Rib - Andrew Crowell by Wood Wonders

Wow, this puzzle is a beast!  I received this puzzle disassembled and it was driving me crazy not seeing it solved but sadly I'm hardly a proficient puzzle solver so I enlisted the help of the designer Andrew Crowell who was kind enough to send me help!

Please go visit Andrew's Etsy Shop arcWoodPuzzles to see all that he has to offer!

Here's what Brian said:  Please visit Wood Wonders to stay informed of his wonderful puzzle offerings!

"This RIB has some very simple pieces but still throws in a few rotations with 33 moves!  There are some really great color combinations here. Not only do you get a great challenge but some really nice eye candy too!"

Chatka Viga and Holly with Wenge Splines

SomaFours - Haym Hirsh by Wood Wonders

Here's what Brian said:  Please visit Wood Wonders to stay informed of his wonderful puzzle offerings!

"I loved how Haym Introduced me to this design. 

'SomaFours is my response to being annoyed that unlike all the other pieces one Soma Cube piece is made from 3 cubes rather than 4. So I replaced it with a 2x2x1 piece,. The puzzle comes with multiple challenges, including fitting them in a box with a restricted opening so that the extra cube sticks out a hole on the side plus making a cube that balances on the extra cube.'

So there are two challenges here. Assemble the cube within the cage, which requires one piece to protrude through the side opening. The second, is to assemble the cube so that it balances one the protruding cube. This is the more challenging of the two in my opinion.

Two versions are available. I am also including a sheet that shows a few of the many shapes that can also be constructed with the new altered Soma. See how many new shapes you can come up with!"

Wenge Box with Spalted Jobillo pieces

Kryptonite - Laszlo Molnar by Wood Wonders

Here's what Brian said:  Please visit Wood Wonders to stay informed of his wonderful puzzle offerings!

"With a name like Kryptonite and knowing that it comes from the mind of Laszlo Molnar, I think it a safe bet this one is a challenge. Or in this case six challenges. Nine pieces can be inserted into the restricted opening box in a variety of way. Of course, rotations may be required! More of these are coming too!"

Annigre Box with Holly corners and Redheart pieces

Corner Cube - Andrew Crowell by Wood Wonder

This puzzle still has me stumped!  Edit:  Finally solved this very difficult puzzle after wrestling with it for over three days!

Andrew Crowell has these available at his Etsy Shop and well worth a look!  

Kevin blogged about it:

I could not resist the Corner cube - apparently Andrew Crowell (the master of the Turning Interlocking Cube) has branched out and moved into packing puzzles (this is apparently part of a series called the ARCparent series - how come I haven't heard of these before). My copy is absolutely gorgeous made with a Tigerwood box (look at those stripes) and Curly Maple pieces. The aim, as usual is to place the pieces in the 3x3x2 cavity of the box through the small opening in the top corner and again, the opening must be covered at the end. 

Silly me left this to yesterday evening to attempt (did I tell you that things are very busy in healthcare at the moment and I had not had much time recently?) I looked at the shapes of the pieces and thought that this would not be a particularly difficult challenge. After all, 2 of the pieces are just 1x1x2 blocks! Oh boy! How wrong could I be? I had become a bit blasé about these having solved so many of Osanori's similar puzzles. Last night I actually had a PROPER look at it and, to my horror, realised that there was something rather special here...the entry hole was not a unit size - it is 1½ units in all dimensions which seriously limits the ability to insert pieces or have one sticking part way out whilst you add another. OMG!

Zen Puzzler also has a nice review of this type of puzzle.

Here's what Brian said:  Please visit Wood Wonders to stay informed of his wonderful puzzle offerings!

"Andrew has briefly turned his attention to packing puzzles and boy was it a windfall for all puzzle enthusiasts. This is the Corner Cube from his ARCparent Series. I love packing puzzles and I hope all of these designs will eventually appear on my site at some time. Simple pieces that have to be packed into the simple box and boy this is a challenge. Because you also must fill the opening with those pieces. I struggled with getting the pieces in and out!"

Angelim Pedra Box with Padauk corners and pieces

Pillar - Alexander Magyarics by Wood Wonders

Kevin blogged about it:

The aim (as with many of Alexander's creations) is to pack the 4 easy pieces into the box through the rather limited opening and also have the opening completely filled with no gap. I picked this one up immediately after my success with Ennui and was sure that I would solve this fairly quickly and rack up a puzzle to write about on the next blog. So I thought that this would be quick? I never seem to learn do I? This puzzle should not be that difficult but it took me 4 evenings of toil and swearing at myself to solve it. Initially I couldn't even find a 3x3 shape that would fill the holes and then none of them had piece orientations that could fit through the holes. Yes, the genius of this is that 2 of the pieces have a very limited number of ways they can fit in through the top and then, due to the 3 unit length of all of the pieces, it is really tough to find a way to get them to move around each other.

Here's what Brian said:  Please visit Wood Wonders to stay informed of his wonderful puzzle offerings!

"I have been wanting to make this one ever since Alex sent me the design. He has just been producing so many cool designs lately, it took me a while to get around to it. Pillar is four pieces that must be inserted into the unique box and they fill the openings completely.

I had acquired some very nice holly and wanted to set off the face of this box with it. The woods used for this box are especially nice. I really love the Pistachio wood. I managed to sang a few small pieces when my wood supplier posted them for sale. It is very expensive but I got enough to make a few boxes. The Chakta Viga is rather vivid too!"

Broken Soma - Ken Irvine by Wood Wonders

Wow what a great puzzle design, when I first attempted to solve this puzzle it reminded me of Bill Cutler' 'Splitting Headache' and oh it is just as difficult!  If you fancy yourself a puzzle sleuth, definitely try and acquire one and then let me know how you make out!

Kevin blogged about it:

"Apparently, Ken had a wonderful idea to fiddle with the classic Soma cube (a puzzle that everyone should have in their collection). He decided that it was much too easy having a 7 piece puzzle to make a cube in one of 240 different ways. In his delightful/annoying way he decided to make it a 6 piece puzzle that only had one assembly! He named it the Broken Soma because he took the 3 voxel L-shape and broke each of the cubies in half before fixing them onto the 6 remaining pieces. Hence it is a "broken soma". Except, we all know the real reason it is so-named...it only takes a short ¼ hour or so before anyone playing with it decides that he has taken a perfectly reasonable puzzle and BROKEN it! It seems bloody impossible!"

Here's what Brian said:  Please visit Wood Wonders to stay informed of his wonderful puzzle offerings!

"All I need to say is "Ken Irvine" and you know that this puzzle is great. Ken's designs are always amazing. This design had me scratching my head for days. It seemed so simple! What am I missing? Then one day, Aha!!!! A terrific design!"

Merkaba - Lee Krasnow - Five Intersecting Tetrahedra

Lee Krasnow crafted this amazing puzzle at one time using some very exotic woods and of course his skills and high quality are unmatched by any craftsman to this day!

This blog however was written to shed light on my venture into the making of my version of the geometric design that is know as 'Five Intersecting Tetrahedra'.  George Bell has a very cool PDF describing the math design for both versions.

Years back in the Renegade puzzlers forum, Stephen Chin had been tinkering with coloured pencils with his lathe and had sent me and others a stack of short pencils with magnets in each end with a little base?  I messed around with it for some time with no luck until I realized the intended shape and of course that sent me on a lengthy puzzlemaking adventure.

I had four lathes at that time so it didn't take me long to start making round stock in exotic woods which I had on hand from pen/pencil making.  Most versions featured a different wood for each rod and I also made some in Brass and Copper.

They really are more of a sculpture than a puzzle but if you ever had to put one together without a multi-level stand, you usually would end up with a clump of sticks!

The code name for this 'project' was PMM (Poor Man's Merkaba) which was obviously a play on Lee's 'Merkaba' version.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention and dedicate this blog to my dear puzzle friend Rolando Pontalti who is a very talented puzzle craftsman/designer from Italy that helped me a lot with this puzzle, Rolly if you read this, just know that we all miss you!

Blah Box - Eric Fuller by Cubicdissection

Another great puzzlebox by Eric, his designs always shine a light on his ingenuity!

Here's his description below, as always check out Cubicdissection to see what's available:

Blah Box is the result of the accumulation of ideas I had while trying to design a simple mechanism for the box containing the DDD Burr Puzzle. I wanted to make a simple trick opening mechanism for DDD, but in the end, discarded the idea because it would overly increase the price of the puzzle. I came out of the design session with some solid ideas, which, when combined, turned into a rather interesting box on their own. I was feeling rather "Blah" about my failure with DDD and decided to name this new box after that feeling. No external tools are allowed. No bumping, spinning, or force is necessary or allowed. Reviews: FiveSinatra's Blog. 34 copies available for this release, each signed and dated. 15 copies in Black Limba and Maple, 12 copies in Zebrawood and Maple, 8 copies in Iroko and Holly were made for this release. This puzzle is shipped assembled. This is the final release of Blah Box for the foreseeable future

Not Another Lock Puzzle - Tim Alkema by Cubicdissection

You don't often see a puzzle lock made from wood, so I was surprised when I got the opportunity to 'pick' this one up!

Here's Eric's description below, be sure to check out his current offerings at Cubicdissection.

This padlock shaped five-piece caged interlocking burr will perplex you with its level 13 solution. The previous lock shaped burrs we have made included a key-shaped piece; the unique interplay and accessibility of simple burr pieces make this latest offering from Tim an interesting change. Unfortunately, the previously published marblewood pieces were not fully dried by our supplier and shrank after milling. We remade them from a beautiful batch of Holly which contrasts beautifully with the Black Walnut cage

In Brackets - Sam Cornwell by Cubicdissection

I tend to blog about puzzles that are not currently available but thankfully you can still pick one up at Cubicdissection.

It's a cool design that has been very crafted by Eric, here's his description below:

“In Brackets is an interlocking cube with a twist! While moderate in difficulty, the solution is so much fun you'll find yourself solving it over and over.  Last released in 2009, this was Sam's IPP Design Competition Entry that same year. This unique puzzle combines a standard 3x3 cube with three surrounding brackets. Deciphering order and orientation of assembly are non-trivial. The solved puzzle has a unique appearance and displays beautifully. We constructed In Brackets with solid Black Walnut pieces, individually beveled and very accurately glued. The Brackets are Yellowheart and feature reinforcing finger joinery on the corners. This puzzle has an excellent fit and finish, and I'm well pleased with how it turned out.”

Corner Block by Stewart Coffin - Design #59

 I thought a trip down memory lane was in order with a puzzle that launched me into puzzlemaking more than twenty years ago!

The following was taken directly from the writing of Stewart Coffin:

"This is the old Pin-Hole #20 with eight corner blocks added judiciously, turning it from a pastime to a real but not difficult puzzle. It is assembled in the order shown, with the locking pin going in last. Made here in mahogany and rosewood, with birch pins

59-A - Improved Corner Block 

The term 'Improved' comes up frequently in these names of my designs. I could probably spend forever trying to improve some of them without ever being completely satisfied. It would be hard to guess how much time I used to spend daydreaming and tinkering, always searching for new ideas, instead of actually producing. My workshop was a converted greenhouse, with much south-facing glass and passive solar heating.  It was especially conducive to daydreaming in the winter, with the warm sun streaming in and classical music from NPR resonating around the large room.  The same photo serves for both this design and the previous one.  Improved Cornerblock has two solutions, as did all my other experimental versions, whereas only one would have been preferred."

Jim Storer has a very nice webpage showing a version of this puzzle made by Wayne Daniel's 'Interlocking Puzzles', where I originally purchased a copy!

Here's a couple of pics of the version that I made, it wasn't the first puzzle I ever made but more about that in a future blog.

I even copied Wayne's use of Bloodwood with aluminum dowels!

12 Piece Sheet Metal Puzzle - Stewart Coffin by Jack Krijnen

I thought I might post about a puzzle that was discussed on the now defunct Renegade puzzler forum.  I had noticed a design by the legendary puzzle designer/craftsman Stewart Coffin that he called 12 Piece Sheet Metal Puzzle.  I emailed Stewart asking about the design and he told me it was something he threw together and had pretty much forgotten about it.  It peaked my interest enough to fab one up in metal as that was my previous occupation, but of course the incredibly talented Jack Krijnen decided to make a few in wood with spectacular results!  Jack had this to say about it:

"Stewart Coffin designed the 12-Piece Sheet Metal Puzzle in 1971. It is now in the Slocum collection at the Lilly Library. In 2009 it was discussed at the Renegades Puzzlers forum. It can also be made of wood! Johan Heyns provided drawings including dimensions. Jack Krijnen made a slight correction by adding a 60 degree mitre on the notches and was the first to make one. Unlike the metal version, the wooden one will not come apart in two halves. It's a coordinated motion puzzle with 6 pairs of 'sheets'."

Jack Krijnen donated the first wooden specimen to the Lilly Library via Jerry Slocum. He made 3 more copies; they are now (August 2011) in the collections of Johan Heyns, John Devost and Jack Krijnen.

Topless Box - Eric Fuller by Cubicdissection

Wow, what a cool puzzlebox!  Have a look at Eric's description below then be sure to check out what's available at Cubicdissection!

"Topless Box by Eric Fuller was my contribution to the legendary Apothecary Puzzle Chest. Topless is an unusual challenge; with two lids and no top, how can it be opened? The solution is tricky and will surprise you. Originally released in 2012, we found strong demand with our re-release last year and decided to make one more batch for newer collectors who have been unable to find a copy.

No bumping, banging, shaking, spinning, gravity moves, or excessive force is neecessary or allowed.

This batch of Topless was constructed from a plank of very nice striped Sapele which shows a lot of shimmer via chatoyance in the grain structure. A slight modification to this release should result in more dimensional stability by the use of the same Birdseye Maple on the inside and outside of the lid panels."

Reviews: Neil's Blog and Video, Puzzle Pusher, Puzzle Paradox, Jerry's Collection

Burrbon - Tim Alkema by Cubicdissection

I just recently acquired this puzzle and it really is outstanding both in quality of craftsmanship and design uniqueness!

The scale of Eric's work is what makes him stand alone among puzzle craftsman, drop by Cubicdissection to check out what's available!

Here's what Eric said about this puzzle:

"BurrBon is an utterly unique Interlocking Burr Puzzle. What could be better than a six-piece burr? How about a six-piece burr inside another six-piece burr? There are several ways to build the inner and out burrs separately, but only one possible configuration assembles them together. The interaction between inner and outer pieces is what makes this an extraordinarily difficult puzzle.

The construction of BurrBon required just the right balance of tolerances to allow the inner burr to move smoothly. The simplicity of the pieces does not sufficiently reflect how much trial and error went into making it. The end result is sublime, with the dense and heavy internal Morado pieces floating into place inside the beautiful outer Lacewood."

NOS 1 (Compressed) - Gregory Benedetti By Tom Burns

This puzzle design is awesome and Tom Burns did an outstanding job on its printing!

Here's what he had to say about it:

"Welcome to the New Old School!

Compressed is the first in a series of seven unorthodox burrs from the mind of Gregory Benedetti. When assembled, each of them looks like a regular old six piece burr, but as soon as you pick one up you'll see they're anything but. Each one brings a something new to the table, with various coordinated motion moves required and plenty of challenge throughout.

Angled cuts and complex shapes make reproducing these puzzles in wood quite difficult, so I was thrilled to get permission to print them so that more folks have the chance to experience this slice of puzzling history. I plan to continue releasing more of the series in the months ahead."

FAKE CUBE - Dr. Volker Latussek by Pelikan

This puzzle is quite interesting and very different than the usual offering from The Pelikan Workshop!

This puzzle is available at Puzzlemaster

Here's a comical video about it from YouTubeGuy (Caution Spoiler)

Kevin Sadler wrote about it:

“This glorious work of art has been made from Acacia and Padauk. The aim is to assemble the complex pieces into a cube shape which can be stood on its' corner in the stand – these 10 identical and oddly shaped pieces need to assemble into a 6x6x6 cube. Just doing the simple maths tells me that this doesn't add up – each piece is 18 voxels in volume with 10 of them making 180 voxels in total and the 6x6x6 cube will be 216 voxels – quite a large discrepancy. Hence the name…the Fake cube needs to be assembled so that just the exterior looks like it is complete and hides the holes inside and on the walls adjacent to the case. This reminds me of a stunningly beautiful and much more complex version of the Half-cube puzzles from Vinco. Yet again, I removed all the pieces for my photo and couldn't put them back into the packing position (I love how all of his puzzles have a specific arrangement for transport). I have not had long enough to play with this puzzle – I have managed (by pure luck) to make a shape that will fit into the case but clearly not correct as there are lots of holes visible on all sides. The more that you play with this the more compelling it becomes. Initially it seems to be quite unintuitive and a whole lot of random trial and error but as I played I realised that the way the pieces fit together was extremely constrained and I needed to work with this constraint to create at least 3 complete faces and 8 (out 12) complete edges which would be visible. in the case once complete. Easier said than done! I have not had enough time yet to solve this one but I think with a few more hours of trying I will get there. It is a seriously difficult assembly/packing puzzle but like most of Dr Latussek's creations, it can be solved more with thought than trial and error. For once I am hoping that my thinking© might actually help here.”

PEPPER CASTOR - Alexander Magyarics by Pelikan

This puzzle had me totally confused after hastily disassembling it, that's when the fun (or frustration) begins!  It's well worth picking up at Puzzlemaster or JP Games

If you get completely stumped you can check out Puzzleguy on You tube: 

Kevin Sadler wrote about it:

This beautiful puzzle is a design by Alexander Magyarics. It is beautiful in Zebrano and Padauk and most importantly it’s based on a triangular grid. Very few puzzle designs (other than 2D packing puzzles) are very made using a triangular grid. I suspect that this is primarily because it is harder to design them with it being very hard to tell during the design process whether there will be unwanted rotational shortcuts. Also there are very few craftsmen willing to put in the time and effort to make the required jigs to these accurately. Here we have the perfect combination of a talented designer who has obviously done his homework and ensured there are no shortcuts as well as some of the best craftsmen in the world! This puzzle is named after the pepper shaker/castor because of the pattern of holes on one end and it quickly becomes apparent that they are there for a reason. My first reaction during my early moves was that this was seriously fiddly. Then I realised that changing the orientation of the puzzle made certain moves easier to control and then I discovered that after 3 or 4 moves, my ability to backtrack was gone! I was stuck with a piece packing out and unable to visualise the internals to reset it. Oh well! Better carry on then. After about a ½ hour of progressively more anxious swearing, I removed the first piece and then the other two. There was no Aha! moment as I had no idea how I had achieved it. I took my photo and realised that I had scrambled the pieces! At this point, it became quite apparent that this puzzle is a very special variant on the usual Magyarics theme… he had created a fancy low piece number interlocking packing puzzle. Very similar to many of his others but with the twist of a triangular grid and holes top and bottom.

Repacking was a serious challenge, first reproducing the shape to fill all the gaps in the box and then working out the sequence. Finally actually having the dexterity to do it was a nice added bonus. This is a terrific puzzle as well as a gorgeous one!

Confetti Box - Eric Fuller by Cubicdissection

 Eric's puzzle boxes have always been enjoyable and this one is very nicely done!

Check out Cubicdissection to see what's available!

DESIGNER:	Eric Fuller
MATERIAL:	Canarywood, Quartersawn Paduak, Spalted Tamerindo
RELEASE DATE:	12.10.2019
EDITION:	130 Copies Released
SIZE:	2.4 x 2.6

Confetti Box was designed to cap off 2019, a great year which saw us make more puzzle boxes than we ever have before. It's festive, it's surprising, it's abrupt! This box went through several prototypes and redesigns, and I'm quite happy with the final result. The operation is a new concept for me and I'm eager to see how much of a challenge it proves to be

Juno's Arrow by Pluredro

This is another very cool puzzle by Juno and can be purchased at Pluredro

Description:

"This is a restricted sliding block puzzle and its difficulty is extreme. Juno believes that most human beings cannot solve the puzzle without the aid of a computer. As he vaguely remember, Juno himself needed around two weeks to find one of the solutions, and the solution that he found requires more steps than the minimum movements needed to reach the goal.

Each sliding piece has grooves on two sides and one of the grooves goes halfway along the edge. A pin is set on the opposite side of the half-length groove. The tray also has grooves on two sides on the inside. These features give diabolically balanced restriction to the movement of the sliding pieces and makes the puzzle extremely difficult.

The object of the puzzle is to change the color and direction of the arrow. It requires more than 100 moves to reach the goal and there are lots of dead ends. There are nine challenges in total which can be played by changing the start and goal positions of the spacer (blank) piece. Most of these challenges require shorter moves compared to the initial problem on the first and the second image but it doesn't mean the challenge is easier. You will have no idea whether you are getting closer to the goal or not.

Juno originally designed this puzzle in 1995. He made only two of them using very basic tools. Now, we have lots of machinery and can produce hundreds of puzzles in less time. The major parts of the pieces are milled out by a CNC router, then glued, sanded, and polished. The concave on the top of the pieces make it easy to slide them. Although it is an old design, we believe a very limited number of the puzzles was available in the past because of the difficulty of mass production.

The tray features an uncommon step-shaped joint. This shape gives more gluing area to the joints and contributes to the durability of the tray, but the main reason why Juno chose this joint was just because he wanted to try making it. He also picked seven-layer bamboo plywood for the base of the tray. It has a very smooth surface and is very suitable for sliding block puzzles"