MagicPuzzles.org

MakDaw #2 - Dawson & Makishi

This is an improved version of the original Pagoda puzzle box entered into the IPP 29 design contest.  It is designed by Matthew Dawson and Makishi, and produced by Makishi.  Apparently the original version had a design flaw that allowed it to be more easily solved than intended.  Fellow puzzle blogger Brian Pletcher was kind enough to lend this to me.  Thanks Brian!  Click here to see his post on the puzzle.

The pagoda roof pieces are manipulated to navigate through a hidden internal maze.  When solved, the door opens.  Unfortunately I couldn’t remember how much I had rotated each of the roof pieces.  I got to sticking small pieces of Post-It notes on to try and orient myself, but I still managed to forget where I was.  Then I more or less solved it by accident and shipped it back to Brian.

I’m not a big fan of hidden internal maze puzzles because I lose orientation and get frustrated.  The reason why the top piece is askew is because I didn’t manage to return it to its starting configuration.  Actually, I wouldn’t even know if I got it back to its starting configuration.

If you enjoy this type of puzzle, check Puzzle Paradise.  At the time of this writing, there are a few for sale at $121.  There is also a more difficult version, MakDaw #3, available for $135.

Petit Four #5 - Perry McDaniel

For IPP 30 in Japan, Perry McDaniel came out with this fifth box to add to the four Petit Fours he introduced in IPP 29.  They are all small with a very similar appearance.  This one has a traditional puzzle box design.

I wasn’t able to make IPP 30 in Japan this year (read all about IPP 30 in Brian Pletcher’s blog), so I contacted McDaniel and the Sandfield brothers (the latter via their craftswoman Kathleen Malcolmson) ahead of time to reserve some of their IPP puzzles.  All agreed very graciously.  Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to get hold of the Sandfield puzzles yet.  Robert only had enough puzzles for the exchange, but is having more made.  Norman is busy with his new book, so he did not release a puzzle this IPP.

Impossible Bottle

I got the above at a recent magic auction for a mere $15.  This is the classic impossible object – a deck of playing cards inside of a bottle.  The bottle and cards are normal, and the bottle is not tampered with (i.e., no hole cut into it that was later re-sealed).  I don’t know who invented the cards in the bottle or who made this one, but impossible bottles were popularized by the late Harry Eng.  Magician Jeff Scanlan mastered the art and sells a variety of different bottles.  The purpose is to make the viewer think about how it was made.  For this reason, impossible bottle methods are generally held more secretly than most magic tricks or puzzle solutions.

Eng’s method for this particular object, though, is described in Paul Harris’ “Art of Astonishment” book series (volume 2).

Getting this bottle reminded me I have a few other “imossible” objects.  I blogged a while ago about Saul Bobroff’s Imppossible Street Elbows.

Impossible Bills - Robert Sandfield

Here are two interwoven dollar bills.  Each bill has slits in the middle that do not extend all the way to the edges of the bills.  There is no tape or glue used to re-join the bills parts.  It looks impossible, but is probably fairly basic if you know a lot about braiding.  I don’t know who invented this, but I got mine for free from Robert Sandfield during IPP 29 after I bought a bunch of his puzzles.

Conjunction - Joshua Quinn

This is a magic trick invented by Joshua Quinn.  In addition to the manuscript, this trick was also featured on Paul Harris’ “True Astonishment” magic DVD set as one of the hidden “cookies” on DVD #2.  The magician borrows a spectator’s business card and create two interlinked rings with it.  There are no cuts used to link the two rings.

I practiced the technique and was able to get it down to a few minutes.  It’s an odd trick, though, since it takes so long to do.

Wow Card - Ian Rowland

This is one of magician Ian Rowland’s “Wow” cards.  These topological curiosities are made by cutting inside the borders and folding only, with no tape or glue.  Some are considered to be impossible objects.  Rowland used to sell them on his site.  It seems like they are temporarily unavailable as Rowland updates his site.

Bolt - CMC Puzzles

This is the Bolt, by CMC Puzzles.  The object is to separate the metal rod from the wood block.  I figured out the basic mechanism pretty quickly, but there was a twist to its implementation that eventually forced me to look at its solution.

Mini Crate - CMC Puzzles

This is another puzzle box from CMC Puzzles.  It’s a small but clever puzzle.  I thought it may have the same mechanism as another puzzle box I have (click here for spoilers; 2nd item), and I was right.

I wonder what the ethics of this are.  I think the other puzzle box I have came first because CMC Puzzles lists the Mini Crate as a new item.  I don’t know if the other puzzle box has any predecessors with the same design, but I think it probably served as inspiration for this one.  I doubt there are patents on the design so it’s not illegal.

Magic has a similar issue.  Tricks have been copied and sold under a different name, which is highly frowned upon.  It doesn’t seem to be as much of an issue to market a variation of a trick, as long as the original version is given credit.  It’s a little different with puzzle boxes, since to indicate that a puzzle is similar to another would be to give away its solution.

Maple Chest - CMC Puzzles

This is the Maple Chest from CMC Puzzles.  It has a unique solution.  Actually, I don’t know if I have the correct solution, since they don’t include instructions, but I can open it.  The mechanism is not visible even when the box is open.

You may have noticed that I’ve reviewed a lot of items from CMC Puzzles recently.  I try to place large international orders in order to make the shipping cost worthwhile.  I don’t have to do that with the Karakuri Creation Group, since they don’t charge extra for shipping.

Beziehungskiste - Stewart Coffin

This is another box from CMC Puzzles in Germany.  Its name means “Relationship Crate”, according to Goggle Translate.  Stewart Coffin, its designer, is legendary for his many interlocking puzzles designs.  The mechanism is practically identical to Allan Boardman’s “Aha Box”, which my brother bought from Boardman at IPP 29.  I’m suspicious that the description confused these two famous designers and it’s actually a commercial version of the “Aha Box.”  The looser fit of this much less expensive box allowed me to a feature of its design and open it without using the official solution.

Cast Keys II - Nob Yoshigahara

This is puzzle legend Nob Yoshigahara’s improvement of a very old puzzle.  It seems like he improved the handle of one of the keys, making it harder to solve.

I got this from my wife for my birthday, along with a picture puzzle book.  I was able to solve it in about 5 minutes.  However, it was a very enjoyable puzzle, with multiple steps that each required a little innovation.  Or maybe I just like it because it’s a disentanglement puzzle I can actually solve.

Me and Lee Krasnow

I attended Pacific Puzzleworks‘ open house on 6/5/10.  It’s Lee Krasnow’s studio.  He’s known for his fine craftsmanship of interlocking puzzles.

Krasnow had a bunch of puzzles on a table for people to play with.  There were items from his boxed sets of laser cut puzzles (see here and here); a couple of Pennyhedrons; his Corner Cube; something that I think was the Merkaba; and even a puzzle box prototype.  I worked on the Corner Cube for a while and couldn’t get it to come apart, even after he explained what the basic mechanism was.  I eventually gave up and had him show me.  It seemed like the other attendees were random people as opposed to collectors.  There was at least one other artist’s open house nearby, so I assume it was a joint event.

It turns out that Krasnow is actually related to one of my wife’s high school buddies.  He said he still owed her a cabinet.  I guess he does have other woodworking activities that bring in money.

He said that while he enjoys making the puzzles and interacting with the public like he was during the open house, he actually didn’t like being a salesperson that much.  That explains why it took almost a month for him to reply to my email when I first tried contacting him in ‘07.  He is currently selling puzzles through Cubic Dissection.  As of this writing, one of his Pennyhedrons is still for sale.

I was hoping he might have one of his puzzle boxes for sale, but they’re probably long since discontinued, and would probably be out of my price range anyway.  He did have his laser-cut puzzle sets for sale, as well as several Pennyhedrons of different quality levels.  The Pennyhedrons are rated as “A”, “B” or “C” based on how many minute flaws there are in the wood.  The price is pretty dependent on quality; they are $150, $100 or $60, respectively.  Krasnow himself prefers the “B” and “C” because you can actually play with it without worrying too much about it.  I got myself a “C”, and I can’t see anything wrong with it.  He had actually mislabeled his price sign; I think the prices were for a different version of the puzzle.  However, he was a great guy and honored the lower price ($45) on his sign.  He made sure to correct it right afterward, though.

Pennyhedron - Stewart Coffin

The Pennyhedron is a two-piece interlocking puzzle by Stewart Coffin.  It’s harder than you’d think.  See Cubic Dissection for a thorough discussion of the puzzle, but beware the spoilers.  I was not able to disassemble the model that Krasnow had on the table for everyone to play with.  The one I bought was packaged with the 2 parts separate, so it wasn’t too hard to get after that.  A very elegant puzzle.

The puzzle itself isn’t cheap.  I think Krasnow’s construction is clearly top-notch, though.  All the glue joints are reinforced with 3 metal dowels.  The fit is fantastic.

Carta Blanca - David & Vachon

This is Carta Blanca, puzzle #6 of 7 in Family Games‘ “Sacred Myths and Legends” series.  The series is designed by Yvan David (one of Family Games’ founders) and Francois Vachon.  Up to this point, I’ve been pretty happy with #1 (DaVinci’s Secret: The Clue) and #4 (The Enigmatic Temple), which are both secret-opening puzzles.  I didn’t like #2 (The Equation), and decided to avoid #5 (Pillars of Atlantis) for that reason, since neither are secret-opening puzzles.

This one is a puzzle box.  After Brian Pletcher’s glowing review, I was eager to get my hands on one of these.  However, I started running into some serious quality issues.

#1 came broken.  I was able to get a look at the mechanism and still wasn’t sure how it worked.  I returned in and got #2, which I broke after a little tugging.  I didn’t think that would happen given the mechanism.  It should be able to resist a lot of opening force when it is not solved, but it has a mechanical weakness.  I contacted Brian Pletcher to get the solution, which I tried on #3.  #3 doesn’t appear to be broken, but I can’t open it either.  I think my best chance is to fix #2.

With this many problems, I really wish it had been made by the Karakuri Creation group or someone like Eric Fuller or Kathleen Malcomson.  Sure, it would have cost $100 instead of $30, but it would have WORKED.

Another problem with the box is the nature of the solution.  I can’t say much about it without revealing the solution.  For more discussion (warning – solutions of Carta Blanca, as well as one of Simon Nightingale’s puzzles, are revealed) click here.