My table of toys - some have been here months or even years!
Much to the chagrin of Mrs S, my puzzle arrivals keep on coming and I haven't
had time to put any away in ages - they are EVERYWHERE! I have quite a lot that
I haven't managed to solve or haven't managed to even play with yet. Some of my most
longstanding puzzles that are suitable to be left somewhere warm and which are
suitable to dip into periodically are left on a side table in our conservatory.
I find that at weekends, after the obligatory exercise on the rower (if I get
fat, she will chuck me out! 😱), I tend to sit on the sofa next to these puzzles
and pick up something to idly fiddle with. Sometimes I don't get a chance to sit
down because its not always my seat...
It's warm in here! Zzzzzz Sometimes I wish I was a cat!
A correspondent of mine (that's you, Steve) also seems to have a penchant
for Aaron Wang's disentanglement puzzles and recently asked me how I had
gotten on with the Boxing Gloves puzzle and if I could provide a clue to
help him. I shamefully had to admit that I had singularly failed to solve it
in over 4 years - shame on me! That puzzle has been sitting on that glass
table for longer than any other - I keep thinking that I should be able to
solve it and keep failing at it.
Boxing Gloves - looks familiar?
Does it look familiar? It should do...it is "just" a Ball and Chain puzzle - I
have written about them before in their various guises, from the original
classic that I bought from the sadly missed
Livewire puzzles to the fabulous complex versions
from Aaron
I bought in 2015 and again
last year which I had so much fun with. The thing about ball and chain puzzles is
that they have a base move that they all share but after (or even before) that
they need careful setting up and obviously careful movements after that. The
Boxing Gloves is doesn't even look that complicated unlike the Maze B&C
that I failed at so spectacularly last July. One thing that frightens me about
these puzzles is the tendency to get into a terrible knot. Recently, Aaron has
been using wonderful quick release mechanisms so that it is easily possible to
reset a tangled puzzle but this one has nothing to help you if you get into a
mess - I was rather frightened of it but could not stop myself from trying it
every few weeks or months.
At that point the cat insisted on more food and I put it down to feed him.
During that process my thoughts went along the lines of..."if the second one
is always set up wrong then what if I don't have a second one?" That sounds
fairly cryptic but if you are reading this, Steve, then you have a fairly big
clue right there! I tried something that I had not thought of before in 4
years and it didn't work - something wasn't quite right. Looking at it,
though, it was clear why and I needed a very specific setup move before trying
the same thing again. It frightened me quite a bit because the whole thing
seemed on the verge of a knot and it required every single bit of the length
of that chain but suddenly...
Next I tried something new - I had received a few beauties from
Eric recently
including the Anti-gravity box+. The plus here is because Eric worked with
Frederic Boucher
to add an extra challenge to his original puzzle giving us 2 sets of 6
sticks to be inserted into the box, one has 2 solutions and the other
solution. Eric has beautifully made this from Iroko and Paulownia with
magnets glued in flush either on the side or end of the pieces. The two
puzzle sets can be told from each other by the presence of a decorative
dowel in the end of the set with the unique solution.
Something borrowed??? Over 9 months ago, I was very kindly lent a copy of the
ResQ puzzle (again designed by Frederic Boucher and made by Eric) and I have
been playing with it off and on every few weeks when I get time. To my eternal
shame, I have found only one move and discovered a tool. Having found my tool,
I have no idea what to do with it - there seem to be absolutely no
"tool-holes" for me to place it and all I can do is admire the wonderful
workmanship. I am very grateful to Andrew for lending it to me and his
enormous patience as I have kept it for so so long! This is how puzzle friends
are - such a wonderful bunch!
This leaves me feeling a little blue - but not as much as a partial solve...
Sax 2
Another fabulous challenge that I had bought from Aaron was a set of pure
wire puzzles designed by Shuai Chi and beautifully made by Heping Gao. I
loved the look of these for the theming but also the fact that they are pure
wire meaning no knots. It does not, however, mean that they are easy. Aaron
has given them all a level of 10+ which means that he found them pretty hard to solve himself and that means that a simpleton like me will really struggle and, oh boy, did I struggle!
Over the last 6 months since they arrived I have played with all three of them and can vouch that they are very very tough. Whilst they look very similar, they are all distinctly different and moves that are possible on one are not possible on the others. Seeing as I was so flush with success from the Boxing gloves and then I chose to have yet another try at this set that had beaten me so far (it has been in my conservatory stash the whole time). I chose to try the Sax 2 puzzle because I thought that one less obstructing ball might make for an easier puzzle. To be honest, this probably isn't the case because the loop on the end of the shuttle effectively causes a major obstruction because it cannot pass through the lowest of the hoops on the main body. I wasn't to know that at the time.
So why am I so blue? Having had something old, new and borrowed must be the reason. At this moment, I still have the puzzle in two pieces - I have spent a whole day trying to return it to the beginning and seem to be missing a trick. My head now hurts quite a lot and I think I might need to put it down for a while! Once I have it fully solved i.e. returned to the beginning and then moved both ways a second time then it will be time to try the others in the series - wish me luck!
Before I start today, I have to inform you (if you hadn't noticed already) that
the puzzles I reviewed last week have been released for sale on the
Pelikan puzzles store. Almost all of them are still available as I type this.
I have known Andrew for a rather long time and have had a LOT of fun with his
puzzles over the years. Originally he was known for his gorgeous wooden
creations - mostly interlocking puzzles of his own design as well as remakes
of a few of his favourite Stewart Coffin puzzles.
Diagonal cube
Locked cube III
I
was amazed
by the quality and finish from a relative newcomer to the puzzling world at
the time. and then it went a little quiet before he burst back onto the
world having taken the rarified arena of Turning Interlocking Cubes (TICs) so
beloved by me and one of my mentors,
Bernhard Schweitzer, totally by storm and designed some of the most amazing puzzles any of us
had ever seen. Whilst he still produced a few of his own designs in wood he
has moved into 3D printing in a big way and sells them via his store
here or through
Etsy.
I am always looking for more beautiful wood but I still love the puzzling
experience in plastic but tend not to put many of these on display. The
advantage of the plastic is that I can box them up and store them in my
garage and then play with them again at a later date without having to worry
that they might degrade in storage. Today's puzzle will definitely not be
going into storage now that I have solved it - it will go on display in one
of my cabinets - it is a stunning puzzle in looks as well as play
experience. The Burr Bot came to my attention when it appeared in the
IPP design competition last year. Unfortunately due to this pesky virus thing, we couldn't
all get together and play with them and the viewing and voting was done
on-line. I was very intrigued - it was a sequential discovery puzzle as well
as a burr. It also won a Jury Honourable mention
prize. I was determined to get a copy.
At this time work caught up with me - the virus was running riot through the
UK and hospitals were chock-a-block. My workload went through the roof and I
had very little time for puzzling, let alone purchasing. I completely forgot
about it until my friend Steve reviewed it (along with a rather wonderful
looking cocktail) on his
blog. If Steve professes to loving a burr then there must be something very
special and/or very clever about it...he will be the first to admit that
burrs are not his thing. As you all know, they really are my thing. So I
wrote an email to Andrew asking if one might still be available. To my
shame, I wasn't paying proper attention to my email app and sent the email
to Andrew Coles (owner of the
puzzle lock company) who delightfully was obviously used to this mistake happening and
forwarded it on to the correct Andrew. Phew!
Before you head off to ask Andrew for your own copy of Burr Bot, I have to
sadly inform you that they have sold out and Andrew has moved on to the next
in his puzzle series. I was just in time because he had a few parts still
lying around and was happy to print the pieces that he needed to complete
the remainder of the puzzle. Lucky me! In fact he also offered (whilst he
was posting to the UK) to make and send me the puzzle he has switched his
attention to - Burr Bank which is supposed to be more complex and the next
step in the evolution of this puzzle sequence. Well it would be rude to turn
him down so I risked the wrath of Mrs S and both puzzles were being made and
arrived a couple of weeks ago.
That week was quite a busy week for Mrs S and the various postal services as
I also received the latest delivery from Jakub with the Pelikan puzzles to
review, a gorgeous pair of puzzles from
Stephan Baumegger
as well as a lovely heavy metal delivery from Mr Strijbos. I won't say what
she said when my delivery from Mr Fuller arrived this week. Let's leave it
at Whack! Ouch! Sorry dear. Let it be known
that whilst I apologised for so many arrivals, I did NOT promise not to buy
any more.
My work has become quite chaotic over the last few weeks and months. There
is a lot of staff sickness in hospitals just now due to Covid and this is
placing a lot of strain on services. I spend my time trying very hard to get
the work done and help my colleagues clear the enormous backlog of cases
that have built up and often finish work late. I also am the fool who
volunteered to write the on-call rotas for our department and am having to
scrabble around on a weekly (if not daily) basis to fill suddenly opened
gaps caused by sickness. Al of this does not leave me much time for puzzling
and when I do have time, leaves me with a brain that doesn't seem work
right. It was with considerable trepidation that I picked up Burr Bot and
read the instructions.
The cute cubic bot had swallowed something and it was definitely audible
when gently shaken. There was no other information so I assumed that it was
just a burr that I needed to dismantle. Looking at it I could see 4
horizontal sticks in the frame which would interact with what looked like a
vertical central burrstick. Time to investigate and see how they interact.
Whilst I love this sort of puzzle and have a MASSIVE
collection
of these interlocking cubes from
Alfons Eyckmans, I do often really struggle to solve them due to getting terribly
lost.
There certainly is an interesting mechanism inside - I got a clue to this
when I picked it up from my armchair and the key to the Popplock T13 was
hanging from the bottom! There appear to be magnets inside!
Within a few moves!
I quickly became engrossed and realised that there was more to this than met
the eye. The central piece rises up but the bottom piece is not attached to
it. Whilst that was distracting, I did not know what else I could do and just
carried on exploring. One evening in front of the TV left me going round and
round in circles with the pieces quite well trapped amongst each other. I had
to be careful not to be too noisy - 3D printed puzzles do make a certain
scratchy noise when the pieces are moved and I did not want to upset "she who
must be flinched from". I was also making lots of my usual muttering noises
which she also finds very annoying ("Do you have to breathe like that?" I
often hear). I got stuck that first evening but had a breakthrough the
following one:
I had a key piece - now what? I got sidetracked trying to remove the cross
pieces for an evening before abandoning that as fruitless. There are clearly
magnets in it (both the interior of the Bot as well as the key) and it was
going to be important to work out how they should be used.
At this point, I noticed something (no I can't tell you what it is) and
this led very nicely to another discovery and then some experimentation
produced a whole new challenge. I was off again.
Not a spoiler - it was always obvious this was going to happen
It would appear that Burr Bot has swallowed a shark. No wonder he was feeling a
little under the weather! At this point, I did think I had finished but there
was still some unused parts of the puzzle and something was still gently
rattling. After the next step (which I did wonder whether he would survive) I
also had the coin that keeps his heart beating:
So much fun!
Time to take the photos and then reassemble it all before trying again to make sure that I properly understood it. A mark of a thoughtful design here, is that the reset of this wonderful puzzle is not just a reversal of every step that has been done so far. It can be reset very easily and then just needs a reinsertion of the key into the top. Fabulous!
I am very grateful to Andrew for finding the spare parts lying around to make me a copy. I can see why he won a prize in the design competition - it is a wonderful odyssey with personality and fun as well as a really nice sequence of discoveries, experimentation and thought. I am looking forward to working on Burr Bank which is supposed to be even tougher and more fun.
Not my photo - this was done for Jakub by
Ivan Danik I unpacked them in a hurry after work and Mrs S was distinctly
unimpressed with 8 puzzles arriving I moved them into my study as
quickly as possible to prevent violence occurring!
I have written this ahead of release date due to work pressures. My goodness
what a week and a bit! Having returned from a week off I have had to pay for it
dearly by working my little butt off - 2 weekends in a row and some late
finishes at work have meant that trying to solve the latest Pelikan release has
been a huge challenge. I have not managed to solve them all yet but I have
beaten 6 in a Herculean effort. Let me say, that effort has been worth it - I
think this might well be the best Pelikan release ever.
We have (from back left):
The Cup designed by Ad van der Schagt (also designed the
Fourfold puzzle)
Onto the puzzles and I will start with the centrepiece which I have not even
attempted yet - it is the pick of the bunch and deserves my full attention
and not a quick fiddle and fail.
Castle Builder Set
Castle Builder Set designed by Tamás Vanyo (made from Oak)
This incredible design and work of art created by Jakub and Jaroslav is a sort
of freeform pattern creating puzzle (I am not actually certain how it should
be
classified). I saw this design from Tamás back in January when he published it on his
FB page and it intrigued me. The beauty and intricacy of the pieces were
unusual and I was hopeful that it might be produced in large numbers for the
puzzling world to try. I was not surprised when Jakub showed it to me - he is
probably the only craftsman that I know who would take on such a huge
production challenge like this.
Even the instructions are beautiful!
The aim is to build a castle with a path from the bottom level to the
top that doesn't involve jumping. This sounds easy and just a matter of
lifting the pieces out of the frame and placing them where you want them.
BUT...whilst each of the pieces trapped in the frame seems to have a 2x2
footprint and looks like they should lift out, they won't actually come out
easily. There is a gap in a corner and they will slide around but this was not
helpful in my early casual play. I remembered the previous framed puzzles that
Pelikan had made and realised that the frame comes apart allowing the pieces
to be slid out and also shows why they are trapped:
The pieces have protruding feet!
From here, it can be seen that the pieces are based on a 3x3 footprint with the
consequence that they cannot lift vertically out of the frame and also means
that constructing your castle requires more thought than just placing the pieces
just where you want them for the stairs and paths to line up. This will need a
fair bit of space to spread out and then some considerable thought to design
your own special castle. I have not yet tried to solve it yet due to time and
space constraints but can't wait to get to it - it will be a fun new challenge
and when finished will look absolutely stunning on display! This will need to go
on the sideboard in my dining room - don't tell Mrs S!
Alexander has taken the puzzle world by storm over the last few years. He has
designed some of the most complex and yet still fun interlocking packing
puzzles I have ever seen and I just cannot resist his stuff. Luckily for us
puzzlers, Jakub also agrees that his designs need to be made available to the
world. The fun thing (just like Osanori-san) is the ability to create
something that looks simple, with only a few pieces which aren't even that
complex but requiring real thought and experimentation to solve. Sliders 2 is
simply amazing but it comes with a warning...it might frighten you too.
When it arrived, the 4 pieces were placed in the 3x3x3 box in such a way that
I seriously struggled to remove them - this was a hint of things to come.
After 5 minutes of swearing and upsetting Mrs S, I got my pieces for the photo
and realised that this was a lot different to the
previous Sliders challenge
(and, I think, better for it). The 2 sliders are identical which means that
the puzzle can be solved in any orientation and interestingly they are held in
place without intruding into the puzzle space - they purely block the entrance
and oh boy, the really block it! The aim is to create a 3x3x3 cube from the 4
pieces and place them such that they completely fill the entrance (there will
be empty cubies below that top face).
Having solved it (with a considerable struggle), I went to Burrtools and found
that there are 21 possible ways to make a 3x3x3 cube but only 9 assemblies
that have a complete face. This is going to take you quite a bit of thought
and I would not be surprised if you need a little hint (I did). Alexander
contacted me before I started to play and told me that...
This took me quite a few hours to solve and is probably my favourite of
this release - it is super difficult, super fun and frightening too. I would
very much suggest that you don't leave this in the solved position for storage
because once you have forgotten the solution the chances of dismantling it
blind without using a Burrtools file is pretty low. Well done Alexander and
Pelikan for a fabulous creation!
Alfons is one of the absolute masters of clever burr designs and he has been
adding more and more puzzles to
Goetz' Burr zoo
over the last few years. This wonderful design which looks like a 10 piece
burr (an unusual number) actually has 2 hidden pieces inside. As the name
implies the external whales and internal whales dance around each other a fair
bit before the puzzle comes apart. It has been gloriously manufactured using
bright vibrant woods (Wenge, Padauk, Purpleheart, Maple and Cherry) and the
attention to detail is stunning - the whales have eyes made with contrasting
dowels that have been shaved flush with the surface. It is this craftsmanship
that brings us back to Pelikan again and again.
The movements of the pieces are smooth with the fit being just tight enough
where needed to keep it stable and the internal whales (which you realise are
there when suddenly a beady eye is looking at you) slide freely as required
using gravity to manipulate them. The initial pathway is a lovely bit of
experimentation without too many false paths and actually seems pretty logical
for the first 15 moves or so. A few of the moves need precise placement of the
pieces first which caused me to be blocked for quite a while - I thought that
I knew what I had to do but it wouldn't work and only after an hour or so of
searching for a hidden path did I realise what I had done wrong before
continuing on my way. About 20 moves in I got stuck...the puzzle was quite
stretched out with several pieces that looked like they should be removable
soon but I just couldn't find the release mechanism. Back and forth I went
before I suddenly found a very lovely compound move involving a bunch of
pieces at once and Aha! The first piece came out. The puzzle has a perfect
challenging level of 27.6.6.2.2.1.1.2 and the removal of pieces 2 and 3
are still a tough challenge despite being only another 6 moves each - the 2nd
and 3rd pieces took me another hour to remove. The pieces remain well held in
place, if a little squishy, as they slide and partially rotate on each other.
There doesn't seem to be any rotational shortcut and even after 3 pieces have
been removed the whole thing stays together without collapsing into a heap.
This was a fabulous challenge, extremely well made and my second favourite of
the bunch.
The whales have been released
Maybe if you are a genius you can assemble it from memory or even work it out.
I will definitely be using Burrtools to put it back together.
Dr Latussek is, quite probably, one of the most clever and interesting puzzle
designers in the world just now. He creates challenges that are much more
involved and require a lot more understanding than most other designers. A
huge number of his designs are too difficult for me because I seem to have a
mental block with certain pattern type challenges and block packing puzzles
but I am aware that many other puzzlers absolutely adore his challenges. I
just wish that my brain worked like his does. It was with considerable
trepidation that I picked up the Soma Squartata from the pile sent by Jakub. I
did not understand the name and once I had removed the pieces from the box
(Volker always instructs a special delivery arrangement), I was extremely
frightened by the complexity of the pieces - this does not look like a Soma
cube! Luckily for me, Volker always sends me extra information when Jakub
sends the puzzles for me to review. This time the extra information included
an explanation of the name and the complex shape of the pieces.
This puzzle IS based on a Soma cube shapes but for each of the pieces of a
soma cube, a quarter has been removed leaving a sort of spindly more complex
shape:
Using just one piece as an example it can be seen how it has been
carved out leaving just a "quartata"
All seven quartered or squartata'd
The aim of this incredible puzzle is, as with all soma cubes, to place the
pieces into a cube formation and back into the box so that the opening is
completely covered. Initially I was very frightened of this because I thought
it might be one of those anti slide type puzzles that Volker seems to love and
my brain doesn't understand. Thankfully, that is not the case. It is "just" an
assembly puzzle with an extra constraint of requiring the top face to be
complete. To me, this was a fabulous fun challenge - it is basically an
interlocking challenge - I have ben enjoying the TICs over the last few years
and this is similar without the rotations. I did find a couple of assemblies
that did not have the completed face and this will be useful for storage. The
requirement of the completed face really adds to the challenge and allows you
to home in on the one unique solution. It took me quite a few hours to find an
assembly that would work but the fun prolonged by the need to place the pieces
in the correct order otherwise the assembly gets blocked. For once, a puzzle
from Dr Latussek that I found challenging and still very possible - a huge
amount of fun which has been beautifully made from Wenge and Acacia by Jakub
and Jaroslav.
Osanori-san designs fabulous packing puzzles which I have reviewed many times
on this blog but he also is very well known for his stunning interlocking
designs that require a very well hidden sequence of moves to dismantle (some
of my favourites have included the various Galaxy puzzles (see
here,
here and
here). This gorgeous
creation in Ash and Wenge has a beautifully edged frame and 4 pieces
interlocked inside. Obviously the aim is to take it apart and this is much
easier said than done.
It becomes clear quite quickly that the name of the puzzle comes from the fact
that the 2 pairs of identical pieces have been arranged symmetrically in
several directions (rotational in the X/Y plane and also in the X/Z plane).
There are quite a few moves possible and I found myself getting stuck several
times in a loop because the symmetry seemed to force me to do something which
the moves on the other side just reversed. After about a ½ hour of fiddling I
suddenly made a breakthrough and found a move that did not seem to force me
round in circles and from there the pieces dance around each other a bit
before finally the first piece can be removed. It is a nice clever sequence as
one would expect from Osanori.
The pieces and the frame are symmetrical too
Having taken this apart in the evening, I left it overnight and set to the
reassembly from scratch with only a very vague memory of the sequence I had
previously found. The challenge is absolutely perfect! It takes a lot of thought
and discovery (with several false starts) to reassemble the puzzle - the sense
of satisfaction for someone like me who is terrible at assembly puzzles like me
was fabulous. This one is right up there with the Galaxy puzzles in my opinion.
JB4A
JB4A by Osanori Yamamoto (made from Bubinga and Maple)
A release from Pelikan would really not be complete without one of
Osanori-san's wonderful small packing puzzles. This is one of my favourites so
far - it is made from a gorgeously coloured and grained Bubinga and is a
seriously fun challenge. As always, there is a small shape to be made (this
time a 3x3x3 cube) from some pretty complex pieces with what at first looks
like a rather large opening which you might think would make the puzzle much
easier. However, the end result has to have the pieces completely covering up
all the openings once finished and with such a big gap this really limits the
options. The large hole on the top does allow initial easy insertion but these
pieces are quite large and complex and then movement and access get blocked
pretty quickly. Looking at the shape of the small columnar hole in the box
gives an idea of what is going to be required/possible during the solve but
actually doing it is another thing entirely.
No spoiler here
These puzzles look almost trivial when first picked up (especially with the
large entry hole) but the reality is that they are a proper challenge for any
experienced puzzler. I really enjoyed it - the puzzling time for me was about 2
hours and the sense of satisfaction at the end was fabulous.
TILL
TILL by Dr Latussek (made from Garapa)
This lovely chunky puzzle design by Dr Latussek looks wonderful in the yellow
wood. It is named after Till Eugenspiel who was an early 14th century resident of Saxony and a prankster
responsible for a "chapbook" on which his name sake owl and mirror could be
found. The aim of the puzzle is to use the pieces to create mirror symmetric
shapes using 2 (easy) or 3 of the pieces (harder).
I am terrible at pattern finding and symmetry puzzles but the size and tactile
nature of this one was quite appealing. It is a nice thing to sit in an
armchair with and fiddle with 3 relatively simple shapes and put them together
to try and find mirror symmetries. I have found 3 symmetries using 2 pieces
and 2 solutions using 3 pieces. Interestingly one of the three piece
assemblies has mirror symmetries on several different faces. This is a really
nice gentle challenge that is suitable for all grades of puzzlers - I think
kids would find this fun and might help teach them about symmetry.
This last puzzle in the current release is one that I have not had time to
solve yet. It is absolutely stunning made from American Walnut and Cherry.
This will be a very tough puzzle to dismantle - I love these specially shaped
burrs but the combination of rings, boards with burrsticks through the centre
do make for a tremendously difficult challenge. It has a level of
22.6.5.2.1.2.2 to take apart and will include quite a few sideways movements
of the rings as well as the burrsticks. I always seem to struggle to find the
appropriate shifts and then get lost. I look forward to trying this new one as
I have never seen a burr from Ad before.
All these puzzles should be available from Pelikan within a week or so - whatever you buy, you will not be disappointed, they are all lovely to look at on display and really nice challenges to puzzle on. I am sure that for those of you in North America who would prefer to buy more locally then they will arrive at PuzzleMaster not long after that.
This has been written ahead of time and set to publish at my routine time. Having had some time off work, I have to pay the price by working two weekends in a row! Sob!
Whilst I am here, can I ask that you all think about the awful atrocities that are going on in Ukraine. One of our fellow puzzlers, Peter Grabarchuk, has asked that I highlight to you what is happening and request that you consider doing anything you can to help out. Either give to a charity that is helping in Ukraine or that is helping support refugees. Anything you can do will help out and ease a terrible situation.
Back to the puzzling…
My friend Eitan has been rather busy with work and having a family over the
last few years and seemed to have almost withdrawn from Puzzle design and
manufacture. My other puzzles of his were the incredible
Eitan's star
(one of the most difficult and marvellous twisty puzzles ever mass produced)
and the
Master Curvy Copter
which he designed and used Shapeways to 3D print for me. With some
considerable surprise I saw him offer up a new design called Ziggurat, which
he was 3D printing himself. The Ziggurat is a massive Mesopotamian pyramid-like structure usually with 2 to 7 stories. Eitan was going even more massive with EIGHT! How could I resist? I jumped on the offer and sent off some electronic
money (not actually a lot) and got some feedback from him that the colours
that I had chosen were great. I waited for the US and UK postal services to
get their acts together and finally took delivery.
In the meantime, Michel van Ipenburg had written about it in his newsletter as
well as pronounced on Facebook that it was a very nice fun design which was a
great relief. Michel is the foremost connoiseur of the N-ary puzzle group and
if he approves then it is definitely worth purchasing.
Eitan had thoughtfully sent the puzzles out with 6 of the plates already
assembled into a stack connected to a display stand and another 2 extra plates
were loose in the box ready to be added to the stack. Initially, I did wonder
why he had started the puzzle off for me and possibly gone halfway but then I
realised that he had actually been very clever and thoughtful. The stack of 6
was definitely not ready to just start adding the other 2 to. The stack had to
be completely dismantled before the reassembly with 8 was going to be
possible. Having 6 ready assembled allows the puzzler to explore the sequences
and understand the puzzle before embarking on the main odyssey. Once apart, the clever design of the plates and how they interact with each other across 3 layers is apparent and I was further impressed with Eitan's skills. The 2 colours have plates that are mirror images of each other.
I spent a
couple of evenings on my chair watching TV working out how it worked and got
ready for the full assembly - there were going to be a LOT of moves that had
to be done in the right order and in the right direction.
A very interesting beginning
Hidden by the spoiler button is the initial stage for the first assembly -
having to do that was completely unexpected and very nice to realise. Once I
thought I had it begun, it was time to begin the arduous process of working my
way through the many many moves to stack the plates tidily. Everything moves
very freely and easily despite the 3D printing. I initially just worked my way
through but on 3 occasions realised that at some point I had turned myself
around and was heading the wrong way. In fact, the first time this happened, I
only realised that I had done this when I returned to the start
position...DOH! Having inadvertently back-tracked 3 times, I decided to take
notes to prevent further errors and to also allow me to take a break and obey
Mrs S' commands with work to do around the house. I hate to think how many
extra moves that I actually ended up performing but I got there in the end:
All 8 plates locked together
Stacked! As Eitan intended
I love it! The sliding mechanism places no strain at all on the very delicate thin tongues of plastic and it is a fun puzzle to explore. It will not be something that you solve multiple times but the experimentation and assembly was a pleasant diversion and even getting lost in the path multiple times only added to the enjoyment. It is ready now to go on display in my N-ary section.
Thank you Eitan, I look forward to future designs from you now that you are back designing again.
Yet again, my good friend and PuzzleMad foreign correspondent, Mike Desilets,
has sprung into the breach! I have had a week off and been away in a place with
extremely poor internet access. Whilst puzzling was possible - I never go
anywhere without some of my lovely toys to help me ignore Mrs S. Whack! Ouch!
Sorry dear. Somehow, as he always does, he senses (does he have some form of
ESP?) that I need him to fill in for me and an article arrives in time. Thank
you mate, I really owe you! Over to Mike:
Aloha Kākou Puzzlers,
This shall be a very modest post. I’m trying to keep the typing fingers
limber more than anything else. I also, unexpectedly, experienced some great
puzzling over these past few weeks, so wanted to spread that joy. Without
further into, let’s start in with a really fun new disentanglement from
Shuai Chi - “Dig Ears.” (Ed - I discussed it
here) It was included in
Aaron Wang's last annual mega-batch of puzzles, which I insist is his best and most
diverse yet. Shipping has been a challenge for many makers and purchasers
this past year, no surprise to most of you, and Aaron’s box took a good
several months to arrive. He remained in close contact during the whole
period, however, tracking the package; it was never a serious concern.
Aaron’s service is as outstanding as his puzzles. (Ed - I totally agree)
Whenever I get Aaron’s annual package, I immediately search for the one or
two puzzles that are below level 10 (Ed - hahaha, me too!). As those
of you in the know, know, Aaron’s disentanglements are always very
challenging. I’ll just go ahead and all-caps that, VERY challenging.
Aaron basically invented the 10+ category. I have yet to solve a complete
batch before the next one arrives (some 12 months later). At this point I am
faced with an impossible backlog. I believe this is the case for the entire
PuzzleMad staff. (Ed - seeing as that is just you and me, I definitely agree!)
The insert.
Anyway, when I saw Dig ears clocking in at a manageable level 9, I knew I
had a chance. Also, no string involved, yet another plus. Three weeks
and a few widely interspersed sessions later, I had the shuttle off and had
also achieved repeatability. It was a great day to be alive! The old hands
know what I mean. (Ed - 3 weeks? That is pretty good for this one! I think it took me 2
weeks and I am supposed to be quite good at wire puzzles)
I highly recommend dig ears to all serious puzzlers, even if
disentanglements are not your thing (which seems to be quite common,
unfortunately). It’s hard to express the brilliance of this modest little
puzzle. Shuai has done a really great job here, and I can see why Aaron
chose to make it. Like most innovative disentanglements, it takes known
elements and combines them in a new way that is at first (and sometimes
forever) quite baffling. In this case, you immediately recognize the classic
‘cowboy hobble’ form of the main component, but then the spiral arm is
extended a full extra turn. The other dangly bit is hung off the main body
with it’s two rings and finally the shuttle hangs off that. The very first
move seems obvious, but the second is far less so. I would even say that
it’s the main challenge of the puzzle. Once you have that licked, the third
and fourth should fall into place without tremendous effort. Reassembly will
be a little tricky, even if you were wise enough to pay close attention to
your procedure. If I’ve learned anything at all doing this stuff, it’s to
slow down and study individual moves before taking next steps. Even with
this, however, there is a degree reverse-solve required; things just don’t
look the same going backwards. By the end of the process, however, you
should fully understand the puzzle. It’s really unlikely you will get it
back together unless you do.
Dig ears has inspired me to work diligently on this new batch and resist the
procrastination which these really hard entailments inspire. I was well on
the way to solving “cable car”, but somehow got myself all mixed up in the
middle of the process. I need to gather my wits and get back at that one.
But I can tell you already, for a fact, that it is a great puzzle. And also,
a very handsome puzzle. It would be on my top shelf, if my house had
shelves.
Cable Car. I love this one. I’ll love it even more once I solve it.
(Ed - I also bought this one - it's actually called Cableway, I was thinking
that it would be a relatively straightforward N-ary type puzzle
but the construction of the doubled over frame means that the expected N-ary
simple moves cannot happen. At present I am completely stuck on it and still
at the beginning)
Before we close, I’d like to throw a quick ‘me too’ in the direction of
Allard Walker, friend of the blog, who recently posted on Join Liu’s Axes and Hammer
puzzle. Kevin Sadler, occasional contributor to PuzzleMad, also gave it a
very positive review
in July of last year. Those gents have about covered it, so I’ll only say
that I fully concur. This is truly the freshest, most interesting take on
Robert Boomhower’s 1966 classic in a very long while. That’s really saying
something, since it is one of the most widely copied and modified
disentanglements of all time. Axes and Hammer is also extremely well-made
and I have been fondling this puzzle in my front pocket (as far as you know)
for days on end. (Ed - we all believe that is what you are doing in your pocket!)
Axes and Hammer from Join Liu, 2020 IPP Design Competition entrant.
Finally, I want to extend a heartfelt Thank You to Cubic Dissection for the
beautiful Slideways puzzle I recently received. I was lucky enough to be the
winner in their last puzzle lottery. It was a pleasant (and shocking)
surprise; like my editor, I never win anything at all, not a damn thing.
This little puzzle is stunning, as you would expect from Eric and his
dissectors. It reminds me that I should perhaps be more diligent about
tracking CD releases. To be honest though, the very thought of participating
in a quarterly electronic mad scramble is stressful and off-putting. Most
likely I will continue to check in late and search for table scraps.
Fortunately for people like me, CD often produce multiple editions of the
very best puzzles, which helps a lot.
Slideways, among the best CoMo puzzles of all time. You can’t have too many copies. If I had to have just one, it would probably be this CD version.
(Ed - Yes I have to agree about how good a puzzle this is - I have a metal version of the plain burr and also a couple of Pelikan variants - stunning puzzles and fun to fiddle with)
Ok, that’s all I have, back over you Chief…
Wow! A nice romp through some really wonderful puzzles! If you get anywhere with Cableway then you might have to give me a hint. Thank you so much for all your efforts and I hope that you continue to enjoy your puzzling and chat with us about it soon. Take care mate!
I may have said once or twice on this very website that I am rubbish at
packing puzzles and I stick by that assertion whole-heartedly. I have
accumulated quite a few packing puzzles over the years and they give me a huge
headache. I have gotten much better at the 3D interlocking type puzzles from
Osanori-san
and
Alexander-san but any puzzles that involve placing lots of pieces (especially very similar blocks in a cavity) stump me. I have only managed to solve the Euklid for Kids and still not managed the other 2 Euclid puzzles and the Fermat, with only 3 pieces but a non rectilinear geometry, have me beaten. I just don't have the skills to work them through and am reduced to trying hours and hours of random attempts which I cannot keep track of. If there is a logical approach to them I just don't know it. I am in awe of Nick Baxter who not only solves them with little difficulty but seems to be able to find extra solutions. One day I will saw the top of his head off and examine his brain! Don't tell him though or I suspect he might avoid me. To my eternal shame, I cannot even solve a one piece packing puzzle - bought from Eric back in mid 2020 - it's "just" a big block to be placed in a box...it shouldn't be that tough! Tray packing puzzles with complex shapes are also a huge problem for me - is there a technique for them? I just don't know. I have a bunch of Alexander-san's puzzles which I dip into quite frequently and so far I have only managed to solve a few of the very easiest of them:
First I counted the notches and the protrusions and they don't equal each other - bugger! Then I looked at how many notches I could make by placing pieces side by side - it still wouldn't match. Maybe there was going to be a huge gap but estimating the surface area of the tray and the total area of the pieces told me that there was a pretty close match and no big gaps. Time to be systematic and look at the lengths of pieces and estimate where they could fit when placed in pairs. It wasn't really successful in a way that I was expecting but I did manage to fill large parts of the tray with almost no gaps at all - the unequal pairing of notches and protuberances seemed to be less of an issue this way. I seemed to be filling the tray quite well. Until the last piece would not fit. At this point, rather than tip it out and start again, I did try moving tiles around and swapping a few without mucking up the really nice tray filling that I had achieved. Gradually, the tray filled better and better until I was left with one awkward piece which looked odd.
What if I can??? Oh, you sneaky man! That is very clever and really quite tough. The Ice 9 has a very lovely Aha! moment which cannot be found randomly. It will start random, move to a definite thought process which won't work and then noticing something special.
I think I did take about the requisite 3 hours making this rather good value for money. You should definitely consider getting one or two of these challenges! Maybe it is time for me to pick up Alexander's puzzles again?
