Edition of Addition - Alexander Magyarics by Pelikan

This awesome design by Alexander is beautifully crafted from Bubinga and Oak by Pelikan.

I was particularly impressed by the box that Pelikan made for this puzzle and of course the fact that there are many other configurations that can be formed by the pieces (see photo) making this puzzle a must have.

Kevin Sadler wrote about it:

“Do you like the Soma cube and its associated challenges? If so then you will love the Edition of Additions! Alexander has branched out into a different genre of puzzles to his usual packing or interlocking puzzles and has created something perfect for new and old puzzlers alike. This is absolutely stunning made with Bubinga pieces and an Oak box which has been beautifully made (taking the lid off requires breaking a vacuum seal!). The pieces are assembled inside the box as a 3x3x3 cube and having taken the pieces out for my photo, I realised that I couldn’t put them back inside again! Unlike the Soma cube which has 240 cubic assemblies, this has just four – Aargh! To my shame it took me almost a whole afternoon to put it back in the box. Having done this then the wonderful puzzle comes with another 12 shapes to attempt to assemble. None of them are easy as most have between 1 and 5 possible assemblies (2 have more than 10 but I still struggled with them). If shape forming puzzles are your thing then this is a must – if you own and enjoy the Soma cube then you owe it to yourself to add one of these to your collection. To me, any puzzle that comes in a beautifully made box is a must have!”

Akadia (Large) by Vaclav Obsivac - VinCo

I recently received this puzzle and when I looked it up at Vaclav’s website I was pleasantly surprised to find more info via a PDF which I have incorporated into this blog post.

“Here are puzzles from my new HoWeDia project. More info about it you can find on my website under Download section. All this puzzles has 8 pieces. For every puzzle there are multiple goals with different levels of difficulty. You can use 4, 6 or 8 pieces based on the challenge at hand. All the pieces are labeled A, B, C,...H. These markings are a great aid to the solver in identifying the pieces. Any way it is not help for solution.

A few years ago I had to prepare a couple of puzzles for a public event. This was a workshop that also included children. After doing a few more similar events, it led me to design a new series of puzzles with various goals for several levels of difficulty. To make these puzzles more fun and interesting especially for children, I Included simpler challenges with fewer pieces and used different kinds of wood and made them also in bigger sizes.

Transformations of puzzles

As a starting-point I took some of my older, favourite puzzles: Eight Houses, Three Wedges and DIAGRA [1] (see Figure 1, left. These puzzles have a 2x2x2-cube as a goal, and they have eight different pieces. The three original puzzles have a right-angled triangle as a distinctive, connecting element in them. And pieces are formed by connecting this triangle to the rest of the cube in different orientations.

By substituting the triangular connection by a "pin and hole" connection (see Figure 1, middle) I created new pieces based on the three mentioned puzzles. My new, or maybe just innovated, puzzles are named: Akaho, Akawe and Akadia. The names refer to the original puzzles. For every puzzle there are multiple goals with different levels of difficulty. You can use 4, 6 or 8 pieces based on the challenge at hand. See Figure 4 for the respective pieces. I think the change from Diagra to Akadia is the most impressive and few people can see the similarity with the original.

Substituting the triangular- by a "pin and hole" connection was the transformation that generated novel designs. So my guess was that substituting the triangular- by a geometry based on blocks (with right angles) should generate new designs as well (see Figure 1, right). This is how Coverho, Coverwe and Coverdia were created. I found Coverho really interesting because contrary to the original pieces from Eight Houses, in the new pieces the geometry obscures the composing subparts. Again see Figure 4 for the respective pieces.

Puzzles in sizes XS-XXL

I enjoyed making these changes. I went from a "triangular" version to a "pin and hole" version and eventually to a version with blocks. I commercially produced the puzzles in several sizes (XS-XXL), with individual pieces ranging from 2.5 cm to 8 cm (see figure 2) and the XS size packed in a wooden box. For reference the pieces are labeled A, B, C,..H. These markings are a great aid to the solver in identifying the pieces. I also made some unusual bigger versions. One of them for my daughter Ivana where every piece is 30 cm (see Figure 3) . These can be used for sitting or as small tables when 4 pieces are used.

Ivana's Puzzle-Tables

This HoWeDia-project was very satisfying, not only did I create several new and challenging puzzles, but I was also able to present my daughter with unique furnature for her new house!”

Please note:  Vaclav Obsivac & Theo Geerinck - ‘Half-Cube Puzzles’ from CFF 77 pages 8-12 November 2008

Juno Puzzles - Junichi & Yukari Yananose

It recently occurred to me that I should blog about the incredible puzzling accomplishments of Juno.  Many years ago Eric Fuller beautifully crafted Juno’s ‘Uranus’ design and from that moment on I was hooked on Juno’s work!

I have added photos of just some of the many beautiful Juno puzzles in my collection and as always drop by Pluredro to see what’s available.

Here’s a couple of links to Juno’s earliest website:

Juno's World (English page)

Juno's World (Japanese page)

Here’s a bio from Brian & Sue Young of Mr Puzzle:

“Junichi is credited with designing some of the most interesting and complex, and therefore the most difficult, puzzles to solve ever created.  In 2007 he received an honourable mention at the International Design Competition awards  for his Tornado Burr.

With that burr and others he’s also given Brian some of his biggest headaches by designing some of the most difficult puzzles Brian’s ever had to make!

[Update 2020] Since then Juno as we know him has worked here at Mr Puzzle from 2011-2017 and he has now setup his own workshop and website and is creating some of his best puzzles ever.  His sequential discovery puzzle Slammed Car won the Jury Grand Prize at the 2019 IPP Puzzle Design Competition.”

Steve of Boxes and Booze has an excellent blog covering most of Juno’s Sequential Discovery Puzzle Boxes:

This is a great interview about Juno’s geometrical puzzles:

“I got familiar with geometry and wood working to satisfy my intellectual curiosity and, started designing original puzzles when I was a teenager. It became a part of my life-time activity.

I always wanted to make my puzzle something new or different. Since a dodecahedron or an icosahedron shaped puzzles are designed by our predecessors, I needed to challenge a compound of those two polyhedra.

Sophisticated CAD software, efficient wood machineries and a little patience made the task possible.”

Juno’s Slammed Car - 3D Printed (Red) by Gerard Hudson - Bayou Puzzles

I was fortunate to have acquired this printed version of one of Juno’s most coveted Sequential Discovery Puzzleboxes.

Here’s Juno’s original description from Pluredro:

https://shop.pluredro.com

“This is Juno's second sequential discovery puzzle that he initially designed to become so. The first one was Sequential Discovery Burred Box though he has also designed several puzzle boxes that have tastes of sequential discovery. This puzzle requires lots of steps, around 15 to 20 depending on how it is counted.

The puzzle has an internal cavity and it is also categorized as a puzzle box. To make the definition of the puzzle clearer, we put a loaf of bread in the cavity and it helps you to realize the goal of the puzzle.

Some people will find out the difference of the colors of rego (number) plates, one on the front and the other one on the rear, and then they might think why that. We expected to export some cars to the UK market and a white and yellow color code is constituted by the UK law. We are here in Queensland and our color code for the rego plate is almost like anything goes, even accepting emoji on it. So we decided to stick to the UK laws and pretend to be posh not like rough Queenslanders.

The difficulty of the puzzle is not too difficult but not so modest. Like most of Juno's former designed puzzle boxes, bashing, tapping and centrifugal forces are not necessary to open it. It can be solved by gentle operation. If you think that the puzzle doesn't work as you expect, please consider the possibility that you might have missed or overlooked a trick(s) of the puzzle.

Please be careful when you park the car on a shelf, securing the car so that it does not run off the cliff. It is a good idea to have a sort of wheel lock, or place the car on a piece of cloth. Playing the puzzle on a wide spread blanket or a large towel is also recommended because it makes the handling (operation) easier and these cloths give a good grip for the wheels.”

Specifications

Dimensions
Overall length	181 mm
Overall width	78 mm (94 mm mirrors unfolded)
Overall height	76 mm
Wheelbase	105 mm
Wheel size	40 mm
Ground clearance	5 mm
Cargo capacity	0.000065 Litres (W46 x L38 x D37 mm)
curb weight	0.41 kg
Number of doors	3 (2 are fixed though)
Powertrain
Engine type	Human powered?
Cylinders	Says 1
Fuel consumption	0 liter!
Material
Koto	Main body parts
Blackbean	Wheels, Roof, Wing mirrors etc.
Jarrah	Some parts require durability and strength
PNG Rosewood	Head lights and rear rego plate
Metal	Factory top secret
General infomation
Maker	Pluredro
Car designer	Junichi Yananose (Juno

Here’s Gerard’s description from Bayou Puzzles:

https://bayoupuzzles.com/products/junos-slammed-car-3d-printed

“Juno’s amazing Slammed Car puzzle won the Jury Grand Prize at the 2019 Puzzle Design Competition. Since IPP39, the puzzle has been completely sold out, and Bayou Puzzle has special permission from Pluredro to release this 3D printed version.”