frame which would be my usual approach. I had to resort to looking for
sequential assemblies inside and this was really really hard for me. I
made a huge mistake initially by failing to realise that one of the
faces could be used and this lengthened my solve process by an extra 2
days.
Spinal surgeons should have a great visuospatial ability
Solved!
In the end I found the level 7.5.3.2 solution and the Aha! moment was
ecstatic. It also impressed the 2 surgeons who had been watching me try
(and who had failed to manage it themselves!)
Do you like the
Soma cube
and it’s associated challenges? If so then you will love the Edition of
Additions! Alexander has branched out into a different genre of puzzles
to his usual packing or interlocking puzzles and has created something
perfect for new and old puzzlers alike. This is absolutely stunning made
with Bubinga pieces and an Oak box which has been beautifully made
(taking the lid off requires breaking a vacuum seal!). The pieces are
assembled inside the box as a 3x3x3 cube and having taken the pieces out
for my photo, I realised that I couldn’t put them back inside again!
Unlike the Soma cube which has 240 cubic assemblies, this has just four
- Aargh!
It was extremely tough to even make the cube!
To my shame it took me almost a whole afternoon to put it back in the
box. Having done this then the wonderful puzzle comes with another 12
shapes to attempt to assemble. None of them are easy as most have
between 1 and 5 possible assemblies (2 have more than 10 but I still
struggled with them). If shape forming puzzles are your thing then this
is a must - if you own and enjoy the Soma cube then you owe it to
yourself to add one of these to your collection. To me, any puzzle that
comes in a beautifully made box is a must have!
Yes, yet another brilliant creation from the warped mind of Alexander
Magyarics. This is available with 2 different wood combinations (Wenge
pieces or Acacia pieces both in a Cherry tray). Either of these has been
beautifully made and looks gorgeous. There are 3 identical pentominoes,
2 mirror image tetrominoes and a corner tetromino. The first puzzle, of
course is to make a 3x3x3 cube which has only one assembly - it took me
a couple of hours to make it! Either I am rubbish at these or it is
significantly harder than expected. Then for extra fun, it came with a
sheet of paper with instructions for other challenges. This is not
normal for most of Alexander’s puzzles and I had to read it through
twice to make sure that I fully understood the idea and challenges. You
need to create two full 3x3 layers on top of each other and then a 3rd
layer which makes one of the shapes on the sheet. This can only be done
by leaving out one of the three tetrominoes (playfully, Alexander
doesn’t say which to leave out - aargh!)
I have only attempted and solved a couple of these so far but it
was great fun. There are a whole bunch of challenges so this puzzle will
keep you busy for quite a long time! Stunning idea and beautifully
created by Jakub, Jaroslav and their incredibly talented team.
This puzzle release is absolutely fabulous - a triumph by Alexander and something wonderful from Volker and Alfons. Go get them quickly whilst they remain in stock and hopefully more of the Euklid meets Fuller will be released.
