Pelikan Summer Release 2025 Part 2

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!

Broken Frame and Window

Broken Frame and Window by Lucie Pauwels

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!

Coffin-Flop

Coffin-Flop by Dr Volker Latussek

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!

The Real Euklid

The Real Euklid by Dr Volker Latussek

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.

Minima Smiley and Sally

Minima Smiley and Sally by Frederic Boucher

The Minima Smiley puzzle I had reviewed in April was a great puzzle and huge seller for Pelikan. Of course, Frederic did not want to just leave the series with a huge triumph! He had to take it one step (or maybe quite a few steps) further by bringing the Smiley ball back and giving him a girlfriend (and a heart to seal their love) and hence we now have the Minima Smiley and Sally. Oh, and as if that wasn’t enough, the bolt from the last version was still present only bigger - MUCH bigger. This incredible puzzle is a serious challenge which I have still not completed as Jakub puts them on sale. I have retrieved Mr Smiley and found Sally inside but so far have not managed to retrieve her. There is quite a lot of thought required here as well as some considerable dexterity. At the moment I have got Sally trapped into a place that I cannot seem to retrieve her - it will need some thought© and quite a bit more time.

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.

Spring With Pelikan (part 2)

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.

Something Magnificent from Pelikan

The latest challenges from Pelikan are as gorgeous as ever!

Last week a delivery from the Czech Republic arrived much to my delight and much to the disgust of Mrs S! I haven't put anything away in my study in months and months - there are puzzles everywhere in my study. She says it is a terrible mess and I call it organised chaos - I know where everything is and it is a bit of a mess but I haven't really had much time for tidying up, All I seem to do is work and eat and sleep really really badly. She sort of agrees with that which is why I am not being murdered in my sleep or actually even being nagged about it very much. When it comes down to it, Mrs S is a keeper (after over 27 years of being married I should sort of hope so!)

I was a little surprised that there was going to be a new Pelikan release so soon. These things are always hellishly complex and more recently with non-rectilinear shapes must be pretty tough to manufacture to such incredible tolerances. Yet here we are just 6 weeks since the last batch and we have some more beauties for me to review as quickly as I possibly can and for you to buy (Friday Feb 4th 10am CET, 9am GMT, 4am EST, 1am PST). I have worked as quickly as I possibly can to solve as many as possible to show to you with an opinion.

Victoria 

Victoria by Christoph Lohe (in Wenge)

Much to my amazement and pleasure, Jakub and Jaroslav have been venturing out over the last few years into non-rectilinear grids and it’s not surprising to see them venture into the amazing realm of puzzles inspired by the Star puzzle that Stewart Coffin has taken so far with extensions to the shapes whilst retaining the familiar interlocking mechanism. These puzzles need incredible accuracy to construct and have some very odd angles involved. I had been informed by Christoph that he has been experimenting with this grid for a while and had come up with something new. When it arrived I was amazed at the beauty of the puzzle and how well it has been constructed. It is very easy for puzzles like these to have small gaps here and there but this one from Pelikan is absolutely perfect. Having solved quite a few of this type of puzzle before, I knew how the basic approach to dismantling it and once I’d found the separation axis and direction I quickly had my six pieces. 

Perfect cuts - 6 identical pieces

I was surprised to see that all 6 were identical and am even more surprised that Mr Coffin had never found and published this shape. I had taken it apart pretty quickly and scrambled the pieces and deliberately not paid attention to the orientation. Reassembly was a lovely fun challenge that requires a little planning (especially fun if you’ve never seen one of these before) and a fair bit of dexterity. Be careful… those corners are sharp. This is a wonderful new design from Christoph and it is great to see him branching into different geometries. As always Pelikan has made masterful job of the woodwork.

Seven woods

Seven woods by Stewart Coffin

This is another puzzle by the master himself, Stewart Coffin, and is one that I’ve heard of but never actually seen before. It is another of his fabulous designs similar to the classic star puzzle. These are notoriously difficult to make well and accurately. Needless to say, Pelikan have made them absolutely perfectly. This is a gorgeous mix of beautiful woods with no gaps where there shouldn’t be. Despite having been around in the puzzling world, I have never actually seen this puzzle before and certainly not played with one. I spent almost an hour searching for the correct place and orientation where it slides apart - it is rather like one of the Pennyhedron puzzles in that if you don’t put your fingers in just the right place and try to move in exactly the right direction then it ain’t coming apart. At one point I started the move and was called by Mrs S to do something so slid it back together and when I returned to it, I couldn't find the correct way to slide the pieces again. Eventually I was further astounded at just how smooth the movement was - the tolerances are absolutely spot on - this is almost held together by what seems like suction. Once it has been dismantled be careful, the points on the pieces are very…erm… pointy. Stabbing yourself is not fun. It is not difficult to work out how the puzzle is reassembled but care has to be taken to line up the points properly or it won’t go (it has to be mm perfect) and also avoid hurting yourself (I swore having stabbed myself quite a few times much to the amusement of the cat on my lap and the wife next to me). 

6 pieces

This is what happens if you don't pay attention

My first reassembly ended up with 2 faces not correctly matched (which does look lovely) and I had to do it again with more stabbing - great fun…ouch! 

Pedals

Pedals by Alexander Magyarics in Ash and Jatoba

The packed delivery arrangement is lovely

Yet another wonderful 3D packing puzzle from Alexander Magyarics - there seems to be no end to the extent of his talents. It has been beautifully made by Pelikan as always. In this one (named for the shape of the top of the box), there are just 3 pretty complex pieces made out of only 17 Voxels. This means there will be quite a lot of empty space inside. Is that helpful? Not to me it wasn't! It actually makes it quite a bit harder as a challenge because there are many more ways to assemble the pieces into a 3x3x3 shape but finding ones that cover the 6 holes in the top of the box is a fun challenge which is made much tougher when you suddenly realise that the complexity of the pieces significantly restricts the way they can be inserted into the box. They are all quite long as well which means they block each other during manoeuvres. I have to admit that I’m always going to rate these highly - I adore them. This one has just the right challenge level for me. It took me most of an evening to find the right assembly and work out how to insert it.

Very clever solution

After triumphantly showing it off to Mrs S and then watching some TV with her, I was slightly horrified when I found that I was completely unable to dismantle it. Interestingly, the visibility inside is quite limited and I couldn’t see well enough to work out what to move where. It took me about half an hour to take it apart! Absolutely Brilliant!

Hummingbird

Hummingbird by Osanori Yamamoto in Bubinga and Garapa

Osanori Yamamoto has done it yet again with a stunning 3 layer design containing 4 identical looking branched pieces that interlock on a frame. As always the aim is to remove the pieces either using linear or rotational moves. This is made into a real challenge by the sheer accuracy and incredibly tight tolerances that Pelikan has built into this creation. The moves are very restricted by the shapes and the way they get in the way of each other. There is no bevelling to make things easier so everything has to be lined up correctly and there are no cheeky shortcuts. After a nice fun exploration, it took me a little while to find the right path and with a nice smile worked out which pieces needed to be rotated and which just linear moves.

Just look at the accuracy of those pieces!

Having taken the pieces out and scrambled them it became a seriously tough challenge to reassemble it. To my shame it took me a couple of evenings - a brilliant challenge by Osanori-San.

Euklid V2

It is gorgeous even if I will never manage to solve it!

Yes, it’s another packing puzzle by Dr Volker Latussek and it’s a brilliant one. Volker emailed me to tell me that it was coming my way and to say "that I won’t like it". But I have to say that he is most definitely wrong - I always love his designs even if I cannot solve them. The original Euklid (made with all the blocks in one wood type) was a hugely tough puzzle that I only ever managed to solve with a little help. Then along came the second in the series, Euklid for Kids (only 3 blocks to pack) was one that I did actually manage to complete by myself. To Volker's horror, it was eventually revealed that V1 of Euklid had more than 20 solutions (I only ever found the one with help) and in response he designed the third, Euklid for Nick, (made with 2 types of wood for 2 types of block) which I am rather ashamed still lies unsolved. This was a success for Volker but he couldn't leave the series with the faulty puzzle and so has has redesigned a Euklid version 2 so that it only has one solution (hopefully). He specified that Pelikan make this from 7 different hardwoods and I have to say that it is simply stunning! I cannot remember the original solution and don’t know whether it has changed. As Volker predicted, I have so far not been able to solve it. I know there will be some lovely rotations and quite possibly some will be coordinate moves. Having taken all the blocks out of the box (with some difficulty) for my photo, I am ever so slightly chagrined that I cannot even return it to the delivery packing position. I hope to solve it one day but it will look great on the shelf until I do. I eagerly wait word from the master (Nick Baxter) of news on the number of solutions. I hope for Volker's sake that there will only be one!

Jakub’s Cube

Jakub's cube by Alfons Eyckmans

Alfons Eyckmans is one of the best designers (and craftsmen) of burrs and interlocking puzzles in the world! Over the years, I have collected many many puzzles from him (I daren't admit how many to Mrs S) and absolutely love them. Over the last few years he has been designing beautiful cubes made from interlocking burr pieces as opposed to classical burrs. Some of them I have even managed to solve! The process always involves a wonderful period of exploration and fun - I adore these puzzles! They are fun to play with and look incredible on the display shelves. Many of these beautiful cubes have been named for or by well known members of the puzzle community. Michel has named a few after his family, I have named some after my Burmese cats and one of the best of them was named for Pelikan’s own Jakub. Alfons made me a copy early last year and I’ve never managed to solve it despite several weeks of attempts (I must be missing a hidden move). 

Identical cubes - one from Alfons and one from Pelikan - both gorgeous

Alfons never expected it to be produced in any significant numbers because the pieces are incredibly difficult puzzle to make - he was absolutely delighted to see Pelikan create their absolutely stunning version. To be perfectly honest I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything so beautiful from anyone! I have not had time to play with this one yet (apart from the several weeks spent on the original) but have found all the moves available to me to be extremely smooth. There will only be 35 of these made and it is extremely unlikely it will ever be produced again. Get this whilst you can even if it is just for display purposes! At some point I need to get all the cubes together and take a photo of them all in one place.

Belopo

Belopo by Alfons Eyckmans in Wenge and Zebrano

This stunning burr made from Zebrano and Wenge is another design by Alfons Eyckmans. I have to admit that I was really quite frightened to attempt it…I have a few mixed board and stick burrs from Alfons and a couple are trapped in a position that I cannot get out of. The movements can get very complex and a simple man like me easily gets confused/lost. This puzzle is a 6 piece burr trapped in a frame - only later on did I realise that the frame is not what I thought it was - surprisingly, the frame is actually constructed from 12 identical very simple burr sticks. Movements of the pieces are smooth as silk and there are only a few blind ends. I needn’t have been frightened as this particular design is very logical to explore and reveals its secrets without getting lost too easily. It remains stably assembled for quite some time allowing careful removal of individual pieces and keeping track. I was able to keep it together as an ordered puzzle right to the very end.

6 burr sticks and 12 frame pieces

I should have been able to reassemble it had I not had a cat move and scramble my careful organised pile of pieces in my lap and chair. Creating a Burrtools file will be a real pleasure for this one. 

Which are my favourites? It is difficult so difficult to choose. For me, the pick of the bunch has got to be the incredibly complex and gorgeous Jakub's cube (even if I will never manage to dismantle it without Burrtools). My next favourite is the Pedals by Alexander as I just love the supposedly simple nature of a 3x3x3 packing puzzle which is made so much more difficult by having the extra constraints of the restricted entry. Belopo is fabulous as a variant on the 6 piece burrs which I adore. The star puzzle variants are stunning and beautifully made even if not terribly tough to work out. You, of course, should buy them all when they come up for sale soon.

 

Lockdown with Pelikan

Released from quarantine!

This week I had some annual leave. Of course, I had nowhere to go and I offered to cancel it if the hospital needed me and I continued my admin tasks whilst at home but told that I should take my booked leave because when all this virus stuff is finished with, we are going to have an enormous backlog of work to do to catch up and they don't want a huge amount of leave owing. I, therefore, had a week at home with a plan to move from kitchen to living room and then to explore the conservatory and then even attempt some DIY! Wow! What an exciting life I can lead whilst at home! Exercise was also a major pull - as my earlier workload and the closure of the gym had curtailed my fitness regime. Walking the streets of Sheffield was to be the most adventurous thing I did!

At the weekend a nice box had arrived from Jakub and Jaroslav - yes, Pelikan puzzles are about to release some more wonderful toys to keep us occupied whilst locked up at home. I was told in no uncertain terms by "she who is more frightening than a deadly virus and more painful than full PPE" that the box had to stay in the porch for a full 24hrs before I would be allowed to open it. I protested that I was certain that Jakub was a very clean boy but she was not so sure about the postal workers! For fear of my life, I waited until she gave the word, then I tore open the package to be confronted by 2 new puzzles by the amazing Osanori Yamamoto, 2 by the brilliant Volker Latussek and one by the very prolific Lucie Pauwels. Which to try first? Jakub was particularly keen for me to work on and write something about the Osanori puzzles and I cannot resist them - I started straight away on Pumpkin 1:

Pumpkin 1

Pumpkin 1

Pumpkin 1 consists of 3 pieces to be fitted inside a box - I guess that you have gotten the hang of these puzzles over the last few months/year. They look so simple and yet are such a great challenge. A lot of the earlier puzzles by Osanori and Pelikan have consisted of a smaller cavity to be filled but more recently they have been made more complex by the need to fill a 3x3x3 cavity and have the opening completely filled (any holes in the shape must be hidden out of sight inside). Initially, I did not expect that this would be too much trouble - the pieces are fairly complex and I was sure that forming a cube shape would be fairly restricted. Oh boy, I was very wrong! Much to the annoyance of Mrs S, I spent almost a whole day of my leave playing with this and swearing under my breath. There are actually quite a few ways that the shape can be formed and the presence of the single diagonal edge to the hole made life harder. It limited the entry of the pieces (most would consider this a helpful thing) but it also completely hid a voxel and opened up a huge number of possible assemblies.

At the end of day one, I had tried dozens of assemblies and orientations and was obviously missing something - I was certain I had been systematic but the solution eluded me. The first thing the following morning, I was able to bound out of bed and try again - YAY! I had nothing else to do! Whack! Ouch! Actually, I do but I chose to carry on playing with the toys! I had to help Jakub! Somehow, I found an alternative assembly of the cubes that I had not tried before. I am not sure how my systematic approach yesterday had missed it but this was definitely new. With each assembly that I had found, I had had to try 3 different orientations of insertion (rotating around the protruding corner). This new assembly had the pieces in a way that would allow insertion of them all with no restrictions - I was on to something.

Phew! It took me 2 days - a great way to while away the lockdown

Finally, after a total of about 5 hours of play over the 2 days, the final piece slid into place - the final assembly sequence is a beautiful dance with the pieces moving around each other. Wow! That was a huge struggle!

I created a Burrtools file to investigate and discovered that there are 54 possible assemblies that will create the final cube shape with one 2x2x2 corner intact but only one insertable through the restricted opening - amazing!  with a disassembly level of 9.2.2 which is pretty impressive for such simple pieces. That is a very tough puzzle!

Triangle Cube 3

Triangle cube 3

Triangle Cube 3 looked to be a bit easier (silly boy!) the pieces were generally smaller and there were 2 triangular openings on either side of the box. Again, a 3x3x3 cube shape is required but this time only a small triangular face needs to be filled diagonally opposite each other. Whilst I had Burrtools open I quickly checked on the potential number of assemblies and rocked back in my seat to see a horrific number of 275! OMG! That was going to be a very long challenge! Of course, I did not try and use BT to find the solution - I was just trying to get an idea of how much pain Mrs S was going to inflict on me for a very long duration solve.

My initial plan of systematically finding possible assemblies before failing to insert them in the box quickly proved to be ridiculous. There had to be a better approach - one of the reasons that I am not a huge fan of many packing puzzles is that there is often too much random trial and error. I should have realised straight away that this is not a feature of Osanori's puzzles - he always ensures that they are solved mostly by thought. A proper look at all the pieces shows that there is a huge restriction on how they could possibly be assembled (Think© about it) and once I had realised this I set to some more careful "out of the box" assemblies. It was still pretty tough but all of a sudden there was a wonderful Aha! moment. Yes! Again, with a wonderful sequence (level 7.4.2.3.2) I had my puzzle solved - at least it would be theoretically possible except for one problem...a quick email to Jakub and I was informed that a rotational move was definitely needed. That is VERY clever - the last part of the assembly can be done just by rotating the puzzle and allowing gravity to move the pieces. I love it - one of the best and most logical puzzles I have solved in a while.

Take my word for it - the other side is filled too
Fabulous!

Euklid for Kids

After my success with Triangle cube 3, it was with some trepidation that I moved on to Volker Latussek's Euklid for kids:

Euklid for Kids - just 3 blocks to fit in a box!      Child's play? Hell no!

This beautiful puzzle is made from a  lovely combination of woods and looks easy. Just put 3 blocks inside the box so that nothing is protruding through the opening! After my experience with the original Euklid, I was rather afraid of this one! nothing that Dr Latussek creates is easy! Mrs S was not terribly pleased with me whilst I played with this - it transpired that it is quite a noisy puzzle to play with which interferes with her concentration. Yet another Whack! Ouch! was going to happen soon.

One interesting feature with this is that one of the pieces cannot fit through the opening without being rotated through. This was going to make insertion of the remaining pieces even more of a struggle. The pieces all share a common dimension which lulls you into a false sense of security. Let me warn you that knowing this really does not help you at all! A full 3 evenings of play was required before I had my breakthrough with this puzzle - the Aha! moment is fabulous. It is nowhere near as difficult as the original Euklid puzzle and to my mind, the puzzle is all the better for it. This particular version is still a great challenge but is also worth giving to non-puzzlers to play with. They probably won't solve it but at least stand some chance. The easier premise will keep them trying.

Rota #

Rota # by Lucie Pauwels

Lucie Pauwels is a very very prolific puzzle designer - she shows a huge number of designs off on her FB page (her blog has not been updated for quite a while, unfortunately). Everything she designs has something interesting about it and I could not resist the Rota # puzzle when Jakub showed it off. Why the odd name? That will become clear when you solve it and I am not going to spoil that for you. It is not particularly difficult but the way that Jakub and Jaroslav have made it is just gorgeous - Wenge and Maple fit together with absolutely perfect precision to make something stunning:

This explains part of the name

Once assembled there are no gaps at all - on display it is wonderful!

X-Ray Cube

A beautifully constructed box

It might have been a mistake to just pour the contents out!

X-ray cube is another challenge from Dr Latussek - the box has been beautifully made from Cherry and the pieces inside are Dark oak. I think it's named this way because the holes in the top and bottom of the box allow you to see inside. I was feeling cocky after solving the previous puzzles and so I just slid off the lid and upended the box to provide me with the challenge - no, I was brave/stupid and did not look at the assembly (I am told by Jakub that this will be sent out in an alternative assembly so that none of you gets the chance to peek at the solution before working on it.

Brian's Blockhead from 2012

X-ray cube pieces

Once the pieces had been revealed I was slightly horrified - they were all odd block shapes with all sorts of funny angles. It actually reminded me of one of the earliest puzzles that I bought from my friend Brian Menold - Blockhead designed by Bill Cutler. In that amazing puzzle, there were just 4 odd-shaped pieces to be inserted into a tray and despite such a simple premise, it was bloody tough for me as a new puzzler back in 2012. The X-ray cube was going to have a whole lot more pieces and probably a whole lot more challenge.

I settled down with these in our rather sunny south facing conservatory (I could get used to this lockdown thing - it's actually quite pleasant here) and started to play. There is a fundamental difference from Blockhead - the sides of the box are all vertical. This is really helpful for finding the assembly. It took me about 45 minutes to realise that something wasn't right - I could not find a piece to fit the bottom right corner of the box! What was going on? Looking at the picture above now - I should have realised - I had only 7 of the 8 blocks! What had I done with the other one?  One thing about a sunny conservatory in the spring is that it produces perfect cat conditions - they spread out everywhere! It took me another minute or so to find a rather well-camouflaged puzzle piece and complete the challenge:

Can you spot the missing piece?

This puzzle is another perfect difficulty level for beginners and advanced puzzlers alike. It is a nice little challenge to while away half an hour and looks lovely when assembled in place inside the box.

These beauties will be being released on the Pelikan Puzzles site quite soon. I am certain that they will also be available from PuzzleMaster as well if you live in North America.

This lockdown has really not been that bad! I have managed to solve a few great puzzles. Unfortunately, it is back to work for me tomorrow - I have quite enjoyed my time off and am going straight back to having to anaesthetise a friend and colleague for a VERY big operation tomorrow! I suspect my puzzle-solving ability tonight may be a little impaired!