Juno’s Kumikisaurus

I’ve always admired ‘Kumiki’ puzzles and was thrilled when Juno decided to offer one crafted in his shop!

Now you might think that this 9 piece burr would be a cakewalk but let me tell you, this puzzle will definitely keep you guessing!  I spent the better part of an hour just to disassemble from its incorrect assembly and have yet to reassemble it into its correct assembly with the ‘Dinosaur’s’ front feet down.

Here’s Juno’s description from Pluredro:

“This 9-piece dinosaur-shaped puzzle offers unique solutions for levels 10-13. That is, it takes 10 moves to remove the first piece from the assembled shape and another 13 moves to remove the second piece. It is a relatively easier puzzle compared to many of Juno's diabolic burr puzzles, yet it is still challenging to solve. Some of the pieces are shaped in such a way that it is obvious at a glance which parts need to be assembled where. The difficult part of the challenge is in which order the pieces have to be assembled.

The puzzle is shipped to the customer incorrectly assembled, so it must be disassembled and reassembled to form a perfect dinosaur shape. Some of you may remember Juno's former design Kumiki Airline, which is made from the same material as Kumikisaurus.

Juno wanted to add variety to our puzzle products, so he designed this dinosaur-shaped puzzle. We have previously released Chubby Crocodile and cat-shaped Mittan, but both are considered to be puzzle boxes. It is our first-time animal-shaped burr puzzle, and we plan to release more products with similar concepts in the future. Unlike most of the conventional kumiki, our puzzles will always require multiple movements to disassemble.

The solution to this puzzle will be supplied upon request by Burr Tools file format.”

Size: 173 mm x 76 mm x 100 mm

Number of pieces: 9

Material: QLD Silver Ash (citrus family tree)

Juno’s Penta Cuboid - 1 of 3

I was thrilled to have won this puzzle at Juno’s latest auction that he now hosts on his website as opposed to being previously on eBay with half of the proceeds going to charity organizations.

I already have the ‘Penta Cuboid + T-groove Box’ with these pieces being leftovers from that release.

Be sure to drop by Pluredro to see what he currently has to offer:

“This is finished product from leftover pieces of Penta Cuboid + T-groove Box. The box of this one is made of Bintangor.

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.”

Small Box - Block-C KCG - OS-28 by Osamu Kasho

This is a very nicely made puzzle box from Osamu that I simply had to have as cubic shaped puzzles are some of my favourite!

This is beautifully crafted with Walnut and Magnolia.

Here’s Osamu’s description from KCG:

“It is a small box with a grid pattern in the vertical and horizontal directions.

There is no mechanism that seems to be a gimmick, but where will it open?

Or is it just a mass of wood that doesn't open?

block-C and block-R, open in a similar way.

C is a cube, making it difficult to tell which side will open.”

Everyday Holiday No. 1 - 2 - 3 by Yavuz Demirhan

 

Yavuz sent me this trio of packing puzzles that have a very restricted sliding tops.  One has two separate sliding top pieces while the other two feature a very cool interactive sliding piece top, just moving the top is literally mesmerizing!

Here’s a video from Yavuz showing that cool top movement in action.

Note the move count listed for each puzzle below:

No.1 -  Moves 32 (3.3.6.10.3.3.4)

No.2 - Moves 33 (3.2.3.6.7.4.8)

No.3 - Moves 33 (3.3.9.4.4.4.6)

Perforated - Klaas Jan Damstra by Pelikan

I was fortunate to have acquired this awesome puzzle in a trade, it not only has a very cool appearance but also has a very tricky move count of

32.4.6.4.3.2.2.

Pelikan has done a masterful job on this one using Mahogany, Maple and Oak.

Klaas Jan Damstra wrote about it:

“The goal while designing this puzzle was to have the single hole that one can see in the midst of the arrangement of the four pieces on a surface come back in both the centres of the surfaces and the edges of the cage. The consequence of this is that two parts of the cage have to be connected to one another inside the puzzle. To make the puzzle strong enough there are two internal connections. Jakub used additional wooden pins to make the internal connections stronger, what nicely adds to the decoration. Due to the obstructions inside the cage, two different type of pieces were needed to make the puzzle design, so this one is different than the first version which was published on PWBP.”

File Box No.1& 2 by Yavuz Demirhan (2018)

This is a very nice puzzle by Yavuz with a reasonably modest move count of 

20.14.2, but don’t let that fool you this is one tricky puzzle to disassemble!

The construction of the frame portion is particularly attractive with dowels adorning the pieces that interact with the two sliders.  

After quite a bit of time I was able to solve this one!  See bottom pic..

Yavuz also has a No. 2 version that bumps up the difficulty even more (45.6.2) with a third slider added to the mix.

Broken Box - Lucie Pauwels by Pelikan

I’m a big fan of Lucie’s designs so when Pelikan offered this cool design I knew I just had to pick up a copy.

Here’s Lucie’s description:

“Find 6 ways to re-assemble the broken box (using 2 magnets) and each time find out how to put the 9 pieces inside.“

Kevin Sadler wrote about it:

“I was rather curious when I took this from the packaging. The beautiful Wenge cube inside the Cherry wood box looked odd – there were magnets and I wasn’t certain what they were for. So I dropped the cube out the centre and it fell apart into 9 horrifyingly awkward components and a box that was “broken”. I wasn’t certain what the point was apart from maybe put the pieces back in and maybe rearrange the box halves into an alternative shape around the cube. I initially decided “just” to put it back together again as I had received it. I wrote “just” because this was a horrifically tough task for an assembly puzzle dunce and it took me a couple of hours! I then thought I might try to make the flattened tray version and so far have completely failed! How can creating such a simple shape be so damned difficult? Jakub later sent me the instructions and showed that there were quite a few more challenges with the box being held together by the magnets in another 5 shapes giving 6 really tough challenges in one. These puzzles can be solved in 2 ways – you either make the shape first and then add the box frames to it or assemble the box and try to put the pieces inside afterwards. Burrtools tells me that there are hundreds of assemblies for some of the shapes but I have absolutely no skill in finding them! Lord knows how long this will take me! This will be tremendous value for money to any puzzler who purchases it as well as a really fantastic series of challenges.”

‘Turn Me On’ by Kelly Snache

Kel recently posted about his newest creation that instantly caught my eye, I’m always amazed at how the seemingly mundane objects inspire Kel!

After having solved this cool puzzle box I finally understood what Kel meant about using it to replace a switch cover, perhaps the perfect light switch cover for your puzzle room!  See bottom pic of PuzzleBox mounted to my dining room light switch!

I’ve also noticed what turns out to be a small piece of Abalone attached to the centre of the lid.  There’s also (Maple & Steel used in the light switch plate) as well as Padauk, Mahogany, Yellowheart and Zebrawood.

Here’s Kel’s description:

“A fun 💡moment the other day…

What if I added a puzzle to the light switch that is attached to the wall I says to self?

So, self took my butt to my local building supply store and picked up some unfinished wood light switch plates! 

Turn Me On is a 5 moves to open puzzle, if you want the lights on you are gonna have to solve it.

In the solved state you have access to the screw locations to affix the switch plate puzzle to the wall.”

Ball Room - Stewart Coffin Design #197-A by Andy Manvell - IPP 25 Helsinki Exchange

Designing puzzles using spheres opens up a plethora of different elements, Stewart has created many versions over his career but this one has a cool charm to it and Andy did a very nice job on the box with lid.

Stewart wrote:

“This is a variation of Under Cover #197

using balls instead of edge-beveled cubes.

The four pieces pack into a cubic box, make a square pyramid pile that fits in the cover, and with one piece left out

form a tetrahedral pile.”

Note there are three challenges described in the box:

Problem #1. Fit the four pieces

into the cover to form a square

pyramid. Two solutions.

Problem #2. Use three of the

pieces to form a tetrahedral pile

inside the box. Two solutions.

Probiem #3. Fit all four pieces

inside the box. Three solutions.

Cube-16 - Stewart Coffin Design #205 by Wayne Daniel - IPP 25 Prague Exchange by Jerry Slocum

I blogged about this puzzle design with a full write-up by Neil here:

I now have a copy that was beautifully crafted by Master Puzzle Craftsman Wayne Daniel.  This particular puzzle was Exchanged by IPP Founder Jerry Slocum!

Stewart wrote:

“It represents a conversion of Patio Block #82 from an eight-piece box-packing problem to a five piece interlocking cube. This version is beautifully crafted in zebrawood by Wayne Daniel for an IPP exchange.”

Trench's Tripple Trouble (TT9) by Kevin Holmes

I was quite thrilled when I received this puzzle after winning the bid for it in Paradise, the seller is currently selling off many puzzles from long time puzzler Bill Darrah.

Kevin Holmes was a clever puzzle designer who employed many folks with disabilities at a company he founded in England called Trench.  This puzzle is quite special to me as my wife Barb is a quadriplegic..

Hopefully Martin won’t mind me using his Bio of Kevin Holmes:

 

“I think I first encountered Kevin in the very early eighties, chancing on his fun-packed puzzle stall in London’s Coven Garden.  At the time my finances, or lack of them, prevented me from indulging myself in his many treasures.  He is constantly besieged by eager puzzle-hunters from around the planet, either looking for a souvenir, or a wicked challenge for a know-all friend or relative.  He stocks most of the Pentangle range of puzzles, but mainly he lives up to his nickname of ‘The Cube Man’.

 

His range increases regularly, mainly with his own designs, and his stall is a regular watering hole for the puzzle-thirsty traveller.  He can maintain conversation with several would-be customers as well as a flock of regular visitors and friends simultaneously. 

 

I have made several friends as a result of chance encounters at his stall.”

Martin Watson

Box made from Canarywood & Peruvian Walnut with  Wenge Slipfeathers.

Trivia by Alfons Eyckmans

I’m not sure why Alfons called this one ‘Trivia’ but I can certainly tell you that it is not ‘Trivial’ to disassemble!

I spent a fair bit of time trying to get past the first few moves until I finally found my way through to the path towards removing the first piece, after that the pieces come out rather handily.

This particular copy is signed and dated #2 - 4/2021

Woods used in this 8 piece burr appear to be Padauk and Sycamore with a level move count of 15.3.2.3

Boxed Six Board Burr - Frans de Vreugd - 2003 by Bits and Pieces

This puzzle was used by Frans at IPP 24 and features 6 pieces plus a frame with a level move count of 5.2.4.

This particular puzzle was nicely crafted by Bits and Pieces (using shoulder joints on every piece) back when they offered this puzzle in their catalog.

For some reason Bits and Pieces decided to call this puzzle ‘Mysterious Panels’..?

Boxing Kangaroo by Yoh Kakuda - KCG - KY-51

This is another awesome puzzle box from Yoh..I’m continually impressed by not only the design skills but also the impeccable craftsmanship!

Here’s a description from the KCG:

“This work was designed as a Christmas present for 2021.

This is a kangaroo with an imposing appearance.

If you carelessly touch it, it will fight back.

I named this work after the striking lyrics of a song.

However, I didn't know boxing kangaroos were well known.

(Song "I'll Have To Dance With Cassie")”

Crafted from Cherry - Magnolia - Padauk