Penta Roof 2 by Osanori Yamamoto (2014)

This wonderful puzzle by Osanori is a great example of ‘good things come to those who wait’.  I had noticed on Osanori’s Facebook page (last fall) that he had decided to make this design (originally conceived in 2014), so I sent him a message asking for a copy.  Shipping to Canada wasn’t available so I asked him to include with an order to a fellow puzzler in the U.S.

I was thrilled to have received it this week and as usual Osanori’s work is spectacular.  As you can imagine from the title your goal is to place the familiar 12 pentomino pieces onto the very elaborate ‘roof’ shaped frame.

As I mentioned above the 12 solid pentomino pieces represent every combination of cubic blocks joined flat all possible ways, ‘P-V-T-Z-W-I-U-X-L-Y-N-F’.

Stewart Coffin used this magical set of puzzle pieces in his 3rd design and aptly named it ‘Pentablock’.  One of my first puzzles was one crafted by Wayne Daniel offered by ‘Interlocking Puzzles’ back in the early 2000’s.

They pack into a 3x4x5 box over 3900 different ways with none being easy, there are also a myriad of other shapes possible with these incredible pieces.

I also made a box to contain this set of pieces in the familiar 3x4x5 shape from Purpleheart, Wenge, Mahogany and Spalted Maple.