MagicPuzzles.org

4 Steps Visible Lock - Robrecht Louage

 The object of this puzzle is to remove the 1 Euro coin by moving the acrylic middle piece relative to the base.  It won the first prize in the 2011 International Puzzle Party design contest.  The puzzle concept (to remove a coin my manipulating a middle piece) is similar to Centrale by Jean Claude Constantin and Remove the Yolk by Louage himself.  The difference is that, as the puzzle name suggests, the mechanism is visible.  There are 4 balls, 3 pins and various channels that make up the mechanism, which is more complex than either Centrale or Remove the Yolk.  However, the puzzle is much easier to solve because of the visibility.

I was able to solve this in about 5 minutes.  In redoing it, I noticed that the first of the 4 steps was already unlocked when I started to solve it.  I gave it to my father-in-law to try, and he also got it fairly quickly.  Some other relatives, however, were not able to get it.  The difference is probably that my father-in-law has had a crack at most of my puzzles, whereas the other relatives were inexperienced.  Despite its relative ease, the mechanism was very satisfying, with a few twists and turns that earned it its grand prize in the IPP design contest.

This puzzle, along with the Havana Box #1, restored my enthusiasm with puzzles after a recent string of failures to solve some puzzles.

I got this puzzle from William Strijbos.  His access to most European puzzles, as well as the excellent puzzles he designs himself, make he and the Karakuri Creation Group my favorite 2 puzzle sources.  Thanks for an excellent puzzle, Robrecht and William!

Eureka Bottle 5 - William Strijbos

I was very happy recently to be able to complete my collection of Eureka! bottle puzzles.  This most recent one is invented by designer and collector William Strijbos and manufactured by Eureka, and is not to be confused by the bottle puzzles he makes and sells himself.  The object is to remove the red ball from the puzzle.  Eureka rates it 1 out of 4 for difficulty.

Just looking at it, it seems hard but not impossible.  I fiddled around with it with a few motions and no success.  My wife took a crack at it out of my sight, and after a few minutes, showed me the ball stuck in the tube.  It was too tight to make it all the way out.  Spurred on by here success, I tried a different motion.  After trying the same movement over and over a few minutes, I also got it stuck in the tube.  I was able to whip the puzzle so that the ball made it out.

So was this just a simple dexterity puzzle?  It hardly seemed likely that something so simple would come of a mind like Strijbos.  Fortunately, I was able to contact Strijbos directly and ask him if there was a more elegant solution.  He said there was.  I considered a bunch of possibilities, but had to break down and get the solution off the website.  Solutions are available for puzzle purchasers using the barcode number off the puzzle packaging.

After reading the official solution, I found that it is not unique, as both my wife and I were able to get it out using 2 different non-official solutions, though we both had to try out methods many times to get it to work.  The official solution itself would not work without modification on my particular puzzle given the way it was made.  I’m not partial to this type of solution, but I can’t say more about it without disclosing too much.

On the plus side, the solution is definitely an exercise in lateral thinking.  The puzzle is inexpensive and readily available.

Havana's Box #1 - Eric Fuller

This puzzle box is designed and made by Eric Fuller of Cubic Dissection.  It’s the first in a series of cigar boxes named after his local cigar shop, Havana Deluxe.  This particular box is dubbed “The Chris”, after the doorman.

The top and bottom panels reminded me of the rollup portion of a rollup desk.  The first move was pretty obvious, but I couldn’t progress from there for a while.  The puzzle also made a mysterious sound when I rocked it back and forth.  I was able to solve it while remembering a trick Fuller had used in one of his previous boxes.

At $119, this is one of Fuller’s simpler and cheaper boxes, and perfect for my budget.

Jacob's Revenge #1 - Elverson Puzzles

I saw this very elegant puzzle on my coworker’s desk the other day and asked to borrow it.  The object is to get the ball to the cork, obviously without removing the cork or damaging the bottle.  The problem is that the rod keeps getting in the way.

I worked on it for a while and didn’t get it.  I talked to my coworker about it and he thought for a second that I had figured out, and then he gave me a clue.  Both the hint and his initial thought that I had solved it made me realize the solution.

It’s a very simple but elegant puzzle that requires an “Aha!” moment.  I like these type of puzzles a lot more than interlocking, sliding, twisty and other puzzles that rely on complexity for difficulty.  The design makes it a classic, like the Old Shackles or Vesa Timonen’s Cast Loop.  Apparently, Jerry Slocum agrees, calling it “the best dexterity puzzle in decades”.  Slocum is the legendary puzzle collector who founded the International Puzzle Party.

Like Old Shackles or Cast Loop, Jacob’s Revenge is pretty cheap: $13 ($10 right now on sale) + shipping from Elverson Puzzles.  Based on Elverson Puzzles’ information, it appears that the puzzle was invented in 1994 or 1995 by one or both of the company’s founders, James and George TerBush.  It was the company’s first product.

I was so impressed with the puzzle that I decided not only to buy one for myself, but also get a copy for my relatives this Christmas.  Fortunately, the only relative of mine who might read this blog is my wife.  I looked around online but Elverson seemed to be out of stock, and I could only find it for $19 from Fisher Scientific.  I contacted Elverson, and James TerBush emailed me back the same day saying they were available.  He was able to update the website immediately.  I ordered 5 copies and they threw in a 6th for free, maybe because they are packaged in boxes of 6.  Thanks Elverson Puzzles!

Jacob's Revenge - Elverson Puzzles

The picture above shows the puzzle I just got from Elverson, as well as a puzzle in its original packaging.  The rod has changed a little.

I first saw this puzzle on the John Rausch’s “Puzzle World” site when I first started collecing.  I was very pleased to be able to get it later from Strijbos a while later.  I’m not sure if this is Whiskey Bottle #2 or #1.  It’s #1 in the Puzzle World site, and #2 in Nick Baxter’s auctions.  I assumed it’s #2 because Strijbos pasted images from the latter in his newsletter from July 27 of this year.

The needle and thread start in the bottle, but are very easily removed, which is what I did for the picture to help clarify the puzzle.  Despite its open appearance, I was not able to solve it for at least a year.  I put it on the shelf and every now and then come back and fiddle with it.  It only struck me recently how to tackle the problem, in one of those satisfying “Aha!” moments that has us all hooked on puzzles.

I partially disassembled the puzzle to prove to myself that it could be done, but didn’t dare fully disassemble it.  I think Strijbos must have a bunch of tools like those used by people who build ships in bottles in order to assemble his puzzles.  I don’t think he spends a half hour of frustration to build each one of them.  Even partially disassembled, I had to use some tools to fully restore the puzzle to its initial state – though it may not be what you think if you haven’t worked out the solution.

Snake Cube - Hideaki Kawashima

I had the good fortune of being able to borrow this puzzle from fellow blogger Brian Pletcher.  It was Kawashima‘s 2010 Karakuri Club “Christmas present”.  It has a fairly straightforward design.  I had to open and close it a few times to figure out the pattern.

Cast Loop - Vesa Timonen

Here’s another puzzle borrowed from Brian Pletcher, who I understand has the entire Hanayama series.  It seems easy – just screw the 2 pieces together to form a loop.  Of course it’s not that easy.  It has a very elegant solution, which is why it won the 2007 IPP design contest Puzzler’s Award (the one attendees vote on) and Jury First (not Grand) prize.  I would rank it up there with “Old Shackles” as a classic puzzle that is simple and requires “out of the box” thinking, rather than many puzzles which achieve their difficulty via complexity.

I saw a smaller version of this with Mickey Mouse-style “ears” at Stan Isaac’s place at his first 2011 Bay Area Puzzle Party.  Stan had to show me and another attendee how to solve it.  It seemed so simple that if the obvious solution didn’t work, there was nothing else to try.

Tipsy - Tatsuo Miyamoto

This is another puzzle Brian Pletcher kindly lent me.  Thanks Brian!  It was Miyamoto’s 2010 Karakuri Club “Christmas present”.  Miyamoto had this to say about it:

The theme for this work is “Drunk Japanese Fathers” .
After an evening of drinking late with other company employees, Fathers often bring home some kind of food or snack for their families. A common food is sushi.

I assume the puzzle looks like a take-out box.  It was larger than I expected.  I was able to find the trick fairly quickly.  It’s an interesting concept.  It seemed like it should open the box, but it didn’t, so I emailed Pletcher about it.  He confirmed I had pretty much solved it, and that his particular copy required some extra fiddling.  I wasn’t able to get it open, but I figured I might as quit before I did some damage, especially since it should have opened at that point.

There was a third party this year at Harry Nelson’s home.  Tanya Thompson, head of Inventor Relations at ThinkFun, was visiting, looking for new puzzle ideas.  I didn’t have any ideas for that, but people like me were welcomed anyway.  ThinkFun is probably the best known American puzzle company, with Rush Hour being their most notable product.  You can find their products at Target, various book stores, etc.

The party ran all day, but I decided to be gone from home from 1-4, during my kids’ naptime.  With the travel time to and from Nelson’s home, I only had an hour to attend the party.

Since this is my 4th Bay area puzzle party, many of the faces at the party were familiar.  Harry Nelson was there, of course, as well as Stan Isaacs, who held the last 2 Bay Area puzzle parties out of his home.  Fellow blogger Neil was there with his wife.  Neil’s ex-Sandisk coworker and puzzle designer Derek Bosch was there.  IPP 29 organizers Nick Baxter (who sometimes runs auctions) and Dave Rossetti were there.  Tom and Neil, who I recognized from the prior 2 parties at Stan Isaac’s, were there.  Tom is a teacher, and Neil is the teenage sliding puzzle designer.

I had emailed Bosch earlier about Shiro Tajima’s “Hoop” puzzle box, which he had for sale at the Cubic Dissection auction.  I was interested in buying the puzzle, and asked if I could forgo the shipping, handling and Paypal fees if I picked it up from Bosch in person and paid cash.  He was fine with that.  By the time I saw his at the party, the auction had been running a few hours, and the bids were already at $160, which was as high as I was willing to pay.  Derek was happy about that, as there were no bids on it earlier when he had left for the party.

Tom graciously offered me his seat at the puzzle table and I started in on this puzzle.  It was designed by Joe Kisenwether.

untitled - Joe Kisenwether

I forgot to bring my camera, so I had to take pictures on my phone.  That’s why they’re even worse than usual.

Kisenwether actually was there to present a puzzle idea to ThinkFun.  They 5×5 tray fit a number of different tiles with cutout shapes, most of which were circles.  The configuration could be changed, depending on the particular challenge card.  Like Rush Hour, the puzzle has a number of challenges ranked into different levels of difficulty.  I tried the beginner challenge shown above.  There is also a chain with a number of charms that fit into the tiles.  The charms are placed such that adjacent charms can fit into adjacent (side by side or diagonal) tiles in the tray.  Unfortunately, I didn’t have any luck even with this beginning puzzle.

I moved onto a couple of Bruce Viney puzzles that fellow blogger Neil had built from kits (kits can be purchased at BH Pens and Myers Crafts).  I picked up Interlink, the one on the right, and rotated it to examine it.  Just after the lid fell out, Neil said he probably should have told me it was already open.  Unfortunately, a piece broke off of the lid when it fell to the ground.  Neil assured me it was an easy fix with a spot of glue and told me not to worry about it.

Hadrian's Box & Interlink - Bruce Viney

I then tried “Hadrian’s Box”, the dark brown box on the left.  I got a few moves into it but couldn’t get any farther.  I didn’t want to push any harder, particularly since I had already broken one of Neil’s boxes.  I asked Neil if it was tight and he confirmed it was, showing me the additional steps to open the box.

My time was close to being up, so I purchased a whole bunch of ThinkFun products from Nelson: S’Match, 2 copies of Rush Hour Jr., Tipover, Swish, Tilt, River Crossing, Chocolate Fix, and Rush Hour card sets 2, 3 and 4.  Harry was selling everything for $10, which was a pretty good deal, so I got one of everything.  I asked about the Rush Hour card sets, and he went into his closet, charging me only $5 for that.  I also got another copy of Bill Darrah’s “Cube Bi-Section”, and someone (I forgot his name) gave me a free copy of “Baseball Smarts Pyramid,” in which you arrange connected groups of 2 balls into a pyramid such that there are no 2 balls of the same color across each edge.  I got S’Match for my kids.  Rush Hour Jr. was also for my kids: 1 copy for when they inevitably lost the pieces or cards from their set, and another to give away as a gift for attending a birthday party.

I’m not exactly sure what Harry Nelson’s relation to ThinkFun is.  I remember he is the US representative for Rush Hour, but I was surprised he was selling the other ThinkFun products, rather than Tanya.  I also got “Cube Bi-Section” from him, when Bill Darrah was there at the party.

Here’s a random picture of a huge interlocking cube puzzle in Harry Nelson’s living room.  A normal sized puzzle is shown atop it for comparison:

Huge interlocking cube at Harry Nelson's home