Pelikan Creates Some Flops and New Horizons

Upcoming puzzles from Pelikan and their wonderful designers.

I wasn't expecting anything from Jakub, Jaroslav and team until after the upcoming IPP and was very surprised when an email came from the wonderful Pelikan guys informing me about their upcoming releases and a request for reviews as soon as possible. I then received a beautiful bunch of toys and a growl from she who frightens everyone who meets her. To be honest, I cannot blame her this time - there are another 8 puzzles here and I hadn't put away the toys from the last delivery yet. I know my desk is under the toys but I haven't seen it for a very long time!

Luckily for me, a general email had also gone out telling the world that the Pelikan team were taking a summer break and not returning until tomorrow (10th July) and I, therefore, had a nice 10 day period to plough through these fabulous and difficult puzzles (GULP!). Luckily, I managed to do it (apart from one incredibly tough challenge) with a tiny bit of cheating from Burrtools.

These should be going on sale within the next week or so I hope.

First I have to start with the 2 incredible puzzles from Dr Volker Latussek - they have given this post it's title. We have two more puzzles in the Flop series - believe me, these are not flops as puzzles! They are incredible and one is seriously difficult! Volker emailed me and Jakub to explain what he was trying to achieve:

Fritz Flop

Fritz Flop delivery position

Fritz Flop pieces

Fritz Flop has been beautifully created using a lovely pale Downy Birch wood.

I just love how Volker always specifies a delivery setup for his puzzles. It can be quite a challenge if you aren't paying attention to return the puzzles to the start position. Volker wrote this:

"With the release of TETRA-FLOP I announced a small series of four FLOP-puzzles: FRITZ-FLOP, DICK-FLOP, TEFKA-FLOP and SOMA-FLOP. As an encore, the series will be completed with TETRA-FLOP and for lovers of L-shaped tricubes L-FLOP.

The FLOP series puzzles each consist of a cuboid box completely filled with various tricubes and tetracubes. The box has the largest possible rectangular opening on one side. Each of the four FLOPs has a unique kind of rotation. The solution to each should be unique.

When a FLOP is placed on a flat surface with the opening at the top facing forward, the movement of the pieces is sometimes reminiscent of the Fosbury flop - a revolutionary high-jump technique that sent established records tumbling. The inventor of this technique is the forgotten Austrian athlete, Fritz Pingl, for whom the first FLOP puzzle is dedicated.

My friend Fritz hoped the puzzle could be made in birch wood, and Pelikan were able to fulfil his wish. Many thanks for that.

FRITZ-FLOP has only five pieces: two tricubes and only three of the eight tetracubes, making it the smallest FLOP. I think it's really suited to being a coffee table puzzle. I selected this combination from what seemed like an infinite number of possible combinations. I suspect it is the only combination that fulfils all of the characteristics of a FLOP puzzle. The fact that this combination exists at all, fills me with great wonder, as does the story of the high jump. Please play and enjoy."

I reviewed the Tetra flop from the last release and am surprised to see that some are still available for sale. It was a seriously difficult puzzle but had some wonderful moves in it. I needed a little help and despite that did not feel that I lost out on the puzzling. Working out the moves required after getting a little position help did not detract in any way from my puzzling pleasure.

With the Fritz Flop the puzzle is certainly a lot simpler in design and hence very solvable without help. It is still a challenge with the simpler set of pieces and only looking for a 3x3x2 block shape. The fun part is getting the pieces through the restricted opening which it just smaller than 3x2 in size. There will be rotations and space needs to be left for the rotations to occur. Knowing this helps with working out the possible assemblies to try. Before writing this review I entered the pieces into BT and found that there are 28 possible assemblies of the pieces into the block but doing this is not necessary for the solution. I picked the pieces that I felt were likely to be the last to be inserted and then tried to place the rest into a shape that would allow it. Of course, my first decisions were incorrect and I spent a good few hours attempting impossible solutions - they looked good but there was no way to insert them through the opening. Most of the assemblies stand no chance of insertion and can be discarded quickly. After a few hours, I had exhausted everything I could find apart from one which looked promising but I just couldn't get it to assemble in the box. Time for a break and the following day, I had a fabulous Aha! moment - not only is this a packing puzzle but it is a sequential movement puzzle as well. The rotational move is simply joyful.

Believe me, there are no clues in this photo!

I heartily recommend buying this set - it is pure Latussek genius!

Soma Flop

Soma Flop delivery position

Soma Flop pieces (yes, it's a Soma cube)

Soma Flop has been made using Jatoba and Limbs woods - the voxel size is the same as the others in the series. Again there is a very specific position for the storage. Volker wrote this about it:

"Originally DICK-FLOP and TEFKA-FLOP were scheduled to follow after FRITZ-FLOP, but SOMA-FLOP is really special. Everything is there: the seven parts of the SOMA-CUBE and even a cube-shaped box. The only tricky thing is the size of the opening.

Only?

I learnt a lot from my experiences with SOMA PACK and SHRINKING SOMA, but I couldn't achieve what I was hoping for from a FLOP puzzle at first. Obviously, the search was eventually worth it: SOMA-FLOP has a wonderfully confusing solution, which I suspect my mind wasn't willing to see. I couldn't see the solution for absolute ages because I didn't know it existed. I guess that's the difference between the designer and the solver: as the solver, you can trust that SOMA-FLOP has a solution! The opening is amazingly large - any larger in fact and the SOMA pieces could effectively be packed as into an unrestricted box.

My thanks to Pelikan for making this idea a reality and to Oskar van Deventer for inspiring me to create SOMA-FLOP with his PENULTIMATE SOMA."

This puzzle caused me "some difficulty" and a minor heart attack. I have waxed lyrical about Soma cubes before and certainly feel that everyone who collects puzzles should have at least a plain Soma cube and a variant or two in their collections. Combining a Soma cube with a packing puzzle and incorporating aspects of TIC puzzling too is a major triumph. This puzzle is very VERY difficult but don't let that deter you. First thing to do is remove the pieces from the box. Easy peasy? Erm - yes as long as you don't allow anything to move once there is a little space in the box. I was not careful enough and after removal of the easy two pieces, stuff slid around inside and I couldn't take any more pieces out. OMG! It took me over an hour to free them up and get to the point of attempting to solve the puzzle.

As Volker has stated, there is a nice large entry to the box but not quite two voxels wide. This restriction is the key to the rotational requirement. The non planar pieces need to be tilted to be inserted and there needs to be enough space for this to be allowed to happen. Does this help you narrow down the assemblies? I think it does if you are an assembly puzzle aficionado. I am an assembly idiot and as everyone knows - there are 240 possible cubic assemblies of the Soma pieces. 

I played for a while trying to randomly find cubic assemblies that would allow the non-planar pieces to be inserted early and the linear pieces last. I found a few but had no way to easily narrow them down. I do think that this is possible for all you great puzzlers who read my drivel but for me to manage it, I would require many days or weeks of attempts and a lot of swearing. I had a deadline to meet and therefore had to use a hint. I got the solution and squinted at it quickly so that I only viewed the two pieces that were to be entered last which would leave me to find the positions of the other pieces and then the rotation(s) required to solve it. After 3 days of working on the cube to be inserted I realised that  I needed more help. Burrtools told me that there are 18 assemblies that allowed the last 2 pieces to be where I needed them and from there I could visually restrict the other solutions until I had a few possible solutions to work on. 

I worked on these possibilities for another couple of days and managed to decrease my solution set to just one by totally failing to get the pieces into the box. That last assembly also wouldn't go in - even when you know what goes where, it is really really hard to make it happen. My Aha! moment came as a huge relief and pleasure. This is simply superb! I don't think that there are any spoilers in the photo but I have hidden it behind a button just in case.

This took me days!

Petit Box

Petit Box by Osanori Yamamoto

Another beautiful creation by Osanori-san made using Limba and a very vibrant Purpleheart.

Recently, Osanori-san has been designing a whole set of interlocking puzzles where board burrs pieces are locked inside a box frame. I have previously reviewed his Gem puzzle and the Slider 2 which is still available. Like Slider 2, this has four plates trapped inside the cuboidal frame and there is a lot of movement after the first few pieces have been moved. This puzzle is a very nice fun challenge. After that first exploration, the pieces move very freely and it is quite easy to get stuck in a loop. There are a few places where it looks like rotations begin but these are not useful to you. On several occasions, I thought I was getting quite close to the removal of the first piece but could not find the pathway and kept backtracking to the beginning. The fun part of playing with this (and it's predecessor) is that it opens up enough for you to be able to look inside the frame and see what is blocking your moves. In the end for me, I had to open the space inside right up and then plan a potential disassembly. After that, it was "just" a matter of utilising the space that I had to wind the peeves around each other. The removal of the first piece takes only 12 moves but it is a real challenge to find them. Reassembly is fun if you have memorised the positions and the pathway and quite possible from scratch if you have not and you are highly skilled.

4 plates and a frame.

Connecting Cubes

Connecting Cubes by Lucie Pauwels

There are 3 wonderful challenges by Lucie in this release by Pelikan and this one is delightfully colourful and a fun challenge for beginners and experts alike. It is very reminiscent of some of the wonderful challenges made by Vinco that I reviewed many years ago.

This consists of 8 cubes each of which has a unique arrangement of a slot cut out of one face and a connecting board on another face. The aim here is to make a 2x2x2 cube. There are also a few other possible simpler assemblies which you will find along the way. I think this is a perfect coffee table puzzle. It looks gorgeous and is something that no one could resist picking up and playing with. The best way to approach this is to actually think© about the different types of pieces and how they interact and allow the chain of cubelets to build up. I started off with random attempts at assembly and quickly realised that wasn't going to work for me. After that, I attempted an exhaustive search for the correct combination which also failed due to my inability to remember my previously attempted assemblies. Having discovered that that there is much more to this than meets the eye, I categorised the cubelets and established how the different subtypes interacted. After that, it took me another 5 minutes to assemble my cube. It is very pretty and I won't show you the solution!

Archipuzzle

Archipuzzle by Lucie Pauwels

Lucie designs a whole gamut of different types of puzzle and this is a very different design to what I have seen before. It looks very simple like many of her designs but has just the right challenge level. This is very reminiscent of the extremely challenging Stuffing Burr from Dr Latussek (also still available). The aim is to take the 5 L-shaped notched sticks and assemble them in such a way that the notches are all filled. Lucie's version has 5 sticks which alters the challenge considerably. Each stick has the notches in a different set of orientations. Like most puzzles, I started with random assemblies to see what happened and how they all interact as the chains build up. Quite quickly I came to realise that the chains move further and further apart and then the final piece cannot possibly reach to bridge the gap. Then I realised that the alternative was to build a clump of pieces and hope the ends were close enough to reach each other and then also have the notches the correct orientation. Just as with all of Lucie's designs, this also doesn't work well and it actually requires a little analysis of the types of pieces and how to use them. All in all, this took me nearly an hour and I had my assembled chain. It's a fun thing to do and it's only a slight shame that the created shape is not particularly attractive for storage.

Oekanda

Oekanda by Lucie Pauwels

Oekanda by Lucie Pauwels has been beautifully crafted from Oak with Bubinga pieces. It is reminiscent of the Pin-up box from the February release which is an entry in this year's IPP design competition

The third challenge from Lucie in this release is a real fun one that also requires proper analysis for a satisfying solve. It is a packing puzzle but with a difference - the frame is extremely open and the pieces properly complex making it also an interlocking puzzle. It arrives with the pieces sort of randomly stuck in the frame and on taking the puzzle out of the packing bag, half of them fell out and I couldn't work out how to put them back.

These pieces are really quite complex which made me think it would not be too difficult a challenge to assemble into the 3x3x5 shape with 2 voxels sticking out into the frame. My confidence was misplaced! I found this to be a real challenge to create a shape. My random attempts failed (as usual) and then I realised that I had to think© about the shapes and what possible ways they could be oriented within that cuboid shape. Having realised this and starting to work more systematically on the shape and interactions, I was able to discount quite a few of my possible placements. After an hour of play, I had a major Aha! moment and found my assembly outside of the frame and then worked to place it inside. It really is quite lovely and a fun challenge. I have put the next picture behind a spoiler button - it's not much of a spoiler but don't look if you are worried about seeing too much:

Solved after a bit of analysis

Alma

Alma by Alfons Eyckmans

Alma has been made using Maple, Purpleheart and Wenge.

It would seem that no Pelikan release is complete without something wonderful from Alfons Eyckmans. He designs burr puzzles that are both beautiful and interesting to solve. The Alma looks like a very complex construction but is actually just a 6 piece burr made from L shaped plates. I cannot resist Alfons' burrs - there is always something fun to explore and this is no different. The pathway to the removal of the first piece is fairly well hidden but there are only a few relatively short blind pathways to get lost in and the removal of the first piece takes a fun 10 moves. After this it remains quite a stable construction (just a slight tendency for one piece to sag) and then another 4 moves to remove the next. 

6 very nice L-shaped plates

Having disassembled this over about an hour, I scrambled the pieces and left them for a while before attempting a reassembly. I thought that I had a reasonable memory of the process but somehow got stuck and kept going round and around in circles with one of the pieces continually being trivial to remove and not being interlocked as it should. It took me another hour to realise what I was doing wrong and get it back together. I definitely think that for the more advanced burr puzzler there is plenty of scope for this to be an assembly puzzle and for the "normal" ones amongst us (are any of us that normal?) this is a fun one to partially memorise and then work on the assembly from that. Of course entry of the pieces into Burrtools is also part of the fun.

New Horizon

New Horizon

The final, but definitely not the least impressive, of the puzzles in this release is New Horizon from Alfons Eyckmans made from Pink Oak and Wenge.

This is something new from Alfons - I initially thought that it was another of his interlocking burrs in the shape of a cube and oh boy! was I wrong! Some of Alfons' cube burrs are really really tough but this is a whole other level. It is not at all what I was expecting - it is not a disassembly puzzle, it is an assembly challenge and a very very tough one. To take the cube apart it just requires finding the correct places to put your fingers and the pieces just pull apart sequentially until you have 12 rather interesting shapes to analyse.

I removed the first 6 of the pieces and decided to put them back together to form the cube. Unfortunately, even with only a 50% disassembly, I could not seem to work out which pieces went where and in what order. Whilst looking for the entry point for the first of those 6 pieces, another one fell onto my pile and then I really was in trouble - I couldn't remember the order of any of them and quickly decided to complete the dismantling - it was quite a fun thing to do.

12 odd shapes

Having taken my photo I have embarked on an assembly challenge and so far have completely failed. There are notches and "sticking out bits" to analyse and which restrict how the pieces will fit together. Also the orientation of the 1x2x2 voxel oak protuberances which will ultimately form the corners can only fit together in certain ways. This will require quite a lot of analysis and I suspect, will end up with me resorting to Burrtools. But the clever ones amongst you should be able to assemble this from scratch - it will be a wonderful challenge. I will keep trying for a week or so before I resort to BT.

So what should you be buying from this release? Personally, I think they are all fabulous. My favourites have to be the Flop series from Dr Latussek - even with a small cheat they are a wonderful challenge with some brilliant Aha! moments. You should also pick up the remaining Tetra flop to ensure that you get the whole set. After that, I definitely enjoyed the Oekanda from Lucie and the Connecting cubes is perfect as a coffee table puzzle. If you are a burr fanatic then Alfons' puzzles are a delight and I adore these framed plate puzzles from Osanori.

There is something for everyone!

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.

A Bumper Pelikan Crop!

The biggest bunch of Pelicans ever!

From back left:
Egg - Pelikan (mixed woods)
Hooks - Alfons Eyckmans (Wenge & Cherry or Bubinga & Cherry)
Octopus - Pelikan (Limba, American Walnut and Wenge)
Infinite - Alexander Magyarics (Mahogany & Wenge)
Captain Hook - Alexander Magyarics (Maple, Wenge & Padauk)
Tigridia - Alexander Magyarics (Limba & Ovangkol)
Gem - Osanori Yamamoto (Purpleheart)
Den 3 - Osanori Yamamoto (Acacia & Padauk)
Waltz - Osanori Yamamoto (Wenge, Maple and Zebrano)
3 Piece Burr Flower - Osanori Yamamoto (Wenge & Limba or Wenge & Jatoba)
Dick-Flop - Dr Volker Latussek (Walnut & American Walnut)

In no particular order but mostly the order I worked on them or solved them in:

Octopus

Octopus complete with 8 tentacles!

It seems that no new Pelikan release is complete without one of their own designs, beautifully visualised as some kind of animal. We have had Turtle, Snail, Ladybug and Crab so far, all of which reside on display in my living room. The arrival of the Octopus in the PuzzleMad asylum/loony-bin was greeted by me with a whoop of delight and by Mrs S with a groan of "Oh no, not more!!". She did admit that it was very beautiful. 

This was the one I began with because it's just irresistible. It's pretty big at 13.3x13.3x9.8cm and made of Limba, American Walnut and Wenge. The beady eyes just look at you. Like the crab, it is not just a simple slot together Kumiki puzzle. It is a burr with pieces that interlock in all directions. It all fits beautifully together and the first sliding move is easy to find but after that it gets more awkward. I was able to remove the first two pieces quite quickly and realised that I had not really paid attention to the orientation they came out - the shape of them meant that they rolled off the cat who sleepily acted as my tabletop. Having realised I was going to be stuck soon, I just proceeded with the disassembly. Usually after half the pieces of a burr have been removed it suddenly gets easier but not with this one. I really struggled for another 20 minutes to find the way to remove the final pieces. The main challenge with this will be the reassembly after scrambling the pieces. I almost gave up and went to Burrtools but luckily before I lost the last remnant of my mind, I finally found the correct assembly. 

This puzzle is an essential purchase if you collect Kumiki type puzzles or if you have the rest in the series. For the rest of you it's worth getting because it's adorable and very clever.

Egg

Egg by Pelikan

I had to check with Jakub about this one as it looked familiar but I barely remember yesterday, let alone something I saw in 2016. This is a re-release using European woods of the beautifully turned Egg puzzle. It comes complete with its own lovely turned stand. These puzzles from Pelikan are wonderfully tactile things to hold and caress. The egg is NOT coordinate motion like some of the other spherical puzzles made previously. When it comes to disassembly, the puzzle is not particularly difficult - it is just a matter of finding the correct places to put your fingers to hold it and and push/pull in the right directions. It is not immediately obvious where to put your fingers to do it and it is so wonderfully smooth that you get no clue from running your fingers over it. If you have it just right then you are rewarded with a beautiful sliding motion as it smoothly separates. After a few minutes you have four pieces which look nearly identical and which will only fit back together in one way. Re-assembly is just a matter of thinking it through. This is a joy to fiddle with and looks lovely on display.

Dick-Flop

Dick-flop by Dr Volker Latussek
It's just 6 tetracubes from the Soma cube

Here we have another masterpiece from the warped brilliant mind of Dr Volker Latussek! This is what he had to say about it:

"When Dick Fosbury died in March this year, I had no idea that I would find a small series of packaging puzzles and name them FLOP after the high-jump technique named after him. A sports journalist ran the headline "Fosbury Flops Over Bar" after his 1968 Olympic win, comparing the jumping style to a fish flipping onto its back and curling its body after being caught."

DICK-FLOP with its six tetracubes follows FRITZ-FLOP with only five pieces. The boxes are each completely filled and the opening is restricted so that some of the pieces have to flop out of the box.  This is the fourth in his Flop series in which he takes a subset of the standard Soma cube pieces and insists that we stuff them into one of the standard shape challenges that come with the Soma cube. Except.... he makes it much more fun by making us do it into a box through a limited entrance hole. And then, not completely happy with that restriction, he ensures that the entry hole is not a whole number of voxels wide which forces some very interesting and difficult to find rotational moves on the non-planar pieces. It looks like the entrance is 2mm too small to allow two voxels through.

The assembly configuration (Volker always stipulates the assembly shape) is a "near miss" and when you take the pieces out of the box, you get a small hint at the deviousness of that man! Some of the moves just to get the pieces ready for play need them to be perfectly placed before it can happen. The incredible precision of the manufacture by Pelikan is simply stunning - when some of the pieces move and you can almost feel the suction holding them in place as the tolerances are perfect to a tiny fraction of a milimeter.

A quick play with Burrtools told me that there are 78 possible ways to assemble a 2x3x4 cuboid from the pieces provided and I was definitely going to struggle to try them all from memory. I then scrolled through them to find only the ones that have a planar piece arranged vertically along the end (i.e. it can be dropped in last) and after about 15 I stopped counting and decided to peek with squinted eyes at the solution. I just managed to restrict my view to 2 piece positions in the end shape and from here restricted the number of assemblies to be tried down to just 3. I was rather surprised at one of those piece positions that I had peeked at but it really helped me. Even having just 3 assemblies to choose from, actually getting them inside the box was still a massive challenge. It took me about 3 days!

This puzzle is an essential buy for anyone enthused by packing puzzles or the Soma cube. It has been stunningly created by Jakub and team and will be a huge challenge to any puzzler. The Aha! moment is wonderful. 

The Fritz-flop and Soma-flop are still available from the Pelikan website and you should definitely buy the whole set for an amazing challenge!

Captain Hook

Captain Hook by Alexander Magyarics

Captain Hook is a very interesting board burr made from Maple, Wenge & Padauk. The tolerances are absolutely perfect - this puzzle slides so smoothly. It is something quite new from Alexander Magyarics, whom I am beginning to wonder whether there is anything he cannot turn his hand to and master. I know that you are all familiar with his amazing 3D and 2D packing puzzles and he has designed a few burrs with frames or boxes over the years but I am not aware of any board burrs from him. This looks very like a standard 6 piece board burr when viewed assembled but within a few moves it quickly reveals that it is not what it seems. The movements are interesting and in one case a little unexpected with a very nice pathway to be found. No big blind ends to get caught in and after 10 moves the first piece can be removed. After that 2 moves each for the next 2 pieces and the fact that it is a 5 piece board burr is revealed. I don't think I have ever seen one before. I tried to reassemble it immediately after I had taken it apart and, whilst I had memory of the relative positions of the pieces, there was a critical tricky step that I could not achieve straight away. There is a very well hidden essential move to allow the disassembly and reassembly and if you haven't memorised it then it will cause you to think© for a moment. 

Infinite

Infinite by Alexander Magyarics
That left side when viewed straight on looks like an infinity symbol

Here we return to classic Alexander Magyarics and it is really, REALLY, REALLY good! It is a beautiful packing puzzle made with a very chunky Mahogany box and just 3 lovely Wenge pieces to be packed. Just 3 pieces? They aren't even that complex! How hard can it be? Oh boy! This is a TERRIFIC challenge. The entry-ways into the 3x3x3 voxel box are quite restricted and must be completely occluded once packed. In fiddling with the pieces I was able to find quite a few arrangements of the pieces into a 3x3x3 cube but none that I found would fit through the openings. 

Not solved but fun

Retrospectively, I found 59 cubes with the relevant solid areas using Burrtools but this was unknown to me at the time. Usually I start outside the box and find the required shape but there were too many possibilities and I needed to combine the very restricted entry requirements with my assemblies to narrow it down. The fascinating thing for me is that the smallest piece has the most limitation and ultimately is the reason for a very interesting solution. I found 2 "almost there" solutions with single holes visible through the entryway and I got stuck for quite some time at this point. I then went to Burrtools in desperation and found that it was unable to find a solution which means something special. I relaxed my rules and started again - it took me another whole day of play to find the solution with a wonderful Aha! moment. This is one of Alexander's best designs - make sure that you find all the near solutions as well as the correct one.

Hooks

Bubinga & Cherry

Wenge & Cherry

Hooks by Alfons Eyckmans

I am always delighted when a Pelikan release includes something from Alfons Eyckmans. There are two versions of this beauty - one made from Wenge & Cherry and another from Bubinga & Cherry - they are gorgeous! Alfons is the absolute master of interesting burr design. Many people are not keen on burrs and cannot understand why I (or anyone else) love them. I always say that it is like exploring a maze that changes as you work your way through. Often there are hidden pathways that are tough to find and sometimes blind alleys or loops. I do agree that many of the very high level burrs are beyond most human's abilities to follow but this is where Alfons is a master...the designs are always interesting and fun to explore. The Hooks burr is one of my favourite types - a caged 6 piece burr which takes the idea of a standard burr and extends it. The cage is incomplete being formed from 4 "hooks" on a base and looks like it should not make a huge difference. The pieces are 3x2x7 voxels which allows for much more interesting interaction. There are a few moves possible early on and no long blind alleys. Quite quickly some complex fun compound multi-piece moves occur and this opens up even more possibilities. Process seems swift until suddenly it's not. After 11 moves, I was stuck and could find no way to progress. I must have either missed something along the way or be missing something crucial to progress on my existing path. I got stuck here for a few hours going back and forth - at least it was creating a muscle memory to help with the reassembly. With only 6 pieces and such an open frame/cage it is possible to see inside the maze quite well. Eventually after multiple failed attempts I realised that I had left a single piece in the wrong position and it had blocked the next move. Having worked that out, the progression was fast and fun and the first piece was removed after a total of 18 moves. The remaining pieces remain stable in the frame for the rest of the disassembly.

Having spent so long searching for the pathway, I was able to reassemble it without help but making a Burrtools file is always fun. I think that most burr aficionados should be able to reassemble this without help.

3 Piece Burr Flower

Wenge & Jatoba

Wenge & Limba

3 Pice Burr Flower by Osanori Yamamoto

This stunning design by Osanori Yamamoto has been beautifully created by Pelikan in Wenge & Limba or Wenge & Jatoba. As the name states, it looks like a flower on each face of the cube structure but it has been made from 3 rather complex burr sticks which interlink with each other inside the cube. Once you have found the first piece to move, the pieces then slide on each other and the flower opens up to reveal the interior. Over a rather delightful 6 move sequence the pieces get further and further apart until the first one comes out and then the other two can be separated. It is not terribly hard to find that sequence but then the real challenge begins - can you put it back together after scrambling the pieces? There are only 3 pieces and the way they fit together at the end looks straightforward but it took me a good hour to find the correct order and position for the pieces to fit back together. This is a very clever puzzle utilising what feels like a knot inside the faces to control the movements. 

Waltz

Waltz by Osanori Yamamoto

Another fabulous design by Osanori Yamamoto, stunningly visualised in Wenge, Maple and Zebrano. This one is almost as if Osanori-san has seen the wonderful 3 piece challenge by Alexander Magyarics and said to himself: "I can beat that"! It is another packing puzzle with a limited entrance and a requirement to block the entry once solved....but this time, just to make it even more interesting, there are only 2 pieces to be packed in the 3x3x3 cavity and filled the 2x2 entrance. Not only are there only 2 pieces but it quickly becomes apparent that one of them HAS to be the entry blocker. I was rather over-confident with this one and thought it would  be relatively easy. Oh no! it wasn't easy for me! I spent a day failing completely and did wonder whether I was going about it wrong - I looked at the name and thought about the cardinal feature of the Waltz and then decided to explore rotational moves. I was successful and managed to assemble the puzzle with the entry filled but something didn't feel right. This was especially true when I found that I couldn't take it apart! Aargh! In a bit of a panic, with a fair bit of dexterity and swearing, I was able to unravel what I had done and decided to try again the more conventional way. But this time I was determined to think© about the name as well but not be so stupid. The cardinal feature of a Waltz is rotation with minimal rise and fall. The 18 moves to achieve the assembly are a masterpiece. The gauntlet has been thrown down and is there anyone who can design something more simple with more beautiful moves than this? Over to you Alexander-san!

Gem

Gem by Osanori Yamamoto

This gorgeous gem of a puzzle by Osanori Yamamoto  is simply stunning made here from Purpleheart. I have previously bought and solved this in April where it was an extra puzzle that I chose to "make up the postage" from Japan! Osanori's version was a gorgeous creation and Pelikan have lived up to the same very high standards. When I bought the original, Osanori-san told me how pleased he was because it was his favourite puzzle.

The original was sent out as an assembly puzzle but this one arrived already assembled. Either way, it is a fun puzzle to explore. If you are good at assembly then it might be a good idea to get someone to dismantle it for you before you play. It consists of 3 rings of wood that are interlocked and  inserted into slots in the cube with one at 90º to the other 2. When disassembling it the sequence it is fun that you cannot see the shape or how the rings are interacting inside the cube. The sliding of the pieces over each other shows off the extreme precision that this has been made with. Having taken it apart, leave the pieces scrambled for a while and then try it as an assembly puzzle

The solution took me only about half an hour but again a lovely aha! moment made better by the silky smoothness of the pieces and how they glide over each other. I could see why this was one of Osanori-san's favourite puzzles. It is delightful. Another piece of Japanese puzzling heaven.

Den 3

Den 3 by Osanori Yamamoto

In this packing puzzle designed by Osanori Yamamoto the aim, as usual is to assemble the pieces (3 of them this time, made from Padauk) into the nice chunky Acacia box. I must point out the incredible detail that Jakub and team have put into the box - Acacia is a relatively plain wood in terms of colour but with having very nice grain and shading. To make this one even more spectacular the top and bottom faces have been assembled with a diagonal line of differently placed cubes of wood - this makes this wonderful puzzle even more precious for a man addicted to gorgeous wood! The cavity of the box is the usual 3x3x3 cube but, with this one, the areas that must be occluded by the pieces are quite extensive over quite a lot of the puzzle which should limit the number of possibilities to go through. I used Burrtools to count the possible assemblies after I solved it and there are 124 ways to assemble a cube from the 3 pieces of this puzzle but when restricting the positions to allow the occlusion of the holes, this number shrinks down to a more reasonable 22. This number is still too high for me to go through and try them all (I find that I can't remember what I have tried after just 3 or 4 attempts) and necessitates using the restricted entry to significantly decrease the cubes to be tried. 

The solution of this took me an embarrassingly long time to find. I think I played with this on and off for 4 or 5 evenings before I found a cube that met all my criteria and then really struggled to place the pieces inside the box. I ended up solving it outside the box starting from cube shape and attempting all the moves that should be possible and gradually dismantled the cube. It should not be that difficult with just 3 pieces but I kept getting stuck 10 or 12 moves in. The disassembly of this puzzle has an incredible level 26 (19.4.3) - if you do manage to solve this then you can be very chuffed at your puzzling prowess. 

Tigridia

Tigridia by Alexander Magyarics

The final puzzle I played with in this new batch was Tigridia by the amazing Alexander Magyarics (last, mostly because my initial play revealed it to be a very difficult challenge). Beautifully made from Limba & Ovangkol, it consists of 4 pieces to be placed as a 3x3x3 cube inside one of the most complex boxes I have seen in one of these puzzles. The entryways are very limited but there are 3 of them to be used. There are lots and lots of holes in the box which need to be covered by the final filling. Your usual approach outside the box quickly reveals that there are a LOT of possible cubic assemblies (Burrtools later told me that there were 64) and obviously each one that you find will need to be tested in every possible orientation. I very quickly got quite confused and lost track of what I had been trying. Most of my potential assemblies, when I found one that also fit the brief to cover the holes, quickly revealed themselves to be impossible to move inside the box and could be discounted. After a couple of days trying and a deadline to hit, I went to Burrtools to at least give me the correct cubic assembly and then I could work out the method to place it inside the box. Even this proved to be a problem! I had the correct cube made but I really could not work out how it could be inserted inside the box, After a very frustrating and then satisfying hour, I found the critical move and it was something rather special that is only possible with a box with this many holes in it. The Aha! moment is wonderful when you find it but that might well take you a VERY long time.

I am rather humbled by the fact that Ivan Danik (the Puzzle Guy on YouTube) managed to solve this one and did not find it terribly difficult! I found this one amazingly hard. I agree with him that the frame is stunning!

Pick what you love guys and get them all tomorrow (6th November at 10am central European time) at the Pelikan store