Doubleplay - Stewart Coffin Design X-75 by Saul Bobroff at IPP 37 Paris

I was fortunate to have acquired Saul’s version of this wonderful design that was used as his Exchange puzzle in Paris where it was renamed ‘Double Feature’.

I have copied the following that explains Stewart’s newest ’X’ numbering system:

“My spacious and delightfully pleasant woodworking shop in a converted greenhouse in Lincoln has already been described and illustrated on pages 10 and 18. I carried on my puzzle craft there for thirty years. In 1998, finding myself living alone, I decided to move to Andover and live with Mary Dow. She allowed me to use her basement for my new workshop. I carried on there for thirteen more years. But in 2011 Mary’s house had to be sold, and I moved to smaller quarters in a rental condo in Lexington. I again had the use of the basement, and still had most of my power tools. But by then in my early 80s, I decided to spend less time producing and more time having fun “inventing.” I put that word in quotes because I sometimes think “discovering” is more appropriate. I often made only one of each new creation, hence the prefix X for experimental and the start of this new numbered list. Incidentally, I was forced to move again in 2016, but luckily only three doors away. My newest workshop is tiny and meagerly equipped by comparison, but I am still able to fashion at least some rough models for use in illustrating this Compendium.”

Here’s Stewart’s description from his Compendium:

“The name Doubleplay comes from the two tasks – finding the one solution to the 3x3x3 cubic assembly, and then figuring out how to get the darn thing into the box, both difficult.”

After having spent many decades in the puzzling world Saul passed away in 2023, Rest in Peace.

I added a Box I made from Cherry with Peruvian Walnut Slipfeathers.

Domino Kubus - Oskar van Deventer by Tom Lensch at IPP25 Finland

When I first began selling puzzles at CubicDissection, Tom had offered up some of his puzzles that he still had in stock and it just so happens that he offered some of these puzzles.

I remember making a copy but due to various reasons I never did make a run of these very confusing puzzles.  Scott Peterson also made a run of these puzzles when he was a member of Cubicdissection.

Tom made these puzzles in Canarywood and were exchanged at IPP 25 in Finland.

I was surprised that Tom also made a box to contain this puzzle as it’s fully interlocking and is not needed, I assume they only came with the Exchange version.

I also added a box with a lid, however this box features a Yellowheart frame with an inset bottom of Bird’s Eye Maple with a Peruvian Walnut Lid and Roasted Ash Slipfeathers.

Gates ‘s’ by Tamas Vanyo - 2014

I recently acquired this very cool puzzle designed and crafted by Tamas, it features 6 pieces in a frame with a level move count of 9.5.10.1.3.2.

Puzzle Will Be Played by Ishino shows other versions of this ‘Gates’ design:

Gates ‘S’ - 9.9.8.13.7.3.13.6.3.3.

Gates ‘T’ - 6.3.10.3.9.3.12.2.2.

Gates ‘y’ - 5.2.4.3.4.2.

The ‘letter’ being a reference to the shape of the frame.

This puzzle put up quite the fight in my effort to disassemble it..lol

Box I made is Mahogany with Walnut Bottom and Padauk Top with Roasted Oak Slipfeathers.

Cube 16 - Stewart Coffin Design #205 by John Devost

 I have copied and pasted Neil Hutchison’s original blog from 2012:

“Cube-16 is another Stewart Coffin design which is an improvement on his earlier design Patio Block (STC#82). Cube-16 is numbered STC#205 in Stewart’s numbering scheme and the goal is to take apart the cube, and then return it to its original state. My copy was made by John Devost, and I was lucky enough to pick up a copy when he recently offered them on Puzzle Paradise

The external appearance of the cube is identical to the earlier Patio Block design so it would be easy to confuse the two until you pick the puzzle up. Patio Block was an eight piece non-interlocking puzzle, so without a box to hold the pieces, it would come apart easily when you tried to move it. Cube-16 on the other hand is a fully interlocking cube, so you can pick it up with no problems. Of course with it being interlocking, finding the first piece to remove can be a challenge.

I’m not aware of too many copies of this puzzle being out there, so when John Devost announced that he’s made a few copies I jumped at the chance. John hadn’t been making wooden puzzles for a long while, and many of us in the puzzle world thought he’d hung up his tools and given up. I’m pleased to say that it looks as though he’s back, and making some great puzzles again. Welcome back John.

The puzzle itself measures just under 2″ x 2″ x 2″, and is made from Afzelia Burl. As you can see, the appearance of this wood is stunning with beautiful waves and swirls and eyes throughout the pieces, but what you can’t see is how the wood smells. This is an amazingly fragrant wood, even after it’s been lacquered and polished by John. I really can’t describe quite how strong it is. The best I can do is to say it’s like walking into a loose leaf tea shop and smelling that sweet aroma. Yes, it’s that strong. The fit on my copy is good. John mentioned that it was a little tight when he had finished making it so he shipped it with a couple of spacers marking the key piece to make sure that I didn’t end up breaking anything trying to find the first move. Hopefully after a little while here in California, it will loosen up nicely and there should be no problems with the fit.

While the Patio Block design was an eight piece puzzle, Cube-16 is a five piece puzzle, but that doesn’t mean to say it’s significantly easier than the original design. I should probably clarify ‘original’ here. Even Stewart’s original Patio Block was inspired by an even earlier puzzle. The inspiration for the Patio Block design was a ten piece puzzle created by Toshiaki Betsumiya, and another similar puzzle which was an eight piece version by Kevin Holmes. All of these designs came out of studies to create 4x4x4 cubes with external symmetry. Stewart took those ideas and created the Patio Block, and later Cube-16.

Each of the five pieces are unique as is the case with many of Stewart’s puzzles which adds to the challenge. That said, I wouldn’t say it’s that hard. I expect that most people will be able to find the solution in around half an hour making it a very approachable puzzle.

I’m glad I was able to get my hands on a copy of this puzzle, and John has suggested that it would be a good design for me to make a few copies of. I may just have to do that, although I doubt I’ll have any wood which will look quite as stunning as the Afzelia Burl.”

As luck would have it I was able to re-acquire this puzzle I made in 2012 (I think I made less than 10 of these from a unique piece of Afzelia Burl I had on hand at the time) from a puzzle collector who happens to be selling off his collection.

I also made a simple box to store this puzzle in, it’s made from Satinwood with a Walnut top and Slipfeathers

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