Barrel by Andriy Bruns

I thought I might revisit this post as I didn’t have the puzzle in hand, well what can I say but it’s simply outstanding both in high quality craftsmanship and design.

Years ago I fumbled with William Strijbos’s Aluminum Cylinder Box but Andriy really did a terrific job on this one, it’s quickly become my newest fidget puzzle!

Seriously folks, go grab yourself a copy!

In light of the conflict in the Ukraine I have decided to do this post as a call to my puzzle friends to come together in helping a fellow puzzler who’s in peril.

Please drop by Eric’s site and purchase one of Brun’s wonderful puzzles!

Here's Eric's description from Cubicdissection:

For the duration of the Ukrainian conflict, we are donating all profits from the sale of this puzzle directly to Andriy to help support him.

"Barrel" is Ukrainian engineer Andriy Bruns' latest mechanical puzzle. According to him, Barrel has been sent back from the future! It must be solved to retrieve the Skynet data coin hidden inside. The survival of humanity could be at stake...

Andriy gives Barrel a level 10 difficulty rating. The mechanism is intricate, but the designer does a good job putting subtle clues and references to help your analysis.

Barrel stands apart from cheaper mass-produced work. Each copy is individually crafted to excellent tolerances. Quality and attention to detail are consistent with other small-batch, high-end mechanical metal puzzles.”

Machinist's Stash - Marcel Gillen by Andriy Bruns

 In light of the conflict in the Ukraine I have decided to do this post as a call to my puzzle friends to come together in helping a fellow puzzler who’s in peril.

Please drop by Eric’s site and purchase one of Brun’s wonderful puzzles!

Here's Eric's description from Cubicdissection:

“For the duration of the Ukrainian conflict, we are donating all profits from the sale of this puzzle directly to Andriy to help support him.

Machinist's Stash is Ukrainian engineer Andriy Bruns' reinterpretation of Marcel Gillen's excellent "Fire Plug" Puzzle. This puzzle box is handcrafted under license in small batches by Andriy in his Ukraine workshop. The tolerances and attention to detail are outstanding, earning Machinist's Stash a solid place on any collector's shelf. You will not solve this tricky puzzle with casual fiddling; you'll need to analyze and focus to solve the mechanism and reveal the secret compartment.

We have been fortunate to obtain roughly 75 copies of this excellent and long-discontinued puzzle. Machinist's Stash ships in an unsolved configuration.”

Lementary - (aka L Box) Laszlo Molnar by Tom Lensch

I recently got this cool packing puzzle from Tom, it’s beautifully crafted from Lyptus for the box and Padauk for the pieces.

As you can see the goal is to pack all the ‘L’ pieces into the restricted opening box, yeah easier said than done..it’s a very nice design by Laszlo.

Little Love - Alexander Magyarics by BAZ

Through an agreement with Jeff I’m able to offer this puzzle for sale.

Here’s Jeff’s description:

“The Little Love (17.1.4) is a 3 piece split open frame 5x5 cubic puzzle designed by Alexander Magyarics in 2021. When solved, the pieces will fill the void spots on the inside of the cage with open voxels. It looks simple, but it's got an interesting mechanic that will keep you guessing even after you take it apart.

The OMG COLORS are all true unique variants of mixed exotic woods of whatever wood species we have on hand, from common exotics to the ultra rare's. Minimum of 15 wood species would be used. No two OMG COLORS puzzles will ever be the same.

The signature piece is laser engraved with "Baz".
The puzzle is finished with matte lacquer.”

One Step Closer - Alexander Magyarics by BAZ

Through an agreement with Jeff I’m able to offer this puzzle for sale.

Drop by BAZ to see all that he has available.

Here’s Jeff’s description:

“The One Step Closer (16.11.4.3.2.3) is a slight variation of the Stepper (18.2.3.2.2), being a bit more difficult. Both the Stepper and One Step Closer are interlocking puzzles designed by Alexander Magyarics in 2021. When solved, the pieces will fill the void spots on three of the faces of the cage. It'll take a little dexterity, but easy to handhold with the voxel size being 1/2" (3" cubed).

The OMG COLORS are all true unique variants of mixed exotic woods of whatever wood species we have on hand, from common exotics to the ultra rare's. Minimum of 15 wood species would be used. No two OMG COLORS puzzles will ever be the same.

The signature piece is laser engraved with "Baz".
The puzzle is finished with matte lacquer.”

Stepper - Alexander Magyarics by BAZ

Through an agreement with Jeff I’m able to offer this puzzle for sale.

Here’s Jeff’s description:

“The Stepper (18.2.3.2.2) is a slight variation of the One Step Closer (16.11.4.3.2.3). Both the Stepper and One Step Closer are interlocking puzzles designed by Alexander Magyarics in 2021. When solved, the pieces will fill the void spots on three of the faces of the cage. It'll take a little dexterity, but easy to handhold with the voxel size being 1/2" (3" cubed).

The OMG COLORS are all true unique variants of mixed exotic woods of whatever wood species we have on hand, from common exotics to the ultra rare's. Minimum of 15 wood species would be used. No two OMG COLORS puzzles will ever be the same.

The signature piece is laser engraved with "Baz".
The puzzle is finished with matte lacquer.”

Joker - Alexander Magyarics by BAZ

Through an agreement with Jeff I’m able to offer this puzzle for sale.

Here’s Jeff’s description:

“The Joker (42.12.3) is a slight variation of the Joke (23.8.2) with each piece being unique; adding only two voxels but doubles the difficulty level. Both the Joke and the Joker are interlocking puzzles designed by Alexander Magyarics in 2021. When solved, the pieces will fill the void spots on three of the faces of the cage in the shape of a J. It'll take a little dexterity, but easy to handhold with the voxel size being 1/2" (2.5" cubed). It's a delight to play around with; the joker will definitely keep you guessing.

The OMG COLORS are all true unique variants of mixed exotic woods of whatever wood species we have on hand, from common exotics to the ultra rare's. Minimum of 15 wood species would be used. No two OMG COLORS puzzles will ever be the same.

The signature piece is laser engraved with "Baz".
The puzzle is finished with matte lacquer.”

Minisplice - Alexander Magyarics by BAZ

Through an agreement with Jeff I’m able to offer this puzzle for sale.

Here’s Jeff’s description:

“The Minisplice (7.2.1.1.2) is a 6 piece plus open frame 5x5 cubic puzzle designed by Alexander Magyarics in 2020. When solved, the pieces will fill the void spots on the inside of the cage with open voxels. There are 3 different solutions. It's not difficult for the seasoned puzzler, but a great beginner for someone starting out. Plus it looks cool! 

The OMG COLORS are all true unique variants of mixed exotic woods of whatever wood species we have on hand, from common exotics to the ultra rare's. Minimum of 15 wood species would be used. No two OMG COLORS puzzles will ever be the same.

The signature piece is laser engraved with "Baz".
The puzzle is finished with matte lacquer.”

Meson - Alexander Magyarics by BAZ

This is a fun design from Alex, not overly difficult to disassemble but guaranteed to keep you busy getting it back together.  

Jeff has honed his puzzle making skills after working at CubicDissection so you’ll immediately notice a similar attention to detail that Eric is known for.

Through an agreement with Jeff I’m able to offer this puzzle for sale.

Here’s Jeff’s description:

“The Meson (6.16.7.5.3) is a 6 piece plus frame 5x5 cubic puzzle designed by Alexander Magyarics in 2020. When solved, the pieces will fill the void spots on the inside of the cage with a few open voxels. It's a delight to play around with and the discovery to disassembly is actually quite fun; very challenging to put it back together.

The OMG COLORS are all true unique variants of mixed exotic woods of whatever wood species we have on hand, from common exotics to the ultra rare's. Minimum of 15 wood species would be used. No two OMG COLORS puzzles will ever be the same.

The signature piece is laser engraved with "Baz".
The puzzle is finished with matte lacquer.”

eL Engano - Alexander Magyarics by BAZ

Through an agreement with Jeff I’m able to offer this puzzle for sale.

Here’s Jeff’s description:

“The eL Engano (17.4.3) is a 3 piece plus frame 5x5 cubic puzzle designed by Alexander Magyarics in 2020. When solved, the pieces will fill the void spots on the inside of the cage with open voxels. It's a bit tricky to hand hold as it requires a bit more dexterity to play with, but its interesting to put back together.

The OMG COLORS are all true unique variants of mixed exotic woods of whatever wood species we have on hand, from common exotics to the ultra rare's. Minimum of 15 wood species would be used. No two OMG COLORS puzzles will ever be the same.

The signature piece is laser engraved with "Baz".
The puzzle is finished with matte lacquer.”

Frankenstar by George Bell

George comes up with some really interesting and confusing puzzle designs and this one is a great example of co-ordinate motion.

As usual with co-mo designs placement of your fingers make all the difference in your success or failure in opening the puzzle.  Once you’ve got it apart the real fun begins as you almost need an extra set of hands to reassemble it.

Here’s George’s description from his Etsy Shop:

“This puzzle appears to be made from random leftover parts, yet miraculously they can be assembled into a perfect star. Frankenstar can be difficult to get apart, please give the pieces a soft landing or tips can break off. Assembly is the real challenge, the pieces are confusing and the puzzle has many incorrect assemblies (see the final photo). Then you will run into the final challenge, which can be quite frustrating.”

Teaser Balls - Anneke Treep/Christian Greeling by John Rausch

I never write about disentanglement puzzles but felt the need to mention this very cool puzzle by John, he recently posted about it in the Mechanical Puzzle group on Facebook:

“Between 15 and 20 years ago I made a quite a few Teaser Balls puzzles. When I took them to IPP or G4G, they were gone in a hurry. At one G4G I gave one to Jerry Slocum and Bill Cutler. The next morning Jerry told me he went to sleep with it unsolved on his chest. Looking down into the hotel atrium, I could see Bill meandering around with it unsolved. Lennart Green always wanted a bunch, and even asked if I could make a large version. I made a couple BIG ones from 3" balls and 11mm static climbing rope. I have no idea why he wanted them.

It's a deceptively difficult puzzle for most people. Untying the square knot for the first time is usually luck, but luck doesn't help much getting the square knot retied. There are a few ways it can be presented that make it more confusing, especially to someone who has solved one before. A good thing is it's almost impossible to make a mess of things. More often than that not, after doing some  things, you find yourself right back at the beginning. My name for it is "Back to Square One".

Teaser Balls was designed by either Anneke Treep or Christian Freeling. I'm not sure which one, but I always paid Anneke a royalty from selling them. I have been asked for them ever since, so I made up a bunch. I made them with both 2" with 6mm line, and 1.5" with 4mm line. The line is Climber's utility cord -- smaller, but the same as 11mm line.”

Juno’s Splitted 12

This puzzle gets very confusing fast as the pieces seem to want to shuffle in every direction.  Unlike a traditional burr this one uses a mix of different burr piece cross sections (similar to Plumply) which give it a really cool look in the assembled state but unbelievably confusing to disassemble.  Juno’s fine craftsmanship shines on this one!

Here’s Juno’s Description at Pluredro 

“The puzzle has unique level 17-22 solution, and is not meant to be solved by a human being. It can be disassembled if you try harder but assembling the puzzle without any clue is almost impossible. It will be great if you can disassemble the first piece. Disassembling the second piece is more challenging and when you successfully reach the point, we suggest you stop there and reassemble the first two pieces before you forget what you have done.

By choosing an appropriate orientation and how to hold the pieces, the puzzle can be assembled only by two hands. Many pieces have a tendency to move in different directions at will when being assembled or disassembled, which makes it difficult to know which state you are in.

Juno has been studying 12 piece burr that consists of six 2 x 2 profile pieces and another six 3 x 1 pieces. So far we have launched Stretchy 12, Staggered 12, and Plumply 12. Splitted 12 is the latest addition to the three brothers.

Size: 87 mm x 87 mm x 87 mm

Number of pieces: 12

Material: Jarrah, Sassafras, and PNG Rosewood

Designer: Junichi Yananose (Juno)”

Juno’s Puzzle Turbine & Test Version #1 of 2

You may notice that I have two different copies of this awesome puzzle and of course Juno was kind enough to allow me to purchase a sale copy after winning the ‘test version’ that was listed on his eBay auction with half of the sale proceeds from this auction going to saving Marsupials in Australia.

The cool aspect of these puzzles are the embedded magnets that occasionally attract at seemingly random move counts in the solve process, it really is a lot of fun, and of course with the high move count is incredibly difficult to remember your previous steps.

This puzzle sold out within days of its release and its not hard to see why, Juno puts his superior design skills and masterful craftsmanship into all of his wonderful puzzles!

Here’s Juno’s Description from Pluredro 

Although the puzzle consists of only four pieces, it requires 38 moves to remove the first piece from the assembled shape. The movements required to assemble and disassemble the puzzle are so complex that it is quite difficult to comprehend whether you are moving forward or backwards. The key of such high level burr is the stepped shape of the pieces. This feature also made the assembled shape of the puzzle more attractive.

Eight magnets are used to keep the puzzle stabilized when it is assembled. Without the magnets, each piece would be free to move, and the puzzle would tend to become unstable. When the puzzle is assembled and you come close to the goal, the magnets attract pieces together and it will give you a good feeling. The magnets are all set 0.1 to 0.2 mm below the surface of the piece, so there is no chance the magnets accidentally come loose.

As you can see in the images, one of the pieces has an arc-shaped internal checkout. It gives you a pathway for a genuine rotational movement so that the puzzle can be solved only by theoretically possible movements. Since we usually take off almost all the sharp corners of our puzzle products, the actual puzzle can be solved by cheating by giving a rotational movement using the L-shaped space. We hope you could solve the puzzle in a genuine way.”

Test  Version Description:

“When you win the auction, you get the puzzle shown in the images on this page. The puzzle is test version and it may have marks of mending, chip-outs, and hairline cracks on the consisting parts. Furthermore, unlike the product version, the pieces are made of solid wood and will break easily if not handled gently.

A half of the sales of the puzzle will be donated to the Save the Bilby Fund to save the precious marsupial of the Australian outback.”