The external appearance is much like his earlier works Parcel and Parcel Cube. I like the use of dark and light wood: if you look closely, you'll see that the pattern of the straps on the outside is arranged like borromean rings. This gives the appearance a nice symmetry.
I struggled with this one for quite a while! At first, it appears like a solid block, nothing will budge. Due to the design, there are lots of things to try sliding. Eventually, I found something ever so slight that hinted at the solution. I spent quite a while fiddling with this subtle thing that I found before I finally figured out how to solve it. In all, I think this one took me maybe 2-3 hours spread out over a few days. It is a tough one!
The thing that irks me about this puzzle is that the actual solution is awkward. It does have an unusual move for a puzzle box, but actually physically executing this move is challenging. With a little practice, I got the hang of it, but that aspect annoyed me a bit. The thing that I really liked about this puzzle is that the solution is simple, but non-obvious. I always enjoy a challenge that ends up having a simple solution like this, since all sorts of crazy complicated solutions go through your head while you are trying to solve it.
Double Puzzle Box. He sort of gives away a bit of the surprise in the description of the puzzle, so I would avoid reading it if you can.
The external appearance is nice, with a cool checkered yosegi pattern. Since it appeared to be proportioned like a traditional Japanese puzzle box, I tried the usual things, but nothing worked! However, I soon figured out what I was doing wrong and discovered the first part of the solution.
Based on some clues, I knew I wasn't done yet and proceeded to solve it completely. It isn't too challenging, but there is a nice little surprise at the end. That said, there isn't really anything that is all that novel about this box. I prefer puzzle boxes that have something that I've never seen before, and this has (pretty much) been done before. There is one aspect about the 'surprise' that was a bit surprising and out-of-the-ordinary, but that still didn't quite do it for me. Still, I will continue to purchase Oka's Christmas Presents, since his last few have been pretty clever.
That's it! I can hardly wait until next Christmas already! Getting these puzzles is pretty much the highlight of my puzzle-buying for the year.
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Excellent reviews Brian! You've given me the push I needed to join the Karakuri Club myself.
ReplyDeleteAwesome, Oli! I'm sure you won't be disappointed.
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