At the beginning of the week before last I took delivery of a VERY large
box from Jakub and Jaroslav containing 7 puzzles and a request to have reviews
as quickly as possible. I am just human and with my simple brain cannot possibly
solve all of these in that short time (especially when you realise that there
are hundreds of challenges here and some are really very difficult indeed.
Here we have:
Back row:
Matchbox Playground - an extension of Oskar's
original design by Péter Gál
Middle row:
Filling V by Dr Volker Latussek
Flummox by Benjamin Heidt
Appletree by Benjamin Heidt
Front Row:
Parallel Burr Cube #2 by Osanori Yamamoto
Rattle Twist Duo by Osanori Yamamoto
MRI by Benjamin Heidt
My picture does not do justice to the beauty and quality of them all (for
that, you should wait for the official photos from
Ivan Danik
which appear on the Pelikan site.
Pelikan 2024 Feb
Stunning series this time with what looks like one of the most gorgeous puzzle
sets I’ve ever seen.
Filling V
Fillin V by Volker Latussek
Sent with just the triomino left out
Dr Latussek returns to challenge us with another of his wonderful packing
puzzles that look much easier than they actually are. This one made of ?????
comprises 6 L tetrominoes plus an L Triomino giving us the required 27 voxels
to make up a solid cube. I could instantly see that there were several ways to
make the cube and each of these could be attempted in several orientations
with respect to the box. This box has a nice large slotted entry hole which
looks like it shouldn’t be much of a hindrance to inserting the pieces. Dr
Latussek said this:
"While working on the FLOP series, I had some fun working with completely
filled boxes. I ‘d already done some preliminary work using L-shaped
tetracubes, so it made sense to me to work on Lazlo Molnar and Alexander
Magyarics’ six Ls puzzles and to combine them with the V-shaped tricube to
make one of the 65 possible cubes and then put them in a box with only one
opening. Of course, I started with my usual CASINO box, only to learn that
this recipe doesn’t produce a sufficiently challenging puzzle, and neither
does a FLOP box. Actually, I probably shouldn’t have been surprised. Given
the filling of a cube-shaped box, the actual design task was to find the
correct, single, continuous opening.
Despite the numerous specifications, FILLING V is a challenging puzzle
whose solution still surprises me. But there will never be a FILLING I."
I placed my last piece in the box with a huge grin on my face! This is, on the
face of it, a much simpler puzzle than the Flop series but I think is better
for it. The best description is “elegant” - it’s almost as elegant as the
classic Casino which won so many accolades.
It’s an essential purchase!
Flummox
Flummox by Benjamin Heidt
This beautiful and rather diminutive creation was designed by a new name on the
scene, Benjamin Heidt. If this is a typical example of puzzles from him then I
hope that Jakub and Jaroslav make more. It is a fabulous variant on the classic
6 piece burr with length of 6 voxels (pieces made from a vibrant Purpleheart).
The addition of little additional pieces (made from Maple) added onto the sides
of the burr sticks which interfere with the the usual movement of the pieces and
make the solution much more interesting.
The solution level is: 13.4.2.3 which is just right for all but the most
masochistic of burr solvers and is delightful to explore. From the start
position there are 4 or 5 possible moves and then further exploration after
some of them. This took me about an hour to solve using my usual to and fro
method which also meant that I could reassemble it from memory. The really
good solvers will disassemble it relatively quickly and then have a really
nice challenge assembling from scratch.
Beautifully made pieces
Appletree
Appletree by Benjamin Heidt
Here we have another very interesting design by Benjamin Heidt. It is a
beautifully burr made in the shape of an Apple tree complete with apples amongst
the foliage. It has been stunningly created using American Walnut, Acacia with
Padauk apples.
This takes a bit of fiddling and exploration in every direction to find the
first piece to move and after this, if you’re anything like me, it’s followed
by an “Oh my God!!!” moment as all of a sudden a whole LOT of pieces move in
various directions. Slight panic ensued and I quickly decided to return to the
beginning and discovered that it wouldn’t go - aaargh! It took a frantic few
minutes to sort of scrunch it back together and breathe a sigh of relief. I
had to gird myself before trying again. This is fun! For me it’s a puzzle
version of a rollercoaster.
Having done that several times and worked out how it locked and unlocked, I
proceeded to explore and quickly found that several pieces were removable. I
kept them in a place where I could tell the position and orientation. After
removing 4 or 5 the trunk fell off and it sort of scrunched up again. I was
lost! Despite this, the puzzle remained pretty stable even if everything was
jiggly. I actually struggled to remove the remaining pieces, they did not just
fall apart. Over the next 20 minutes I gradually disassembled it piece by
piece and, oh boy, there are a lot of pieces.
Appletree pieces
After all of that, I had not even done the main challenge! This is not a
stunningly designed sequential disassembly puzzle as I alluded to above…it is
actually an assembly puzzle - the tree, as received, is in a "transport
configuration" - the actual aim of the puzzle is to assemble the tree again but
with 4 red apples on each side of the tree. There is no way that I was going to
reassemble the transport solution without assistance let alone the main
challenge and so I am off to Burrtools for a happy time sketching pieces out.
Great fun!
Rattle Twist Duo
Rattle Twist Duo by Osanori Yamamoto
My friend's version
This beautiful interlocking puzzle designed by Osanori Yamamoto is made from
Maple (pieces) with 2 different frames: one Jatoba and the other Zebrano. This
one was so good that it was made for me by my greatly missed friend and mentor
Tsy Hung Chein (aka
Felix). Felix had one of the best eyes for a fabulous puzzle and if he took the time
to make a copy and send it to me then you can be assured that there is something
special about it. I had absolutely adored the copy sent to me - and I am
delighted that many others will now get to experience a puzzle that looks simple
but has significant challenge to it.
Osanori-san’s documentation that he sent to Jakub said that the 2 interlocking
pieces should be sent out locked on one frame with the aim being to remove
them and place them on the other and then return it to the start position.
Like many of his creations, rotations are both possible and required. For a
puzzle with only 2 pieces to be fitted on a relatively simple frame, this
should not be so difficult. Despite having done it before, it took me a good
hour to disassemble one and assemble the other.
Then going back the other way after a delay to allow forgetting was just as much
of a challenge.
Parallel Burr Cube #2
Parallel Burr Cube #2 by Osanori Yamamoto
Another challenge by Osanori-san, this consists of a Frame made from Bubinga and
a set of 6 board burr pieces made from Limba. It is strikingly beautiful.
Initially I thought that this was just a framed 6 board burr but it’s not quite
this. The boards are held apart from each other by the frame making sure they
interact loosely with each other being trapped by just the end-plates of each
board. At the beginning there are several possible moves but the paths are
mostly dead-ended after just 1 or 2 moves. This means no huge long fruitless
pathways to explore. It requires a search for something that goes somewhere and
for me, took quite a while to find the required move that opened up the puzzle
for further exploration. The first piece can be removed quite quickly after just
6 moves which then allows you to peek inside and gain some more understanding of
the interaction of the pieces. Having removed the first piece, it does not seem
to get any simpler and the puzzle transforms into almost a disentanglement
puzzle - it is like unravelling a knot inside a box whilst you can only see a
small section of the knot at a time. It is at times frustrating, sometimes
fiddly as the boards can catch on the edges as there is a little wiggle room,
but is always an enjoyable exploration. The move count is not particularly high
but it is still fun to explore and work out at each stage how to make room for
the next piece to slide.
You can see how the pieces are locked in place
Having dismantled the puzzle over about an hour or more, I had kept the pieces
in order of their removal and remembered which position they had come from. All
with the aim of facilitating reassembly without resorting to Burrtools. I was
feeling quite proud of myself as I inserted the first three and then for some
reason the fourth one just couldn’t be inserted. What was I doing wrong? A
careful look at the shapes of the pieces revealed that the second piece had been
inserted upside down followed by the third correctly and this couldn’t leave
room to insert the next. OK, having realised this, take it apart again…except I
couldn’t dismantle it! Aargh! Minor panic ensues and I have to work out
all over again how to undo the interior disentanglement puzzle I had created for
myself. After a frantic 10 minutes, I had all the pieces and admonished myself
for being an eeejit and not keeping track of piece orientation as well as order.
After this it went back together nice and smoothly. This puzzle is wonderful -
it looks great, is sort of a burr and disentanglement puzzle at the same time
and, if you are good enough, it can be a really tough assembly puzzle as well.
MRI
MRI by Benjamin Heidt
This new rather quirky and very attractive puzzle design by Benjamin Heidt is a
new type of puzzle for Pelikan and I am not certain how to categorise it.
Apparently Benjamin is a technician who works on MRI machines in hospitals. He
must be very used to working with magnets and there are several of them inside
this puzzle. It looks just like an MRI scanner complete with a patient (he has
hair and a nose!) on the scanning platform inside the magnet. The aim is to
remove the patient from the scanner by unlocking the hidden interior mechanism.
One thing Benjamin should know is that you must NEVER bring another
ferrous metal object inside the Faraday cage walls of an MRI room because it
will turn into a missile if released in the room (believe me, I have seen it
with an old Molybdenum steel oxygen cylinder - it moves very fast and does a
LOT of damage!) but here he has disobeyed all the rules. The puzzle has a
magnetic ball bearing on the floor held by a magnet embedded inside it and
obviously this magnetic bearing is used to somehow unlock the patient from the
scanner and remove him.
I do not know how many steps is required because I have so far not managed to
do much more than make interesting clicking noises as I move the bearing over
the surface. I am making things happen inside but so far I have made no
progress with the release - my patient may well starve to death in the MRI! I
may be reduced to having to take it to work and asking a kind radiographer to
take an Xray of it for me.
This is certainly something interesting which we have never seen before from
the Pelikan workshop. Well worth adding to your collection for the quirkiness
and the considerable puzzling challenge.
Matchbox Playground
Matchbox Playground - an extension of Oskar's idea by Péter Gál
This rather large puzzle set must be one of the most beautiful puzzle sets
that I have ever seen! It is simply stunning and an amazing scope of work by
the designer and by the craftsmen. It is the result of an epic amount of work
by the incredible puzzle designer, Péter Gál.
The box opens like a matchbox There are puzzle sheets and an
explainer inside
Cubic dissection version
I have quite a few burr sets and this one ranks up there alongside the very
best of them and will take pride of place in my collection. It is not a burr
set but a set of increasingly difficult assembly puzzles based on the
wonderful and clever Oskar’s Matchboxes puzzle that has been produced by
several craftsmen over the years as well as 3D printed. Oskar's original
puzzle had 5 pieces and I found that one pretty challenging. Later the idea
was extended by Alexander Kapkan with
6 pieces and again by Onno Hein with 6 pieces in a different configuration.
Over more than a year Péter had performed an exhaustive computational
analysis. A smaller version of this had been released in the
IPP design competition
in 2016. Péter's analysis was restricted to a 3x2x1 matchbox with the matches
attached at the gridlines giving 14 possible match/matchbox pairs. This puzzle
set is contained in a gorgeous box shaped and sliding open like a matchbox
itself to reveal the full set of 14 possible pieces and an envelope with an
explanation and puzzle challenges ranging from using just 4 pieces up to the
maximum of 13.
Just look at the presentation here - it is amazing!
There are effectively hundreds of challenges here as each one has multiple
solutions to find. The individual boxes are stunningly made out of Maple,
Wenge and Jatoba and the case made from Maple, Wenge and Oak.
This picture will be essential if I am going to put them back!
When I took a few out to admire them, I realised straight away that I would
need a photo of how they were arranged in the box! If you do just tip them out
then an additional challenge for you will be to pack them back in again - I
was not brave enough to do that! The challenges are really fun to do and
require considerable thought. The cards show just the required pieces and not
the eventual shape that you need to use. This means that simple entry into
Burrtools is not possible. I have managed the first couple of challenges and
really look forward to spending real time with this set. This is absolutely
fabulous! I have put 3 of my solutions to the first challenge behind a spoiler
button - if you plan to buy the set then don't look at it:
Should you buy this set? Hell yes! It's stunningly gorgeous, a whole lot of
puzzling challenges. I absolutely love puzzles that come with a booklet of
challenges e.g. the
Peanut puzzle, the
cubic Mazeburr,
Rhombic Mazeburr
and
Split Mazeburr and this new one from Pelikan is just amazing!
After my week off in which I had managed to solve 5 of the 9 puzzles about to be
released by Jakub and Jaroslav's
New Pelikan Workshop, I had to return to work. Amidst the beginning of a third wave of Covid that
seems to be hitting the UK, I got a bit of a shock at how suddenly things can
change and suddenly had much less time than I wanted to play with my new toys. I
am only too aware that Jakub is waiting for me to solve and write something -
the pressure is on and I had left the most difficult ones until last.
Waffle by Oasnori Yamamoto was actually one of the first that I actually tried
from the new arrivals but I got a bit of a shock the very first evening. This
consists of 4 bright yellow mini burrsticks made from
Garapa which have been arranged into an attractive cross shape on a
Jatoba
frame and the obvious aim is to remove them. Itis immediately clear that
Burrtools is not helpful here because as soon as the pieces start to move the
requirement for rotations becomes very apparent. I began moving them about and
trying to make space for the required rotation to happen and quite quickly
lost track of what I had done - I suddenly couldn't reset the puzzle! OMG! A
lot of swearing during an episode of Grey's Anatomy had Mrs S looking at me
with anger and me sweating under that gaze as well as worrying about the
puzzle. After a fraught ½ hour I got it back to the beginning and drew a
little diagram of the start positions. I went back to work on the others and
only this last week did I start to play again. This time I actually made plans
of what I needed to do and always made sure that I could reset. Still no joy -
the pieces always seem to block the required rotation and I could not find a
way to make space. I moved on to the next one - Camel ride.
I failed on Camel ride for a couple of days and in desperation returned. Again
whilst watching TV I idly fiddled and did something without realising it. I
looked down in surprise and couldn't believe it. Moving back and forth, it is
apparent that the arrangement and movement on this one is critically accurate.
Having found that amazingly accurate move, I quickly had the puzzle solved.
This beautifully made 12(13) piece burr design by Stephan is yet another that
belongs in
Goetz' Burr zoo. I had bought this and solved it way back in 2014 after I had bought it
direct from the designer. Obviously Stephan has allowed Pelikan to reproduce
some of his more fun burrs. Having solved this way way back, I had absolutely
no recollection of the solution. I have gotten a bit rusty with burrs over the
last couple of years and this caused me quite some difficulty. The level is
16.8.9.2.2.3.4.2.1.2 so not too high a level but the fun part here is that to
make some of the moves the camel inside needs to be moved around to make space
for the other pieces to move. I managed to remove the first two pieces after 3
days of fiddling about with my usual to and fro approach. Removing the next
piece was a real challenge - finding the required moves requires looking and
experimenting and is very enjoyable. Even after almost all the pieces have
been removed it remains stable and does not collapse on itself at all.
Fabulous!
Stunning design and beautifully made
I have not yet reassembled it as I will definitely need Burrtools for this.
Fermat
Fermat by Dr Volker Latussek
Using the usual box that we are by now all rather familiar with, Dr Latussek
has branched out into the use of not rectilinear shapes. Named after the great
French mathematician, this puzzle takes 3 triangular prisms of slightly
different dimensions made from Maple and asks that they be "solved" into the
beautiful Acacia box. I have been playing with this on and off since they all
arrived and have gotten absolutely nowhere! I can get 2 pieces inside and this
can be any combination of the pieces but I have not even come close to getting
the third in with them. I think that just possibly, maybe, if I am not
delusional that I might have worked out where they all need to go for the
final solution but there is just no way that I can achieve it. I hope that
maybe someone can send me a clue once others have managed to solve it.
Lutz
Lutz by Dr Volker Latussek
Is there no end to Dr Latussek's talents? I have not had time to play with this
at all and am awaiting being told what the challenge is. A tray packing puzzle?
Probably not as there is a gap in the side of the tray. I assume that the aim is
to insert all the pieces into the tray through the gap? As always, Pelikan has
made it beautiful and I hope to play in the near future.
I would estimate that these will all be released quite soon - maybe early next week - keep an eye out on the Pelikan site or later this year on the PuzzleMaster site.
Take care out there people! The pandemic is far from over - don't become complacent. Just because you have been vaccinated, does not mean that you cannot catch it and infect others even if you don't get sick yourself. We also do not know whether the vaccine prevents the development of Long Covid which is an extremely debilitating condition.
On 23rd November a package arrives from the Czech republic...yes, Jakub and
Jaroslav have done it again! They have been beavering away to produce a bunch of
new toys for puzzlers the world over to enjoy as Xmas presents. I unpack,
photograph and admire and begin to play - yes they are all simply stunning! What
more would you expect from such masters of their art? After my initial email
back and forth about which ones need me to write reviews, I am asked if I can
write something about them all for their website and can I do it in 6 days?
Gulp! Erm! probably not but I might manage something within 9 or 10 days. What
was the reason for such awful dereliction of duty to the puzzling world and
Pelikan? Well, there is quite a lot of work to be done in hospitals these days
and at the end of that week, I had to go to Edinburgh to visit the outlaws. A
journey from South Yorkshire to Edinburgh takes a minimum of 5 hours and this
time took 7 due to road and weather conditions (England gets caught by surprise
every single time it snows!) I would suggest that you subscribe to Ivan Danik's
YouTube channel
- he gets them a few days before me (due to being in Europe) and can
advertise them
faster than me.
But, I set to on them and managed to get most of them solved by Monday evening
and sent off my spiel to Jakub for the website. They went on sale a couple of
days ago and quite a few have sold out already. If my blog is the only way
that you get to see them then I do apologise - I did show off a photo on
Facebook
and if you follow me there you might get advance notice.
Mini Lock 2
Mini Lock 2 by Christoph Lohe
Mini locks - a lovely pair
Minilock 2 is extremely cute, just like the
predecessor. This delightful puzzle is not terribly difficult. It consists of a key, a
shackle and 2 burr sticks. It requires only linear moves so do
not try to turn the key. Like all of
Christoph Lohe's
creations, it is a lovely little puzzle to explore. Finding the correct path is more
fiddly than tough but is a nice little diversion which at the end left me
astounded at the precision required to make something like this move so
smoothly. It also looks gorgeous and will be very nice on display in any
collection.
Just amazing precision - everything slides like a hot knife through
butter
Reassembly from scrambled pieces is definitely possible (although it took me
a whole evening).
Christmas tree
Xmas Tree by Stephan Baumegger
I can't have a Christmas tree at home because the last time we did have one
it was destroyed by the cats in a most upsetting manner. They are absolutely
fascinated by it and whilst tinsel may look funny going in the front end, it
very much is NOT funny when it exits the other 😱😱! This year, however, I
shall have a Christmas tree on display in my living room! It will be on my
mantelpiece...it is a beautiful design from
Stephan Baumegger (go and explore his FB page
here -
it is wonderful). It looks like a burr puzzle but initial exploration shows
that it is more like a wood chuck puzzle. A piece slides and then another
and then I got stuck for a bit. After a close look at what was revealed I
was able to proceed and after that quite rapidly had a pile o'pieces. The
disassembly probably took me 10 minutes and was quite fun.
Not really a burr - I classified it as an interlocking puzzle
The real challenge is to reassemble it with all the colours in the right
place. The first couple of times I put it back together with great
satisfaction only to realise that the light cubies weren't all aligned
properly. It took me an extra 5 or 10 minutes of fiddling around before I
got it right. This is a perfect seasonal gift and a nice little challenge
for the new puzzler.
Den cube
Den Cube by Osanori Yamamoto
This lovely cube is stunningly made from a maple frame and 3 interlocking
bright yellow Garapa burr pieces. The aim, obviously, is to separate all the
pieces from the frame but they are quite well interlocked and despite quite
a lot of possible movements (all of which are beautifully silky smooth), in
almost all directions, they seem impossibly intertwined. Being systematic
allowed me to find one pathway that looked better than the others and on we
go. This is very like untying a knot whilst it is inside a box that you
can't quite see inside of. It's actually a lot of fun.
I didn't realise until taking this that the 3 sticks were identical
Having taken it apart I tried to put it straight back together again and
couldn't do it. I had forgotten one crucial part and had to work it out from
scratch. Even that is possible for the experienced puzzler with a bit of
thought and an extra hour on their hands. A wonderful challenge. I have now
reassembled this from scratch a few times and it is quite a fun challenge -
the disassembly will make it good for new puzzlers and the assembly
challenge for experienced burr solvers.
Bison
Bison by Jack Krijnen Not a model of the mother in law!
A first look at this puzzle leaves you absolutely stunned - it is
breathtakingly realistic! The intricacy of the design and manufacture is
incredible. I am amazed that this can be produced in any numbers and indeed,
Jakub did tell me that it was very difficult to produce. Jack Krijnen
designs some wonderful puzzles and this year he produced a very small run of
these Bison puzzles and then allowed Pelikan to make some more. This is a
new category for me. Kumike is a very old Japanese tradition but not
something I've ever played with before (apart from very simple plastic
puzzles as a child). My friend Frank is a world expert on these - have a
look at his very extensive site
here.
This is a delight to play with
It is not a terribly difficult challenge but is an absolute delight to look
at, hold and to dismantle. There is a nice surprise inside. Whilst not hard
to do, there is something compulsive about it and I keep dismantling and
reassembling it with a big smile on my face. It is not suitable for young
children or clumsy people as the interlocking sections are quite thin and
could be broken if inadequate care was taken.
This puzzle was designed by Dr Latussek as a tribute to one of the best
packing puzzles ever designed and made. Volker and I agree that the
4L puzzle by Yasuhiro Hashimoto
is an absolutely tremendous puzzle. I recall that the 4L took me a very long
time and it was with some considerable trepidation that I set to work on
this - at least 2 other packing puzzles from Volker remain unsolved by me so
far (Euklid for Nick and Fermat). So, you're all wondering, how does it
compare? Right up front, I have to say that this puzzle is absolutely
FABULOUS! If you have solved 4L then it will not be quite as
challenging but it has a couple of truly lovely Aha! moments. If you've
never done 4L then expect a really fun challenge with thought and planning.
It is also made perfect by the sheer quality of the woodcraft and the
wonderful choice of woods used.
Solved! No spoilers here.
Serpentarium
Serpentarium by Lucie Pauwels
Another stunning creation by the incredibly prolific
Lucie Pauwels. She always
produces designs
that are interesting to look at either as pieces or as an assembled puzzle.
This has been made by Pelikan in Wenge with a Padauk box and is simply
stunning in the depth of colour. Of course the woodwork is superb. There are
4 different snakes along with 2 smaller pieces (?eggs or ?food) to be placed
inside the caged box. The entry is very limited and forming the 3x3x3 cube
through such a small set of holes is a big challenge.
Solved it
This took me quite some time as my intuition for where to place the small
pieces turned out to be wrong. The solution level is not terribly high but
it is a significant challenge worthy of any decent puzzler. It also will
look gorgeous on display. I had left it in the solved state for a few days
and it actually proved a considerable challenge to dismantle as well - I
would suggest storing it unsolved.
Moose
We have two Mooses (or are they Meese?) Both are absolutely
gorgeous
Moose is another fabulous creation from
Alfons Eyckmans. He has designed quite a lot of members of the
Burr zoo
and each one is a wonderful challenge. Most are not too horrifically
difficult but are certainly a very decent challenge that will take all but
the very best of burr solvers a pretty decent amount of time. As I write
this for Jakub, I have spent 3 evenings working on it. I've made some decent
progress (I think) but have not yet solved it. The puzzle is available in
two versions. There's the standard one with alternating Maple and
Purpleheart burrsticks and then there is the gorgeous version made using the
same woods but created in a totally new way for Pelikan...the burrsticks are
all made from Purpleheart and they are edged with bevelled Maple on every
face. This produces a stunning looking puzzle. The moose hidden inside the
12 piece burr (both versions) is made from American Walnut. Obviously the
solution is unchanged with each version but the look is extremely different
and very striking. If you have a lot of burrs on display then the special
version will need to be placed front and centre. I hope to solve this in the
next few days.
Well, a few days have gone past and I have still not managed to solve it - here's hoping!
I apologise for my delay - I hope that you all managed to buy what you wanted and will get them in time for Xmas. Mrs S is starting to get upset again because the puzzles are everywhere and not organised in any way (I tell her that I do know where they all are). I really need to find some time to tidy up and organise things better...better than strewn all over my desk. Maybe over the Xmas break? Except I am not getting a break - damn! They will just need to remain spread out everywhere. Whack! Ouch!
I did not get to go to the IPP this year but the photos and videos I saw looked
amazing. There were some amazing puzzles entered into the
design competition and hopefully I can ignore the threats from "she who must be feared" and
purchase one or two (or may be even loads) of them. In the middle of the week I
was contacted by Simona from Pelikan (Jakub must be away) to get my phone number
as they are using a new courier who needs that. A nice big blue box arrived on
Wednesday and I got to unpack it after work on Friday. Oh boy! There are some
stunning and very tough puzzles coming your way!
The next batch will include:
Out of Center by Alfons Eyckmans
Social Distance Soma Cube by Lucie Pauwels
Apotheca by Dr Volker Latussek
Petit Albert by Dr Volker Latussek
Slider H by Benjamin Heidt
Minima 2nd Drawer by Frederic Boucher
Antislide 2L by Lucie Pauwels
Smuggler by Lucie Pauwels
It's going to take me a while to get through them - I will post reviews as
soon as I can.
I started on the Petit Albert by Volker and that's the only one I have
managed since opening the package (I spent all Saturday doing a list of
trauma surgery). I couldn't resist it because the pieces look so enticingly
shaped and it is clear from the curves on the tetrominoes that some
interesting rotational moves were going to be needed. Also, Volker has an
incredible eye for interesting ideas that puzzlers love and I had to go
straight for it. My first challenge was to take the pieces out of the box
from their packing position. The first 3 came out quite easily but after
this removing the final 2 is a challenge just by itself. I needed a light
source to see inside and about 45 minutes of increasingly desperate fiddling
with my finger poked into the hole before I had all the contents on display.
This is another fabulous bonus puzzle from Volker.
Beautifully made and interesting shapes
The Petit Albert consists of a 3x3x2 voxel box made from a nicely grained Oak
with an L shaped hole in one side. There are 4 tetrominoes and a 1x2 stick
made from Wenge. There are a total of 18 vowels to be fitted in the box so
there will be no gaps. On each of the tetrominoes one of the edges in rounded
off - this is obviously intended to facilitate rotational moves of those
pieces. Fascinating!
Volker said this about it:
"A while ago I was reminded of a deformed Tetracube when I was looking
at a sculpture by the Spanish artist, Carlos Albert. Perhaps that's not
that surprising, given that Carlos Albert forges his sculptures from
solid square steel. While for PETIT SUCRIER I had set myself the task of
incorporating as many openings as possible into the 3x3x2 box as a
tribute to Frederic Boucher, when playing with the deformed Tetracubes
it quickly becomes clear that the lack of edges allows for rotations
that enable new movements; so the task was to find an opening that would
allow for an exciting solution.
With the opening of my SIXPACK design, this task was solved. I am
delighted every time something new emerges from the interplay of the
familiar and observations, but I am especially delighted when you
discover and enjoy the dance of the pieces while playing with PETIT
ALBERT."
It is clear that all the pieces can fit through that hole in one particular
orientation but if they are all placed like that the cavity gets filled and
blocked up very quickly. Creating a 3x3x2 shape from the pieces is exceedingly
easy and there are 4 different ways to create that shape with the tetromiino
but with the curve on one edge there are 2 ways each piece can be oriented
which increases the number of possible arrangements significantly. Starting
outside the box I found a solution that would fit and then tried all the
orientations of the solution that might allow one or two pieces to just fall
out without rotation (it is impossible for the final 2 pieces to rotate due to
the interior being blocked up).
having found a set of placements that would allow 2 pieces to drop out then it
was time to work on the others to see whether I could form a shape that was
correct. This was a huge challenge - Volker mentioned a "dance of pieces" so I
knew there would not be a nice easy rotation and placement. There was going to
be a sequence of moves of which one or more might be rotational.
When only one is inside quite a lot of rotations are possible and almost any
orientation is possible. Positioning the second piece was already much more
difficult and I ended up discarding several possible arrangements due to being
unable to position that piece. I did find a few placements that would work and
by pure luck after multiple hours of work on it, I managed to get 3 pieces in
leaving a nice gap to drop the last 2 in. The packed puzzle is pictured below.
There is a very minor clue so I have put it behind a spoiler button - don't
look if you don't want a hint.
That is incredibly clever!
Having solved it and taken my photo - I really struggle to get it apart! I could
not remember how I had oriented the pieces and how they rotated in the box. If
you buy this, I suggest that you take notes as you solve it - I got quite
fraught for a while trying to remove al the pieces. Now, of course, I have the
only slightly easier challenge of placing it in the delivery position.
This is another essential purchase from Pelikan and Dr Latussek. You will not
be disappointed! Now, I had better get back to work on the rest! 😱
Jakub and team have decided to make another run of the Safe puzzle that I reviewed here. If you are interested in obtaining a copy then you should contact the Pelikan team via their website or by email if you are on their mailing list.
This may well be a little late for many of you who don't keep an eye out on the
Pelikan website or follow me on
Facebook. I
received a package out of the blue about 10 days ago and had very little time at
first to do any more than open it and take my photos. I am definitely not clever
enough to solve all of these challenging puzzles in just 5 days and Jakub wanted
to get them up for sale before he and his team go off on their well-earned
Christmas break. These puzzles went up for sale on Thursday and I'm afraid that
at least 2 are sold out already. If there is anything that you particularly want
to buy then keep an eye on the auction sites or see whether Jakub might agree to
make another batch - sometimes if enough people ask then he does get agreement
from the designers to make a few more.
In this release there are some truly stunning and clever designs: Minima
Smiley by
Frederic Boucher Trimini Frame by
Lucie Pauwels Euklid's Cabrio by
Dr Volker Latussek Nested Soma by Dr Volker Latussek with Lucie Pauwels Lunchbox by
George Miller
Minima Smiley
There have been quite a lot of Minima puzzles over the last few years. The
series started out as fun small packing puzzles with relatively simple pieces to
fit in a small box with restricted entry and usually some odd holes or slots to
allow rotations to occur. I have now bought lots and lots of these and
thoroughly love the combination of thought, fiddling and Aha! moments. Several
other designers have jumped on the Minima bandwagon and I have, of course, added
these to my collection (partially thanks to Tye Stahly's Nothing Yet Designs
site as well as Jakub and Jaroslav's Pelikan puzzles.
When I received this one, I really wasn't sure what to make of it. All the
pieces were inside and there seemed to be a ball in there too as well as a
bolt in the side. What on earth was going on here. It cannot be a packing
puzzle - is it an unpacking puzzle? Does such a thing exist? It would appear
that Frederic has branched out into other genre's again (remember the amazing
Res Q
and my own special
Visitor Q?) This time the aim is to work out how to release the ball.
Initially only the ball moves from one empty space to another but no further
than that and therefore the only thing available to me was to remove the
bolt. I got a bit of a surprise at the sheer length of it! After removal,
there was suddenly the ability to slide a piece around and this opened up a
bit of pathway for the ball. Except it wouldn't go very far and then nothing
else happens. I was able to work out what the shapes were inside the box and
map them out - there is absolutely no way any more is going to happen. Now I
know that Frederic is a sneaky so and so and Jakub is very happy to
encourage this sneakiness. A little exploration with fingers revealed
something interesting and also some rather strong magnets. a tiny bit more
progress happens but I get stuck again. Whilst exploring at this point, I
realise that a piece can rotate and I eagerly encourage it only to find it
doesn't really help me. Once I realised this, I tried to get it all back to
the start and, OMG, it wouldn't go! Cue, minor panic before I got it all
reset after 15 minutes of swearing at myself whilst Mrs S giggled at me and
said that I don't seem to be very good at this puzzling business - oh, the
shame!
I was stumped and had to draw the shapes and the box to work out a possible
alternative sequence. Only after I had drawn it out was I able to make
further steps and I could see the reason for the name of the puzzle:
Now I have to get the little bugger back inside
Having taken my photo, I tried to reset it, only to hear a lout "clack!" as
the pieces reset themselves. OMG, my heart leapt into my throat again and I
was forced to work it out from scratch again. For a while I kept trying it
wrong and repeatedly heard that clack again and again until I realised the
move needed to prevent it.
This is wonderful - very clever and shows that Frederic is able to set his
talented brain to all types of puzzle. It has been absolutely beautifully made
by Pelikan in Mahogany and Maple.
Trimini Frame
Trimini Frame by Lucie Pauwels
There have been a couple of incredible packing puzzle/antislide puzzles by Lucie
this year (Minimal Frame and
Open Frame which is
still available
as I type). I really struggled even to solve the basic packing element of these
and completely failed with both of them to solve the antislide challenge. I was
amazed at the last MPP when Wil Strijbos sidled up to me and showed me the he
had solved it in about 10 minutes. I shouldn't have been surprised as the man is
a total genius at design and solving. That display made me all the more
determined to succeed at the latest of the challenges. Based on a triangular
grid there are 8 oddly shaped pieces to place in a frame with only a single
triangular voxel at the corner to hold the pieces in place.
Pepper Castor (another triangular grid)
This time I decided to be more analytical rather than just randomly place
pieces in the tray. My usual approach to packing puzzles really isn't terribly
efficient. A little trial and error revealed that certain pieces would either
have to be oriented a particular direction if the abutted an edge or they
would need to be positioned in the interior. This realisation was the key and
significantly decreased the number of random moves. It didn't make it easy by
any stretch but a true analytical approach made this solvable even by an eejit
like me! After about 30 minutes of swearing under my breath, I had a true Aha!
moment and it was solved. Absolutely wonderful to play with a triangular grid
for once (very few designers do this - the best that I can recall is Alexander
Magyaric's
Play-girl
and
Play-boy
puzzles as well as his
Pepper Castor). There are still 13 in stock as I type - well worth buying to challenge
yourself and even non-puzzlers.
Not only is this a packing puzzle...this is a sliding piece puzzle. Getting
everything in place is going to need careful placement and then careful
jiggling about inside to make room for subsequent pieces. I needed another
couple of days to figure this one out in my head (luckily there is plenty of
space in there). I let out a huge shout when I finally closed the box with all
the pieces inside - that man is a genius!
Make sure that you pay proper attention to what you do and how the pieces sit
inside because it will require an exact sequence of moves to get them out
again and initially you will be blind with a box that is closed or only opens
a little bit. As you would expect, I got the box stuck in the closed position
for a panicked hour as I shook it about and desperately tried to work out how
to open the bloody thing! I actually had to sit down for a bit and think to
open it and felt a sudden urge for a gin when I finally did it. I have managed
it a few times since then and it is incredibly clever. This is an essential to
all followers of Volker and all packing aficionados.
Nested Soma
Nested Soma - a collaboration by Lucie Pauwels and Dr Volker Latussek
Lucie has recently designed a new puzzle in the Minima series, the Minima
nest (I haven't gotten around to it yet), and she decided to try and create a
bigger version using a shifted 3x3x3 box. When Volker saw the puzzle idea, he
suggested that she try and use slightly altered Soma pieces and sent her a
couple of designs for the pieces and then the Nested Soma was born.
The manufacturing skill for this puzzle is totally off the scale! It is
stunning made from Elm and Bubinga. The puzzle screams to fit the pieces
inside and as you do so it quickly gets blocked up leaving spaces inside that
cannot be reached. Time to solve it outside of the box and then you realise
that it isn't very stable when the pieces are piled up on a table or your lap.
A combination approach would be good. My trial and error approach rapidly
failed. There are some very peculiar shapes which have to be fitted into a
very restricted part of the box and quite quickly I saw that one piece could
only fit in a particular orientation and, gulp, it needed a rotational move -
Burrtools won't help much here.
I spent about an hour having increasingly useful breakthroughs and inched my
way forwards progressively. The final Aha! moments are delicious. I have
posted the solved puzzle because it appears on the Pelikan page - it's a
minimal spoiler as most of it cannot be seen.
Solved - really not much of a spoiler here
Lunchbox
Lunchbox by George Miller
I think this might be my first puzzle by George which is strange because he
has been very prolific for a very long time. Recently he
and Roxanne have
been focussed on creating the greatest puzzle museum in the world.
George wrote this about it:
"Lunchbox is a variation of a puzzle I found in a pile of puzzles I
had purchased in Prague. One of the puzzles was simply 10 pieces of
wood with no clue as to the goal. I guessed it had to be a symmetric
solid shape and began to explore all of the possibilities. This was,
in essence, a meta puzzle – that is – and the goal, then solve the
puzzle by stacking the pieces into the shape of the goal. The ten
pieces were all the ways four 2 unit squares of one unit thickness
could be glued together at with two unit cubes cubes glued to the
squares to form a checkered patterns on each piece.
I made a copy of the ten pieces on a 3D printer. I used BurrTools to
test using these ten pieces to pack a 4x5x3 shape I called a
“sandwich”. I forced the squares to the top and bottom and the red
cubes to the middle making it look ever so much like a jelly
sandwich.
A simple packing puzzle is fun, but making a good puzzle involves a
presentation mode plus a theme or story. A presentation mode too often
is simply the solved puzzle. This takes away the pleasure of a
discovered solution. Again, using BurrTools I found a solid packing of
a set of steps with a unique solution. This led to the development of
a box in the shape of a lunch pail with the inside conforming to the
shape of the set of stairs. The story then becomes that of a young lad
taking to school a lunchbox prepared by his mother. When he opens the
box he finds his lunch in many pieces he has to pack together into a
delicious sandwich before eating his lunch. Putting the pieces back
into the lunchbox presents a puzzle unto itself."
This challenge is incredibly well presented - it arrives in one of the
solved positions with the pieces packed in the box. Tipping them out
reveals the wonderful variety of ways that 2 cubies can be placed on the 4
tetrominoes with gaps.
All the tetrominoes with checkerboard patterns
The first challenge is to create a sandwich from the contents of the
lunchbox. Jakub has made the pieces in such a way that it looks like a piece
of meat between 2 slices of white bread. I initially attempted to make it so
that only checkerboard pieces were next to each other. This seriously
restricted the pieces that I could try in each position but left me unable
to form the 4x5x3 shape. Once I had determined that it might be impossible
with pure checkerboard positioning, I looked at other arrangements and with
some thought created lunch:
One ham sandwich
Burrtools tells me that there are another 3 ways to make my sandwich - I will
keep working on it. Getting the pieces back into the box has so far proven
impossible for me. I know the shape to achieve and it is not a simple cuboid
which seems to be confusing me. I will be using Burrtools in the
meantime.
Unlike the sandwich, the orientation of the white bread is not all in the same
direction which seems to confuse my feeble brain a lot. It is very similar to
the Tabula cubes I
wrote about
way back in 2013 which I really struggled with:
Tabula cube 1
Tabula cube 2
Tabula cube 1 pieces
Tabula cube 2 pieces
These puzzles are selling very fast - order them quick if you don't want to miss out. They are all amazing. My favourites are Minima Smiley, Nested Soma and Euklid's Cabrio.
