tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42379732040076760662024-03-14T06:57:47.460-04:00Brian's Damn Puzzle BlogA chronicle of my descent into the realm of the puzzle-obsessed.Brian Pletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13379308851000087603noreply@blogger.comBlogger299125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4237973204007676066.post-46477362278607828012017-09-01T09:45:00.000-04:002017-09-01T09:45:24.124-04:00Ali's BoltI've seen a fair number of bolt puzzles, and tend to enjoy them. It is always interesting to see what ideas people can come up with that fit a similar form factor. Typically, there is a bolt and some number of nuts/washers, with the goal to take it apart and put it back together.
Ali's Bolt, designed and produced by Ali Morris, just has a single nut and it doesn't want to turn. The Brian Pletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13379308851000087603noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4237973204007676066.post-91659703859092985682017-08-31T10:05:00.001-04:002017-08-31T10:07:01.777-04:00KenalKenal is a puzzle designed by Alfons Eyckmans and Ken Johnson, hence the name. Peter actually had pointed it out to me at IPP, where a copy was for sale, but I ended up not purchasing it.
John Rausch generously brought a number of puzzles to RPP to give as door prizes, and Alken was one of them! He put each attendee's name in a hat, and we selected puzzles in the orders our names were drawn.Brian Pletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13379308851000087603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4237973204007676066.post-45755696750799610782017-08-30T08:00:00.000-04:002017-08-30T09:40:58.724-04:00Aquarius Drawer
This is another one of Jeff's new puzzles I saw at RPP, Hiroshi Iwahara's latest design, Aquarius Drawer. The name references the fact that the box's appearance was inspired by the Aquarius zodiac symbol.
There are two drawers to be found: the first unlocks after only five moves, but the second takes sixty-one! That may sound like a lot, but the solution has a pattern to it that makes it Brian Pletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13379308851000087603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4237973204007676066.post-23894755350670192682017-08-29T08:00:00.000-04:002017-08-29T08:00:03.000-04:00Dave Rust Box #7
One of the favorites at RPP this year was a cute little box designed by Dave Rust, the 7th in his unnamed series. I should have included a coin for scale, it is only about 3 inches long.
I don't want to spoil this one by saying too much about the solution, only that it is pretty sneaky with a few surprises along the way. He was able to pack a remarkably tiny mechanism in there, which you can Brian Pletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13379308851000087603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4237973204007676066.post-7605525118988573252017-08-28T08:00:00.000-04:002017-08-28T10:53:50.962-04:00UNLOCK! Squeek & SausageThis is the second of two escape rooms in a box that Rob Stegmann brought to RPP: UNLOCK! Squeek & Sausage. This one had some different mechanics than I had seen before: it is almost entirely card driven with a companion app. The app tracks your time, releases hints at predetermined intervals (and upon request), and confirms answer codes.
The card mechanic works in a few ways: if you have a Brian Pletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13379308851000087603noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4237973204007676066.post-90161087159751886852017-08-25T08:00:00.000-04:002017-08-25T08:00:27.316-04:00Exit: The Game - The Secret Lab
Rob Stegmann brought two escape-room-in-a-box games for us to try out at RPP. We teamed up with Haym Hirsh and Neil Hutchison to give it a shot!
In case you're not familiar with the genre: escape room games were originally short video games where you clicked around, found objects, and solved puzzles to exit a room. In 2007, a Japanese publishing company named Scrap created the first live Brian Pletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13379308851000087603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4237973204007676066.post-48109330385121097182017-08-24T08:00:00.000-04:002017-08-24T10:43:54.538-04:00Kickake
This is another new box I spotted in Jeff's collection at RPP. It is from a new Karakuri Creation Group craftsman named Yasuaki Kikuchi.
As a puzzle, this one isn't particularly challenging, but it has a couple of interesting things going on. There is a nice visual change as you solve the puzzle and there's a surprise at the end. I think most folks will solve this in a minute or two.
At Brian Pletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13379308851000087603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4237973204007676066.post-75911530210127562912017-08-23T08:00:00.000-04:002017-08-23T11:08:57.428-04:00Secret Box BoxLast weekend I had a great time at the Rochester Puzzle Picnic hanging out at Jeff Aurand's house with a bunch of other puzzlers. In the next few posts I'll be talking about some puzzles I enjoyed from this gathering!
The first is one that folks directed to me right away: Secret Box Box by Hideaki Kawashima. As you can see from the photo, it is quite a nice looking puzzle, and from people'sBrian Pletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13379308851000087603noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4237973204007676066.post-58763074869105766562017-08-21T22:00:00.000-04:002017-08-21T22:00:11.886-04:002017 Puzzle Design Competition (Part 6)Here's the last part of my write-up of the various puzzles in the design competition this year! (Photo credit to Nick Baxter)
Tagai - Shiro Tajima
Another clever design by Shiro Tajima, this box has an unusual movement you quickly discover when you start fiddling with it. It seems like you'll be able to get the box open, but can't quite find the room to do it. As with Kakoi, this isBrian Pletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13379308851000087603noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4237973204007676066.post-26013051627948709852017-08-20T00:28:00.000-04:002017-08-20T22:45:05.988-04:002017 Puzzle Design Competition (Part 5)Here's Part 5 of my write-up of the various puzzles in the design competition this year! (Photo credit to Nick Baxter)
The Rocking Horse Puzzle - Mike Toulouzas
(Top 10 Vote Getter)
Another beautiful puzzle by Mike Toulouzas! If you're familiar with his work, you could immediately guess it was his from the size, beautiful craftsmanship, and style. It is a sequential discovery puzzleBrian Pletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13379308851000087603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4237973204007676066.post-30724934736078669122017-08-19T22:00:00.000-04:002017-08-19T22:00:03.940-04:002017 Puzzle Design Competition (Part 4)Here's Part 4 of my write-up of the various puzzles in the design competition this year! (Photo credit to Nick Baxter)
Lucky Cube - Keiichi Miyazaki
This is a nice little folding puzzle with a number of challenges involving creating a particular shape with the correct light/dark faces showing. The pieces lock together well in various configurations, and fold up to the desired shape.Brian Pletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13379308851000087603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4237973204007676066.post-23598507472838942972017-08-18T22:00:00.000-04:002017-08-18T22:00:16.721-04:002017 Puzzle Design Competition (Part 3)Here's Part 3 of my write-up of the various puzzles in the design competition this year! (Photo credit to Nick Baxter)
Galette - Osanori Yamamoto
(Top 10 Vote Getter)
The goal is to get the five pieces into the box, using some combination of the hole on the side and the hole in the top.
I spent a decent amount of time on this one before getting it figured out. A bit challenging but doable Brian Pletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13379308851000087603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4237973204007676066.post-24608336118960822532017-08-17T22:11:00.000-04:002017-08-18T11:18:27.428-04:002017 Puzzle Design Competition (Part 2)Here's Part 2 of my write-up of the various puzzles in the design competition this year! (Photo credit to Nick Baxter)
Cubemaker - Volker Latussek
The goal is to make five dark cubes from the five blocks. Each block has two half dark cubes. So, for example, in the photo there are three completed dark cubes.
I came back to this one a few times and was pretty happy to actually figure it out! Brian Pletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13379308851000087603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4237973204007676066.post-39062627081499789262017-08-16T22:31:00.000-04:002017-08-16T23:13:00.546-04:002017 Puzzle Design Competition (Part 1)After plenty of folks giving me a hard time for slacking off on the blogging, here's a write-up of the various puzzles in the design competition this year! I hope you enjoy it since it took a while to write! (Photo credit to Nick Baxter)
Adam & Eve - Alan Rolfs, Tom Sun, George Miller
Adam & Eve was Roxanne Miller's exchange puzzle this year. The goal is to link Adam and Eve's heads Brian Pletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13379308851000087603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4237973204007676066.post-43931567783810592432016-10-12T10:13:00.000-04:002016-10-13T10:45:59.095-04:00House CollectionI love sets of things, so I couldn't resist picking up this fairly inexpensive set of building-themed puzzle boxes designed by Hiroshi Iwahara and recently released by Karakuri Creation Group. Here's a few sentences about each:
Church has a single move that is quite simple to find. I did like the padauk on the roof and the detail on the cross and door.
Windmill technically has two Brian Pletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13379308851000087603noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4237973204007676066.post-77014886675730645132014-10-02T12:23:00.000-04:002014-10-02T12:23:18.173-04:00Stickman #5 (Borg Box)
I have long been an admirer of Stickman #5 (Borg Box), an amazing design by Robert Yarger: I finally had a chance to try it out at the 2011 RPP, thanks to Peter Wiltshire bringing his copy. It has eighty very intricate wooden pieces that hold together in the shape of a box. To open the box, you need to slide the pieces around, and once open you can completely disassemble the puzzle into its Brian Pletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13379308851000087603noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4237973204007676066.post-86696841467289677532014-09-25T13:41:00.000-04:002014-09-25T13:41:38.721-04:002014 Puzzle Design Competition (Part 6)This is the final post in my series about the puzzles in the 2014 Puzzle Design Competition . All photos are by Nick Baxter from the 2014 Design Competition website.
Tel Arad - Yael Meron
The goal is to fold the pieces into a three-layer stack. The rectangular pieces are joined by string, which can be slid around to some degree to position the pieces where you'd like them.
I had a Brian Pletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13379308851000087603noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4237973204007676066.post-44368526875827285352014-09-24T11:14:00.000-04:002014-09-24T11:14:20.190-04:002014 Puzzle Design Competition (Part 5)This is a continuation in my series of posts about the puzzles in the 2014 Puzzle Design Competition . All photos are by Nick Baxter from the 2014 Design Competition website.
7-4-2 - Lucie Pauwels
The goal is to make two crosses with the seven pieces. The first cross is pretty easy, but getting the second one is more challenging and a clever idea.
Simpleda - Ede Gergényi Brian Pletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13379308851000087603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4237973204007676066.post-29223252673074328662014-09-23T11:32:00.000-04:002014-09-23T11:32:48.424-04:002014 Puzzle Design Competition (Part 4)This is a continuation in my series of posts about the puzzles in the 2014 Puzzle Design Competition . All photos are by Nick Baxter from the 2014 Design Competition website.
One Flower - Osanori Yamamoto
The goal is to assemble to two pieces inside the frame. This was the type of design I was comparing to Claws of the Devil earlier. It uses a number of rotational movements to Brian Pletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13379308851000087603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4237973204007676066.post-50694404395729471952014-09-22T15:35:00.000-04:002014-09-22T15:35:48.633-04:002014 Puzzle Design Competition (Part 3)This is a continuation in my series of posts about the puzzles in the 2014 Puzzle Design Competition . All photos are by Nick Baxter from the 2014 Design Competition website.
Football Match - Diniar Namdarian
The goal is to move the football from the right goal to the left goal by sliding the pieces. The two white football player pieces have notches to receive the ball.
I fiddled Brian Pletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13379308851000087603noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4237973204007676066.post-81458064847605334192014-09-18T11:50:00.000-04:002014-09-18T11:50:55.410-04:002014 Puzzle Design Competition (Part 2)This is a continuation in my series of posts about the puzzles in the 2014 Puzzle Design Competition. All photos are by Nick Baxter from the 2014 Design Competition website.
Coronation Cube - Richard Gain
The goal is to assemble the seven pieces into a 5x5x5 cube. I have enough trouble with 4x4x4, so I wasn't particularly optimistic about being able to solve this one in the limited Brian Pletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13379308851000087603noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4237973204007676066.post-80575119264127493622014-09-17T14:01:00.001-04:002014-09-17T14:01:14.001-04:002014 Puzzle Design Competition (Part 1)In this series of posts I will tell you about each puzzle in the competition and give you my brief reaction to each. Hope it gives you a bit of information about these puzzles if you weren't at IPP. All photos are by Nick Baxter from the 2014 Design Competition website.
All-Edges Coverage - Iwahiro (Hirokazu Iwasawa)
The goal is to cover both sides of all six holes in the hexagon with the Brian Pletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13379308851000087603noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4237973204007676066.post-82106548910439007742013-08-25T21:22:00.000-04:002013-08-25T21:22:51.981-04:002013 Puzzle Design Competition (Part 6)This is the final part in my series of posts about the 2013 Puzzle Design Competition. All photos are by Nick Baxter from the 2013 Design Competition website.
T4-II (Tea For Two) - MINE (Mineyuki Uyematsu)
The goal is to put the four pieces into the box. The four pieces are identical, and the box is restricted by holes in the plexiglass.
This is a really cute puzzle, not super Brian Pletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13379308851000087603noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4237973204007676066.post-22387375209720457412013-08-24T13:27:00.000-04:002013-08-25T21:22:32.766-04:002013 Puzzle Design Competition (Part 5)This is the fifth part in my series of posts about the 2013 Puzzle Design Competition. All photos are by Nick Baxter from the 2013 Design Competition website.
Qin Nez Borz - Stephen Chin
This is the only impossible object in the competition: the goal is to figure out how it could have been constructed. There are apparently a number of wooden balls nested inside one another, made ofBrian Pletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13379308851000087603noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4237973204007676066.post-29209662676882536122013-08-23T11:21:00.000-04:002013-08-23T11:25:09.590-04:002013 Puzzle Design Competition (Part 4)This is the fourth part in my series of posts about the 2013 Puzzle Design Competition. All photos are by Nick Baxter from the 2013 Design Competition website.
King's Court - Tim Snyder
This is a rolling block puzzle, the goal is to move the 2x2x2 cube to the opposite end of the board by rolling the pieces.
I didn't like the way the pieces and board were designed, since it seemed Brian Pletcherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13379308851000087603noreply@blogger.com3