MagicPuzzles.org

I have been a member of the Karakuri Creation Group’s club since ‘08.  They make some of the finest puzzle boxes of the world.  It’s sort of an all-star collection of Japanese puzzle box makers.  It originally started as Akio Kamei’s fan club.  Kamei is the most famous designer in the world of trick (as opposed to traditional Japanese) puzzle boxes.

For $120/year, you get advance updates on new products, written documentation of all their products past and present, and a discount on purchases.  The greatest benefit, though, is that you get one “Christmas present.”  It’s a puzzle box made by the designer of your choice, though you don’t know what it will be until you get it.  You can choose additional designers at $100 each.  You pay your dues in January and get your puzzles around mid-December.  Additional puzzles can be added through the end of June.

I’ve avoided blogging about these because I didn’t know who the designer or name of each puzzle until I got the written documentation yesterday.  Brian Pletcher managed to figure that out somehow weeks ago, even before the Karakuri club mailed out the solutions (with puzzle names and designers) on Jan 12.

I ordered the Akio Kamei and Hiroshi Iwahara puzzles this year.  Along with Yoshiyuki Ninomiya, they seem to be some of the most, if not the most, popular designers of the club.  Ninomiya is so popular that this year you have to win a lottery to order his 2010 Christmas present.

Four Direction Drawers - Hiroshi Iwahara

This is an unusual puzzle box.  There are 4 drawers located on different sides and at different levels.  One of them opens freely; the object is to get all four to open at once.  It took me a little while to figure out how to get the second drawer open, but it was pretty quick afterward.

Iwahara seems to specialize in these puzzles with multiple drawers, having created other 3, 4 and 5 drawer puzzles.  The 5 drawer puzzle, “Memory Drawers,” is quite complex and runs about $1000.

Irregular Twin Box - Akio Kamei

This looks like Hiroshi Iwahara’s “Confetto Box.” In fact, my wife Lyndie, who takes the pictures and set up this site, asked me if this wasn’t the same puzzle as “Confetto Box” and Eric Fuller’s “Tier Box,” since they look so similar.

At first I was stumped, since it seems like a sliding panel puzzle whose panels don’t slide.  I worked on it briefly a few minutes each day, and got it after a few days.  I’m pretty impressed that Brian Pletcher and his family members solved this box in just a few minutes each.

Here are a few puzzles I’ve acquired recently which are newer/harder versions of puzzles I already have.

Magic Box (2 Drawer Version)

This is a harder, 2 drawer version of the classic “Magic Box.”  Both versions of the Magic Box are commonly made in Malaysia, and quite possibly have their origin there.  These boxes are very cheap and fairly challenging if you haven’t seen them before.  They are available, for example, at Deal Extreme.  There are usually a few copies for sale on eBay.

Even if you know the solution to the classic “Magic Box,” this 2-drawer version still presents quite an additional challenge.  This is not so true with the YOT II or DanLock “B”.

YOT II

This is a slightly harder version of the YOT.  It looks practically the same, but is a little thicker.  The photo shows both side by side.  It adds an additional element to the original puzzle, and is a little more expensive.

If you’ve never played with a YOT before, I would go ahead and buy the YOT II.  Once you’ve solved the original YOT, it doesn’t take long to figure out the additional element.  My coworkers and I who have seen the YOT were all able to solve the YOT II quickly.

DanLock "B" - Dan Feldman

This is the DanLock “B”. It is a minor variant of and slightly more difficult than the original DanLock puzzle, which Feldman currently designates as “A”. “A” is shown on the left, and “B” on the right. The only visible difference is a minor variation in the keys.

Like with the YOT, if you have never played with a DanLock, go ahead and buy the “B” version.  It costs the same as “A” but has an additional twist to the solution.  However, if you’ve solved “A,” you’ll solve “B” quickly.

If you’re considering buying a DanLock, now is the time.  Feldman is unsure whether he will make any more after he exhausts his current stock.  This is one of the best take-apart puzzles ever.  It’s a bargain for what you get: $80 for the lock, including international shipping.  Compare that with Rainer Popp’s puzzle locks, which run about $200-$400 each.  To be fair, though, Popp’s locks may be more complex.

After solving “B”, I finally took a look at the solutions for “A” and “B”.  Feldman enclosed a more recent, nicer set of “A” instructions with the “B” lock.  There is an element to the solution that I was not even aware of.  It just seemed to me that the lock was randomly sticky at times.

One-Wa-Sure - Rocky Chiaro

This is the 3rd bolt puzzle I’ve purchased from Rocky Chiaro.  It is very well made, as expected.  It’s more along the lines of what I thought a bolt puzzle would be, and took me about 10 minutes to solve.  My Mechanical Engineer co-workers either got it quickly or gave up.

Bottle puzzles are one of my favorite types of puzzles.  The object is to remove whatever is inside the bottle.  Each bottle is a combination of several different types of puzzles.  Obviously, the main goal makes it a take-apart/disentanglement puzzle.  The bottle limits manipulation of the parts, making it a dexterity puzzle.  Finally, the initial puzzlement is how the parts are able to get through the mouth of the bottle at all, making it an “impossible object.”  The interaction of these 3 elements generally limits the bottle to being a simple disentanglement puzzle, an easy dexterity puzzle, and an “impossible object” that’s simple to figure out.

2 Balls and Ring Whiskey Bottle - Wil Strijbos

This is one of Wil Strijbos’ original whiskey bottle puzzles that I got from one of Nick Baxter’s puzzle auctions.  Strijbos has designed at least 2 whiskey and 4 Coke bottle puzzles.  This particular design has been commercialized by Eureka! puzzles of Belgium.  The commercial version is designated as Bottle 4.  Eureka! puzzles has 5 different bottle puzzles, 2 of which are designed by Strijbos.

One of my primary goals of attending IPP 29 was to buy some bottle puzzles from Strijbos.  Unfortunately, he didn’t bring any, probably because they are relatively cheap, heavy, and fragile.

Bottle 1 - Ad van der Schagt

This is Eureka! Puzzles’ Bottle 1, designed by Ad van der Schagt.

Bottle 2 - Ad van der Schagt

This is Eureka! Puzzles’ Bottle 2, also designed by Ad van der Schagt.  The current commercial version looks like it uses a shorter bottle.

Bottle Puzzle with Lock and Key

I’m not sure who the designer of this bottle is.  I either got it on eBay or at Nick Baxter’s open house prior to IPP 29, and it did not come with documentation.  It’s similiar to Bottle 2.  Because of the way it’s constructed, it allows a additional solution method not present in Bottle 2.

The Neocube

This is a collection of 216 miniature magnetic spheres called “The Neocube.“  It makes a 6 x 6 x 6 cube as pictured, and the set also includes 8 extra spare magnets that form a 2 x 2 x 2 sphere.  Its tagline is “the future of puzzles.”  However, it’s actually a novel (and superb) stress relief/construction toy, since there is no clear objective.  Various shapes that can be formed are shown on the website.

It’s spawned at least one imitator: the Zoomdoggle Buckyballs, named after the hollow spherical carbon molecules, just happens to be 216 miniature magnetic spheres.  However, the Buckyballs don’t have the 8 spare balls, the instructions, and are $10 more expensive ($30, vs. $20 for the Neocube).  What it does have is a carrying case, and no cheesy video of a woman dancing to a Neocube techno song (see the Neocube site).

You an also purchase 100 miniature magnetic spheres for $8 from Deal Extreme in Hong Kong.  I’m not sure they are nearly as strong, since the picture doesn’t show them in the types of shapes formed by the Neocube or Buckyballs.  What’s amazing is that Deal Extreme offers free international shipping, even for their items that are around $2.

I got a Neocube for my cousins 2 Christmases ago, and they really enjoyed playing with it.

Impossible Street Elbows - Saul Bobroff

Here is an “impossible” object I bought from Saul Bobroff at IPP 29.  It’s made out of 4 standard, unmodified iron 1/4″ plumbing street elbows.  After pestering Saul about it with my different theories during the IPP, he finally broke down and told me.  I passed it around the other Mechanical Engineers at the office.  When I told them how it was built, they felt it was a little anti-climatic.  This shows some nice out-of-the-box thinking, and I don’t think I’m going to try and make one anytime soon.

It’s available from Eureka Puzzles in Massachusetts.  I think that Saul also runs his own puzzle shop that they would be available from, but I haven’t been able to find more information about it.

Bits and Pieces license plate

My wife and I spotted this Sunday parked outside of Borders Books.  I wonder if the owner works for Bits and Pieces, the makers of jigsaw puzzles and cheap brain teasers.  Maybe the owner is a fan of peanut brittle or has a job operating stone crushing machinery.

Cage - Hanayama

This is a reasonably simple puzzle by Hanayama, the leaders in miscellaneous-shaped (as opposed to wire) cast disentanglement puzzles.  They are widely available; I picked this up at Borders Books.  It appears to have been introduced to Japanese puzzle master Nob Yoshigahara by Prof. Bakalar of Prague.

Star Maze - Fiddl' Widdit

This is a basic disentanglement puzzle made by Fiddl’ Widdit, a small local company.  Marichu Hernandez and Paul Wood cut, bend and braze all the puzzles by hand.  The puzzles are in between the hefty Tucker-Jones house tavern puzzles and the small, cheap puzzles sold by Daiso et al.  The Star Maze runs $7.50, though some of the more difficult puzzles run $18.50.  By contrast, the Tucker-Jones house tavern puzzles retail for $22 and the Daiso puzzles for $1.50.

I ran into Fiddl’ Widdit selling puzzles at a local art fair.  Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find a vendor selling puzzle boxes, though there are many woodworkers, a few which even sell secret boxes.

According to Fiddl’ Widdit, the Star Maze was patented in 1907 as an advertising premium.  It’s fairly easy to solve.  I decided to buy a basic puzzle because I know disentanglement puzzles can get very difficult quickly.

Lacewood Puzzle Box - Peter Wiltshire

This is an early effort by budding puzzle master Peter Wiltshire.  So far, Wiltshire has produced only a handful of his copies, and they are not readily available for purchase.  He entered the 2008 IPP design contest with “Bank Heist,” and the 2009 IPP design contest with “Trillium Box.”  Trillium box was my favorite puzzle of the contest entries, and I was fortunate  enough to meet Wiltshire in person at IPP 29.

This box was Wiltshire’s effort to make a traditional 10-move Japanese-style puzzle box.  I actually counted 11 moves to open it.  It was so tight that I originally thought he had some mechanism other than just sliding panels in the puzzle.  I was able to borrow John Devost’s copy through the puzzle library at his Renegade Puzzler’s forum.

1/13/10 UPDATE: I found out from John Devost and Peter Wiltshire that one of the panels pictured above is backward.  When properly assembled, all faces look like the top face.  I assembled it properly, and it’s still pretty tight.