I Needed To Think Even Further Outside the Box

 

MagneTeam

BurrBon

I couldn't resist it...yet another design by Alexander Magyarics. I have been watching this week as he seems to be on a design roll - I think at least 4 if not 5 new designs of his were published on Puzzlewillbeplayed this week alone! Having received a nice bunch of puzzles from Eric a few weeks ago, I have been gradually fiddling with them as time allows. I wanted to get back some of my burr solving mojo and jumped in with the brilliant Spy (reviewed here and still available). After that I tried my luck with BurrBon, the rather fun little 6 piece burr inside a 6 piece burr that was brought to us all because I drew it to Eric's attention on Facebook after the design was shown off by its' creator, Tim Alkema. Eric said that it was extraordinarily difficult and I soon found out that was the case...I failed! Trying to find something for today's blog post, I moved on to the other item from Alexander - the MagneTeam. For a moment I was worried that I had bought a duplicate puzzle - there is a very similar design I reviewed a while ago called Super Magnetic from Pelikan puzzles with an identical box but different pieces and the challenge to pack them inside. I really struggled to solve that puzzle and adored the incredible Aha! moment after I got it some 5 hours later. 

4 simple pieces

The MagneTeam has been stunningly made by Eric with incredible tolerances (0.002in - why can't he use metric measurments? I have no idea what 0.002in looks like!). The box is a lovely pale Ash and the 3 larger pieces are Granadillo - they need to be placed inside such that no gaps are visible. Just like Super Magnetic the top of the box has a plus shaped hole and the bottom a minus shape. This requirement is a huge constraint - surely this will make it fairly simple? On top of that the shape of the larger pieces effectively means that they can ONLY be inserted into the box and placed vertically - another huge constraint. This must mean that this will be quite a quick easy solve? Oh hell no! Remember guys, that I am a bear of very little brain and solving puzzles is really not my strong point. I seem to find that I am MUCH better at buying puzzles than solving them. 

Starting outside of the box, I realised that there are a huge number of 3x3 assemblies with these 3 pieces but quite a lot less with the vertical arrangement constraint - I was getting there! Errr no. After 4 hours over 3 days of trying I had not found the solution. What was wrong with me? This was the easier of the challenges. I took it to work and handed it to my ODP (anaesthetic assistant) whilst I was doing an Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm repair and I periodically watched what she was trying to do. All of a sudden, I had an epiphany! Alexander designs his puzzles very carefully with pieces intended to fool you or throw your thought processes the wrong way. I suddenly realised what I had been missing.

Helena failed to solve it and told me in no uncertain terms that I HAD to show her the solution right away! Gulp! I did explain that I had so far failed as well but whilst waiting for the surgeon to do a particularly awkward suture line deep in the pelvis, I had another look and completely amazed her by solving it right before her very eyes and before the surgeon was able to cause any more blood loss.

Take my word for it - this is solved!
It has to be on its' side for the photo to stop a piece dropping down

What had changed? How had I managed to solve it this time? I realised whilst watching Helena play that I had been trying to do it entirely outside the box and using my virtual 3x3x3 grid had completely missed that one of the pieces after dropping through could then move outside of that small grid. I had actually assembled the correct positions of the pieces many many times whilst trying to solve it but had not been able to think outside the box in a fully unconstrained way - sigh! Really not very bright.

Helena was amazed at my prowess - this is quite a delightful feat for an old man like me in front of a pretty young thing like her. Unfortunately that was very short lived - I then explained the next phase being to repeat the process with the 4th piece (made from Morado). She looked at me expectantly and basically said "go on then". Let's just say that the admiration in her eyes faded very quickly! In fact it was just like being at home with Mrs S looking at me with disappointment in her eyes! Eventually after another 3 days of playing with it I finally found the correct solution. It really is a significant challenge with the entry of the final piece requiring 9 moves to get into position. Unlike the Hydrant puzzle from Alexander, the addition of the 4th piece actually requires all the pieces to be rearranged and not just find a way to pack it into the same arrangement.

What an amazing design! Beautifully made as one would expect from eric and a significant pair of challenges (especially for those of us who are 3D challenged). It is still available as I type and well worth adding to your collections.

Mrs S is currently quite pleased with me (well, partially pleased). I did manage to repair our Dualit toaster - it needed 4 new heating elements and a new timer switch - I fixed it yesterday without making a mess and without killing it. She is ever so slightly disappointed that I did not do the repair whilst in the bath and with the toaster plugged in! 😳 Especially after she went to all the effort of buying all that extra life insurance for me!

Yay!! I did not get electrocuted!

Stay safe everyone! Whilst the UK is currently doing very well, things are going really badly in parts of Europe and horrifically badly in India. Get your vaccination when it is offered to you - they are all extremely safe.

Schism

Schism

A couple of weeks ago whilst bemoaning my falling behind, I showed of a lovely little toy from Eric Fuller's Cubic Dissection called Rift. It was designed by Tim Alkema and consisted of a "mere" 3 piece burr entrapped in a split cubic frame. I liked the puzzle a lot, not for its' complexity, as it wasn't terribly tough but for its' interesting and enjoyable dance of pieces. I also chose it because I am a sucker for a set (I have absolutely adored the NOS puzzles for a similar reason). When Eric released the Rift puzzle he also promised a bigger brother by Tim, the Schism.

In the last update, there were quite a few new toys to choose from and despite everyone thinking that I always buy the lot, I actually can only afford to purchase a few at a time and, of course, Schism was on my list as a "must have". Eric's new packaging is great and this beauty in Ash and Granadillo arrived looking very like it's little brother. This time we have a 6 piece burr in a split frame. They will look absolutely spectacular side by side on display.

Eric said this about it:

Schism is the bigger brother to the popular Rift puzzle released in the last update. The elegantly simple cage interacts with a standard six piece burr in this instance, resulting in a difficult level 7.8.7.4 solution. Again with the unconventional moves...disassembly alone is a challenge. This pair of designs has been super worthwhile and is a must have for any serious puzzler.

I have to say that I do agree with him. It is again, not a hugely tough disassembly (just nicely challenging) but it is a really nice fun sequence with the frame interacting with the pieces during the disassembly.  The puzzle remains stable and does not fall to bits once a couple of pieces are removed and this allows for the possibility of a reassembly by a non genius like me.

Simple pieces - signed and dated as is customary

I am not one of those burr geniuses who can dismantle a puzzle and then scramble the pieces before reassembling from scratch several hours later and I certainly am not a Laurie Brokenshire who has poor Ethel disassemble everything for him so that he just manages the assembly without prior knowledge of the pieces, moves or order. When I take a burr apart, I carefully place the pieces around me (often on the sleeping cat) and am very careful to keep them oriented as they came out and in the correct order. After that I can often carry out the assembly immediately with that help. Lord help me if the cat moves and the pieces fall off! I will then take it apart and put it together again several times until I have learned which pieces go where and can then risk a scramble. This sounds like a bit of an ordeal but to me this is all part of the fun. It gives me several extra hours of fun with a new toy and then I can make the Burrtools file to finish the play off.

The Schism is pretty logical and it only took me 3 or 4 dis/assembly routines before I had it learned and I love it. At the moment I can now quickly take it apart, leave the pieces in a pile for a few hours and come back to it and put it together again with a little bit of deduction. When I finally manage to clear up the shithole that is my study then I hope to put the doo puzzles by Tim together on display.

I am very surprised that it did not sell out immediately as it is quite delightful. I suspect that all you serious puzzlers prefer the much harder puzzlers and are leaving us boys of "very little brain who think of things" to get on and enjoy the simpler more beautiful puzzles like this. If you are thinking of buying a nice little caged burr which is fun for beginners and experienced puzzlers alike then there are quite a few left for sale.

Falling behind

Rift

Is it just me? Have those wonderful (and pesky) craftsmen suddenly increased their puzzle production rate recently? Just when I have quite a lot of expense at home with builders in doing "stuff" around the house (NO! She won't let me build a puzzle room extension!),  the craftsmen suddenly hit me with a whole lot of new toys which are "essential" to purchase. In order to pay for all this stuff I seem to be working far too much and hence I am falling behind in my solving. I now have a huge backlog of unsolved puzzles, most of which I have not even had time to look at let alone attempt a solve. I have even failed to take photos of a few solved puzzles.

It doesn't help that a certain Chinese designer whose puzzles I showed off last week has made some N-ary puzzles which require an ENORMOUS number of moves - I have been working on the easiest of the Chinese ring variants, Corn on the cob I for a few evenings and have managed to get just over half way.....this has required several hundred (if not over a thousand) moves without counting the getting lost and having to backtrack a few times! I think Goetz who is the Streetwise puzzles official Logarithmic analyser might actually know the correct number of moves - I cannot work it out because I am too dim for that sort of thing and I cannot count past 20!

Looks so close but I think this is just over half way!

Christoph's Burrlock is Amazing!

Burrlock E

The last update from Eric (aka the Doctor of wood) on Cubic Dissection caught me a bit by surprise - not the timing but the sheer number of absolutely ESSENTIAL purchases! I try (for financial reasons and to prevent discord with she who frightens the living Bejeezus out of me) to keep the number of puzzles arriving at once down as much as possible because I have sort of run out of space and she is getting fed up with the mess!!! Things are so bad that my desk is currently strewn with puzzles that I don't have anywhere to put away! Here's a quick snap:

Lord help me! Where am I going to put these?

When Eric did open his store I absolutely HAD to buy 4 puzzles - the voices told me to and they drowned out the buzzing disapproval from Mrs S. One of the puzzles that I really couldn't resist was the Burrlock E by Christoph Lohe - he makes absolutely fantastic designs that are not hugely high in level or enormously difficult but are just plain fun to play with and solve. He seems to pay special attention to the playability. I reviewed his Mimicry puzzle from Jakub's New Pelikan Workshop puzzles here - it was not a tremendously high level but was a fabulous challenge and great fun to solve. The Closed box was also a fantastic puzzle also produced by Jakub. So not only do I lurve the puzzles designed by Christoph, I also really like burrs that have an interesting shape - this one in the shape (and with the function) of a padlock particularly appealed to me. I had also enjoyed the Padlock burr from Eric and designed by Tim Alkema, so how could I possibly resist another one?

Yet Again a Solution without Understanding!

Gordian Knot taken to another level

The size and quality of this blog post may well be reduced today - I have a hideous mix of Man flu and Ebola aka "Manflubola" which has resulted in large quantities of technicolour mucus and assorted nasty noises emanating from my person. This has very much annoyed the present Mrs S and she has utilised the laser burning stare many many times. Luckily she has decided that I am too infectious to get close to and so a Whack! Ouch! has not occurred.....yet! To make things worse, it is her birthday today and if I know what is good for me, I had better pay her some attention and not spend too long on puzzle stuff. If there are no more blog posts after this then please have her arrested and search for my body....it may be in pieces!

To compare

Way back in 2012 I published an article that I have referred to many times over the subsequent years about how a puzzle is only really properly solved when it is understood well enough to be able to do it repeatedly and without error. The puzzle that led to this statement was none other than the wire version of the Gordian Knot (not to be mixed up with the plastic board burr bearing the same name). The original puzzle does not seem to be stocked any more by Puzzle Master in their wire puzzles selection which is a shame because it was a terrific challenge. It took me a very long time to be able to say that I had solved the Gordian knot and I was pleased to be able to put it away knowing that it was truly done. At the end of last year I received a new consignment of wire puzzles from Wang Yulong in China and have been working my way through them but reached the point where I was well and truly stuck. I put them down (I had left them in my work bag and forgot about them) whilst I focussed on various burrs and other new acquisitions but the "call of the wired" always kept me picking them up and wistfully failing to solve them. One of the most frightening of all was a more complex version of the Gordian knot which had extra loops on it just to make it harder! I have played with this for months and always shied away when things began to get very tangled up. Eventually, I couldn't stand it any longer and made a determined attempt to solve it. I knew from my previous puzzle experience and from reading Goetz' compendium of N-ary puzzles that this was supposed to be a logical sequence based on Gary binary code. Looking through Goetz' pages I could see that this was very similar to his Gordian Knot 6 and and the Electro 1 which are Ternary.

Over the last week I played and played with it getting a few steps in and getting confused and ending up back at the beginning by accident or getting a few steps further and being a coward, backing out. Finally I made a concerted effort under the influence of a cold remedy and a large glass of wine and suddenly the string was out!

I have absolutely no idea how I did that

Mrs S was doubly annoyed with me because along with all the snorting noises I had been making I let out a big shout which ended in a coughing fit and upsetting her concentration! After I recovered from the laser burn, I put the puzzle down so that I could take a photo the next day. I did not feel the urge to reassemble it straight away before I forgot how because I had absolutely no idea what I had done! As usual I prove that I am not terribly bright!

The following evening after the photos, I started to reassemble it and was surprised that I could get about half way without any problem and then could go no further. Each time I tried to progress I ended up with the string removed. This was a problem that was starting to panic me because I had no solution diagram and as a bespoke puzzle none would be available for download! It took me 2 days to reassemble it with much effing and blinding and when it was back together I had another quick drink of wine and swore that I would not be taking it apart again! Yet......the lure of the puzzle.....and I remembered my initial article and picked it up again.

I NEED one of these!

I am now able to remove the loop and put it back pretty much every time by just sort of weaving through but not really understanding it. So far I have done it about 10 times (it takes me a good 20-30 minutes each time) and am no closer to understanding the N-ary/logical sequence in it. The one thing I love about the N-ary puzzles are the discovery of the magic sequence and then using a rhythm to solve it. Last week's Delirium 13 review was all about the sequence being understood and followed.....for a VERY long time. In the end I emailed Goetz about it and as a good puzzle friend (I was his exchange assistant at the London IPP) he provided me with a very long and detailed explanation of the puzzle. I am having to work through it slowly because his mathematical skills are much greater than mine. I haven't reproduced it here but may do so in the future with his permission but he is thinking of turning it into an article for the CFF journal. All in all the Gordian knot and it's more advanced brother is a brilliant puzzle. They occasionally come up at auction made by Rick Irby and are well worth acquiring if you can. I now need to find some way to acquire the even more complex Devil's cradle which is one level higher with 4 pairs of loops - if anyone has a copy to sell then please Contact Me.

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My friend Jakub Dvořák of the New Pelikan Workshop posted on Facebook that he had a couple of new additions coming up for sale. Of course I couldn't resist them and they arrived yesterday. My advice is to go there and BUY THEM NOW! These puzzles are simply stunning.

Gravity

Gravity was designed by Tim Alkema, a relative newcomer to burr design, and this one is just fabulous (I reviewed his Padlock Burr last week). It is not a super tough puzzle at level 14.2.2.2 but has something really unique and fun about it because it requires you to visualise the hidden 2x2x2 block inside and move it around under gravity to unlock the piece movement. Made from Cherry, Wenge, Purpleheart, Acacia and Padouk it is simply gorgeous and the block piece is a wonder to behold.
Tim said this about it:

"Gravity has easily become one of my favorite designs because of its unique and interesting solution. I was inspired to make this design after receiving so much interest in another one of my designs involving a hidden piece. I think Dario Uri put it best: “The title already explains the type of movement. During the solution process the small cube "falls" four times moving invisibly inside other pieces. Fantastic!"

 I agree with Dario - Fantastic! Putting it back together is just as much fun! No need for Burrtools.

Just look at that block!

The other very unusual design was one I really couldn't resist - the Canal House designed by N.J. Damstra. Made from Cherry, Wenge, Purpleheart, Maple and Padouk the burr is in the shape of a lovely house and is a mixture of boards and burr sticks:

This puzzle is a limited run puzzle and will sell out quite quickly so you may want to grab it soon. Even Mrs S has agreed that it is beautiful and can be allowed out of the study (renamed as the Puzzletorium). I have yet to solve it - the design was made with the aim of being tough but not impossibly hard and this is perfect for me. As I explained last week a good puzzle is not just about sheer number of moves, it is also about exploration, fun and beauty. This really fits the bill.

Whilst you are at the Pelikan site, have a look t the superhero burrs by Dan Fast - they are also limited edition and some are still available. I have yet to solve Batman (I'm stuck) and haven't tried Superman yet!

Now I had better get back to Mrs S before she loses her temper and finds some way to replace me with a more attentive husband!

Trust the Craftsman to Make a Good Choice

More Moves Aren't Always Best..... Except sometimes they are!

Breath-takingly gorgeous - Delirium 13

I've been on a bit of a burr whirlwind recently and have really enjoyed myself! Below I will be discussing some recent puzzles I solved with the theme of trusting the craftsman to make good choices. Many people are either attracted to or repulsed by high level burrs and I have flip-flopped between both feelings. I do own some incredibly high level burrs and am proud to have them in my collection but am aware that I don't have the skills to solve them. They make great talking points and look gorgeous on my shelves but after the first few, I really stopped buying any more. Most of the burrs I have bought recently have something much more interesting to them in terms of solve process or have a very interesting shape/look. I really want to have a chance of actually solving the puzzle to get maximum value from my purchase.

Of course, there has to be an exception that proves my rule and above is that exception! It is the Delirium 13 puzzle designed by Stéphane Chomine and then altered slightly and beautifully crafted by my good friend from South Africa, Johan Heyns. This fabulous construction in African Rosewood, Pau Marfim, Cedrella and Burmuru for the frame with Rosewood and Cherry for the burr pieces even came with a tool to allow me to dismantle the frame and reset if needed. With 5461 moves for the first piece I might just need that there tool! So why did I buy it and go against my edict that high level burrs are not something I should be collecting? Well as well as wanting to support Johan, it should be noted that this is not just any old burr.... it is an N-ary puzzle and is very similar in process to Bill Cutler's Binary Burr. The upshot of this is that once the logical sequence is fathomed, then it is just a matter of stamina and getting through to the end without getting lost. Despite such complexity this puzzle moves beautifully and so far has been great fun to play with. Of course, I have NOT finished it - I have attempted it twice now and each time managed probably about 2500 moves and miraculously found myself back at the beginning. Doh! I have absolutely no idea at what point I got turned around but it seems to be easily done and I never recognise it until I am right back to the start. Definitely NOT terribly bright!