Triple Tango - Jerry Loo by CubicDissection

 I was surprised when I first spotted this puzzle as it’s not a type of puzzle that Eric is known for.  He certainly did a really nice job on this one and with at least 89 moves to complete you’ll be at for some time.

You can see more at Jerry Loo’s Blog.

Here's Eric's description from Cubicdissection:

“I don't normally make flat puzzles, but this one by Jerry intrigued me. The goal is to switch the darker end pieces from one side to the other. Simple, right? How about no, Scott. If you do it perfectly it's 89 moves to exchange them. Good luck!

Construction of this puzzle is quite nice, with mitered corners and a groovy acrylic top that shows the starting position of the pieces. Fit is, well, flat. Plenty of room to move the pieces inside, this puzzle should have no problems in high humidity environment”

Maple, Mahogany, Walnut, Acrylic

Swing Lock Metal by Splinter J. Spierenburgh

This a very nicely crafted puzzle lock with a good amount of heft to it.  I really like the removable front plate so that the innards can be seen operating, very cool!

Here’s a review from Louis Coolen:

“The metal swing lock is right here right now, and it is very impressive! It is good looking in shiny metal, the same weight as a Revomaze, and rattling like a confusing puzzle. Not to mention the two (or four?) keyholes with additional confusing features! When handled exactly the right way in the right sequence, it opens in a remarkably smooth and satisfying motion. After that, even closing it can be a puzzle if you don't know exactly how the internal mechanism works. Having seen and tested this trick lock since the very first prototype, I am happy to say it only got better each time Splinter came up with a new version in a different material. Yesterday's final improvement to the metal version made it work perfectly!

To top it all off, the internal (surprisingly simple) mechanism can be seen in action behind a transparent window once the lid is removed, which is just damn cool!”

Gabriel’s Blog

Allard’s Blog

Broken Burr by George Bell

George sent me a copy of this very cool puzzle.  Disassembling this one is not so hard but getting it back together is another thing.  I didn’t realize that there were multiple assemblies until I read through the description by George below.  Be sure to drop by his Etsy Shop and grab one for yourself!

“The puzzles in the first photo are "broken" (have no symmetry). Give this puzzle to someone and ask them to "fix it", i.e. take it apart and reassemble it correctly. The correct assembly has a pleasing symmetry (not shown in the photos as it would spoil the puzzle).

This is not a difficult puzzle, I like to print it in three contrasting colors for a nice visual effect. I hope that it will appeal to children and non-puzzle experts to explore this geometry, it is closely related to the classic Diagonal Burr.

The second and (slightly) more difficult part of the puzzle is to find all possible assemblies. This puzzle has the largest number of coordinate motion assemblies that I know of (four). It feels like a Stewart Coffin puzzle but it is my own design.

“The three pieces do not come apart, the different colors have been glued together. There is no need to take the pieces apart (unlike Rosebud). If you have a specific color request from the photos you can add this in a note, but I can't promise I will have it.”

George Bell

Juno’s Penta Cuboid + T-groove Box at Pluredro

This is another awesome puzzle I acquired in a trade, I’ve always been a big fan of pentomino type puzzles and in fact made many myself years ago.

In usual fashion Juno bumped this one up a notch in complexity and if that wasn’t enough he added a very cool interlocking box to enclose it!

Be sure to drop by Juno’s website to see all that’s available, here’s the description from Pluredro

“Juno modified the pentomino pieces to form a cube. As puzzle lovers know, twelve pentomino pieces can form a 3 x 4 x 5 cuboid but those pieces cannot form a cube. Juno changed the ratio of the element of the pieces from a cube to a cuboid, its length of the sides has a ratio of 3 x 4 : 4 x 5 : 5 x 3, now all the twelve pieces can form a cube.

The actual length of the elements is 12 x 15 x 20 mm and it is not a cube anymore but all the twelve pieces still consist of five elements. Then, he named the puzzle Penta Cuboid. The size of the assembled cube is 60 x 60 x 60mm.

There are 3940 solutions to make a 3 x 4 x 5 cuboid using a normal set of solid pentomino. In contrast, Penta Cuboid has a unique solution since Juno carefully chose a malicious combination of the pieces. It will take at least an hour to solve the puzzle even if you are lucky and very talented.

Juno wanted to have a box for Penta Cuboid since the pieces are very slippery and the assembled cube can easily be crumbled. He thought that if he had to use a significant amount of material, it was good to make a box as another puzzle challenge.

T-groove Box is based on his old design that consists of six identical board pieces. To make puzzle more challenging, he changed the shape of the groove from the original X-shape to a T-shape, and then gave variation to the depth of the grooves and width of the board pieces. T-groove Box has a unique solution, not very difficult but still a bit tricky and confusing to solve because all the pieces look quite similar.

Material: Utile and Victorian Ash”

Juno’s Visible Framed Burr at Pluredro

I was very fortunate to have acquired this puzzle in a trade, and what a beautifully crafted puzzle by Juno, his attention to details is really what sets him apart from all other craftsman!

The movement of the pieces of this cool burr are smooth, of course it doesn’t take long before you get lost in the process.  

Be sure to drop by Juno’s website to see all that’s available, here’s the description from Pluredro

“This is another variation of Framed Burr.

Unlike ordinary Framed Burrs, the checkouts of each piece can be seen from the outside when the puzzle is completely assembled. Thanks to the feature of the shape of the frame, the puzzle requires some very tricky 24 moves to take the first piece apart.

Juno had the original idea of Visible Framed Burr in 2012 and he has been occasionally thinking of how to make the puzzle to have a unique solution. If you input the shape of pieces of the picture below into the puzzle solving program like BurrTools, it will find 34 solutions and most of them could be solved by two or three moves. Using several colors for the pieces is one of the solutions but Juno took a different option to make the puzzle have a unique solution. The modification to the pieces gives you a big hint to find out the orientation of the pieces but even if you know the orientation, the puzzle is diabolically difficult.

Reinforcement Jarrah pieces were inserted to the ends of the top and bottom panels and it prevents cupping deformation of the panels. The joints of the posts to the panel are recessed to keep the accuracy of the dimension of the frame.

Material: PNG Rosewood, American Walnut, Utile and Jarrah”

ENTER IF YOU CAN – THE ART OF PUZZLE BOXES – LOCKED EDITION By Peter Hajek

I received my copy of Peter’s wonderful book about PuzzleBoxes, of course you can see more about it below but I opted to wait until this version which features a cool lock created by Shane Hales!

Shane is a Master Locksmith who hails from England and knows a thing or two about locking mechanisms.

This locking mechanism is  very cool, and takes a bit of sleuthing to reveal its secrets, very well done indeed!

I should add that shipping from Pelikan was top notch as well, it was very carefully packed and arrived in perfect condition, be sure to drop by and pick up a copy!

Peter Hajek wrote about it:

“The richly illustrated hardback book covers the history of boxes with secret opening; their flourishing at the turn of the 19th and 20th Century in England, Japan and Switzerland; the work of the three pioneers of puzzle box art – Wood, Chambers and Kamei; and the greatest achievements of modern masters currently active in Japan, America, Europe and Australia. There are also sections on puzzle box secrets, puzzle locks, and the current 'puzzle scene'.”

Note: 

‘This is an edition of the book by Peter Hajek, described on its own page, locked with a trick lock by Shane Hales.’

Kevin Sadler wrote about it:

This beautiful book by Professor Hajek is a Tour de force production with beautiful pictures and should be thought of as THE DEFINITIVE history and analysis of all the puzzle world has to offer on the subject of puzzle boxes. It covers puzzles both old and new, European, American and traditional Japanese as well as the wonderful creations by the Karakuri Group. There are even puzzles discussed which I can justify owning as not traditionally thought of as boxes. This is not something for your bookshelf – it is something to keep on your coffee table to refer to regularly. Later this month a version will be released with a locking mechanism designed and made by Shane Hales. This will be limited in number and I hope that I can get a copy when they come out.”