IPP32: DC Tour and Founder's Reception

This last weekend was the 32nd International Puzzle Party in Washington, DC, an invitation-only gathering of serious mechanical puzzle collectors. It is an awesome event both for the excellent puzzles and the chance to socialize with other people who are similarly obsessed with puzzles!

Kellian and I arrived on Wednesday around 9:30 in the evening. It was only a short flight from Boston, which was a welcome change from Japan and Berlin, though the locale was a bit less exotic to us! Unfortunately, we cut our departure a bit close and didn't have time for dinner, so we had to eat when we arrived. This is unfortunate because I had to walk past the design competition room, with 80 puzzles that I was really looking forward to trying, and seek out food instead! Luckily Kellian was there, or I would have probably just skipped dinner!

After finding a place that was open past 10:00 PM (which was a bit of a challenge), we hurried back to the design competition room at around 11:00 PM. I was pretty overwhelmed: there are so many puzzles, it is hard to figure out where to start! Since I'm a fan of puzzle boxes, usually I'll start with those and then work my way to the others. I will post a series of entries about each of the design competition entries later, so I won't get into detail about the individual puzzles here.

I stayed in the competition room until 1:30 AM, thanks to Nick Baxter kindly allowing me to just lock up the room whenever I felt like leaving this year! This was quite a treat, since usually I am in quite a hurry to finish trying all the puzzles in the limited time available. Fortunately, there were a few other die-hards, including fellow blogger Neil Hutchison, who stuck it out into the wee hours with me.I would have stayed longer, but the following morning (Thursday) I was signed up to go the bus tour of Washington, DC at 9:00AM.

Stephen Chin and Goetz Schwandtner
in front of the Korean War Memorial

The tour was a lot of fun, it was great to see old friends from past puzzle events, I ended up on the bus with Matt Dawson, Peter Wiltshire and his wife, Jim and his wife, Stephen Chin, and a number of other folks, so it was great getting the chance to catch up with them. Also, it was a great way to quickly take in some of the sights in DC! We got to see The Pentagon, Arlington Cemetery, The Marine Corps War Memorial, The Lincoln Memorial, The Korean War Memorial, The Roosevelt Memorial, The White House, The U.S. Capitol Building, and a number of other things.

It was blazing hot, so it was nice getting to climb back on the bus after looking around each location for a short period! After the tour, they dropped us at the Smithsonian Museum of American History where we wandered around a bit before heading back to the hotel.

The design competition room was open again, so I started feverishly working on puzzles again from around 2:00 until Nick Baxter and a few volunteers started packing the puzzles up for the Founder's Reception at 6:30. We brought all 80 of the puzzles to the banquet hall, so people could try them out during the reception.

At the Founder's Reception I had the pleasure of meeting Robert Yarger, who has built some of the most amazing and intricate puzzle boxes I have ever seen. Robert has somewhat reclusive tendencies, so it was a real treat that he made it out for the puzzle party! It was great hearing him talk about his puzzles and get to know him better. He's on the right in the photo, and on the left is Gregory Benedetti, who is also an excellent craftsman. Robert is holding a cute little puzzle box that Peter Wiltshire made and gave out to a number of us, I'll be writing about it at some point in the future! I also got a chance to meet another fellow blogger, Allard Walker, who made his way here all the way from the United Kingdom with his wife. It was great meeting him as well!

At one point in the evening, Zandraa Tumen-Ulzii wheeled out an amazing piece of puzzle furniture he made that he brought all the way from Mongolia. It consisted of a chess table, which was really a massive burr puzzle, and each of the pieces was a smaller burr! You can't really get a good sense of the size from the photo, but it was probably a good 3 feet in diameter. Very cool! Mr. Tumen-Ulzii has a museum dedicated exclusively to mechanical puzzles called The International Intellectual Museum.

I spent the remainder of the evening hunched over the tables with the design competition puzzles. There were a ton of people there, so it was a bit hard to concentrate, but I spent a good 2-3 hours on them before Nick and some fellow volunteers started packing the puzzles up to bring to the design competition room. We hung out in the design competition room until about 1:00AM this time, continuing to work my way through the puzzles. I decided it would be best to head to bed, since the puzzle exchange was starting at 9:00AM the following morning, and I didn't want to start getting too sleep deprived!

Much more to come, so stay tuned!

Plums Glass Puzzle

Plums Glass Puzzle is the next in a series of glass puzzles that the folks at Puzzle Master were kind enough to send me. Thanks! Check out the full set at Puzzle Master here.

The goal of this puzzle is to neatly pack the plums neatly into the glass container. The cool thing about this puzzle is that it makes good use of the shape of the container: each plum has a unique shape as if they had been real plums that were crammed into a glass container. Some people might be a bit grossed out by the plums, they do look a bit like small organs of some sort.

You can see two little protrusions from the glass container: these make it a bit easier to figure out where to start and also keep the assembly from spinning around the container while you put it together.

I liked this one because it had a pretty logical way of fitting together and it was fairly clear when you had the fit correct. The beginning is a bit tough, but once you get a few pieces in place it becomes much easier. This contrasts with Beans Glass Puzzle (which I will review soon), which didn't fit nearly as nicely and was therefore much more difficult. I think this one is similar in difficulty to the Beer Glass Puzzle, both of which are doable in 10-20 minutes or so.

Overall, Plums Glass Puzzle is a fun little puzzle that probably makes a better use of the actual glass container than any of the other puzzles in the series. Worth checking out if you think you might enjoy this type of assembly puzzle and don't mind pieces that look a bit like chicken livers!

Wasserhahn

This next puzzle is one that had me stumped for quite a while: I originally found it back in Osaka, Japan during the 2010 International Puzzle Party. It is called Wasserhahn (German for faucet/water tap) and was designed by the mysterious Roger, whose identity is known to very few people. His puzzles are quite rare, so I was really glad to get a copy!

As with most of Roger's puzzles, this one doesn't have a clear objective. I had a guess as to what I needed to do, but didn't have much luck getting anything to happen. I fiddled with it on and off for about two and a half years, picking it up every now and then, but didn't have any luck. The faucet twists around, the wing nuts screw up and down, and you can hear a distinct rattling when you shake it around, but nothing seemed to do anything!

After having been stuck on this one for about six months, I was particularly surprised by Oli's review stating that he'd solved it in a half-day! This, in addition to the fact that he said it had a good "a very satisfying 'Ah-Ha!' moment", re-inspired me to try it again. Unfortunately, again I came up short!

About a year and a half later, Allard also posted an interesting review that set me to working at it again. This time I was determined not to give up, and emailed Allard a few times to rule out a few things that I didn't want to attempt for fear of damaging the puzzle. This was fortunate, since none of them were correct! In the process, I got a slight nudge that got me thinking for a bit.

After a bit more puzzling, I finally had it figured out! Indeed, it does have a very satisfying 'Ah-Ha!' moment, just as Oli said! I don't really want to say much more, for fear of giving anything away, but it is a very well-done puzzle. I had a pretty good idea of how it would work, but lacked that one crucial detail in order to make it work. Overall, Wasserhahn is an excellent puzzle that I would definitely recommend if you can get your hands on one.

For more reviews of Roger's Wasserhahn check out Oli's review, Allard's review, and Jeff's Review.

For puzzling-inclined folks located anywhere in the vicinity of Rochester, NY (or willing to travel) there's a most excellent puzzle event coming up: The Third Annual Rochester Puzzle Picnic! It will be happening on the weekend of August 25, 2012. Jeff Aurand organizes the event and hosts it at his house each year, and it is a blast! The puzzling starts on Friday night and goes all weekend, complete with tasty food from Jeff's grill, good company, and plenty of puzzles! If you are interested in attending send an email to Jeff.

Beer Glass Puzzle

Beer Glass Puzzle  is the next in a series of glass puzzles that the folks at Puzzle Master were kind enough to send me. Thanks! Check out the full set at Puzzle Master here.

The object of this puzzle is to dump out all the pieces and put them back in such that you are able to rest the foam back on top nicely. All of the beer pieces will form a nice level surface on which the foam can fit.

There is a single piece down at the base that has five steps at different levels, and each of the ten beer pieces has a certain height. So you need to figure out which combinations of pieces go on which of the base steps in order for the entire glass to be level. Simple, eh?

Well, if you just start randomly trying things, you'll be able to keep things level for a bit but soon you will run out of pieces that are the correct size and run into issues. A more methodical may be better here, which is what I ended up doing after floundering for a bit.

There are only 10 pieces (excluding the base piece and foam piece), so it isn't particularly difficult. I do agree that it is more difficult than Rice Crackers which I reviewed earlier, but not by a whole lot. I think it took me about 15 minutes to figure this one out.

I liked the translucence of the pieces and the fact that this glass vessel had a more unique shape than the others. As a puzzle, it is nice because you can figure it out with a logical approach within a reasonable amount of time. Overall, I would say Beer Glass Puzzle is worth checking out if you're into puzzles of this type!

Stickman Milestone Puzzle

I recently had the pleasure of acquiring the latest puzzle by my favorite puzzle craftsman, Robert Yarger. It is called The Stickman Milestone Puzzle, since it is the 25th puzzle in the Stickman series and also marks 1000 puzzles produced by Yarger.

The puzzle also locks away a copy of the official Stickman Book (edited by Matt Dawson) with 50 pages of color pictures, descriptions, and background on every Stickman puzzle (past and future), as well as a full biography of Robert Yarger. Quite an interesting read for any puzzle enthusiast!

It took 7 months of work to produce only 30 copies of this puzzle, and the level of work involved really shows. When I first opened the puzzle, I marveled at its intricacy: gears, screws, and even a wooden chain! It is also quite large, measuring nearly a foot square and 4 inches deep (10"x9"x4"). This one really stands out on my display shelf!

Despite being visible, the mechanism doesn't give up its secrets immediately: you need to find the first move before you can see it in action! Fortunately, after a bit of fiddling I was able to get things under way nicely. Even once I had things moving, it wasn't entirely clear what was going on, but a bit more investigation helped me figure things out. I think that's one thing I really liked about this puzzle: you gradually start to understand it as you play around with it. Much more satisfying than a puzzle that you end up whacking and shaking until you stumble upon the solution!

Even once you get things going, it takes a few more leaps to be able to actually unlock the mechanism. However, this gives you plenty of time to enjoy watching the gears move and appreciate the puzzle.

Once the main enclosure is open, you'll discover that the book itself is trapped in a wooden frame! It only takes a few moves to release it, but was a nice little detail to include. The book itself is very nicely done, though I haven't read it all the way through yet. There is also a cypher hidden somewhere in the book for you to discover! The book and frame will be available for sale by Robert at the 2012 International Puzzle Party, I'm looking forward to meeting him there!

Overall, I really enjoyed this puzzle: I love Robert's more mechanical works with visible gears/mechanics, and this one really delivered on this front. As a puzzle, it was quite enjoyable, though not overly difficult. I think it took me about 30 minutes to solve it, though it could easily take an hour or two, which feels just about right. No real downsides to this one except maybe the price: it was a bit steep but definitely reasonable considering the absurd amount of labor involved! It is masterfully designed and crafted, and a fun puzzle to boot! I'm already looking forward to seeing what Robert will come up with next!

Check out Allard's Puzzling Times for a great review with plenty more photos and Neil's video review that has some shots of the puzzle mechanics in action after the closing credits.

Rice Crackers Glass Puzzle

Recently the folks at Puzzle Master were kind enough to send me a copy of Rice Crackers Glass Puzzle to review. Thanks!

Rice Crackers is part of a series of glass puzzles originally produced by Toyo Glass and recently re-issued by Beverly Enterprises. They are likely designed at least in part by Nob Yoshigahara since it is labeled as part of the "Nob Collection". The rest of the packaging is in Japanese, so I couldn't tell much more than that!

As with all the puzzles in the series, the idea is to try to put the food inside the glass container. This one is the easiest of the group by a fair margin, since there are only 7 pieces, and it is fairly clear when you start to get them in the correct orientation. I've given this one to a number of non-puzzlers, and they all were able to get it figured out with a little bit of persistence! Puzzle Master rates it a 7 out of 10, which I'd say is slightly high: a 6 may be more appropriate.

I had a good time solving this one, you have to take a good look at the pieces to see how they might fit together, and it is pretty satisfying when you find the right match. They are warped in such a way so that two wrong pieces may fit together somewhat, but the proper piece will fit particularly nicely.

The food theme is fun, though this particular food will be pretty unrecognizable to most folks outside of Japan. The only downside to this one is that it is pretty easy, serious puzzlers may want to skip this one and choose one of the harder ones, but it will still keep you busy for a good 5-10 minutes. Overall, Rice Crackers Glass Puzzle is a good, simple packing puzzle. For another review, check out Gabriel's blog here.

Sorry for the recent lack of posts: once I got out of the habit of posting regularly, it was easy to just keep on slacking off. However, I've got a decent backlog of puzzles I'd like to get through before IPP, so stay tuned for more! Up next, I'll be posting about a particularly awesome puzzle from my favorite puzzle box craftsman.

Triskele

The Karakuri Creation Group recently listed some new items for sale, and I decided to try out Triskele by Hideaki Kawashima, since he's been coming up with some interesting boxes recently!

When it arrived, I was quite impressed with its appearance: the contrast between the dark wenge and the zebra wood is quite striking! The zebra wood is somewhat raised from the surface of the box and beveled, which looks quite good. The fit and finish of the box were up to the Karakuri Group's high standards as well.

I started trying to solve it, curious to see if it was also an interesting puzzle. I fiddled with it a bit, trying some of the usual things, and didn't have any luck at first. Scratching my head, I tried a few more things and was pleasantly surprised by an interesting movement and the solution! The movement is related to another puzzle, and works quite well when used here.

In all, I think it took me about 3-5 minutes, which is enough that I don't feel like I found it too quickly, but not terribly challenging. I've shown it to a few friends, and none were able to find the solution on their own, so perhaps my experience isn't indicative of the difficulty. This is one of those boxes where you don't really make any progress until you've solved it, so I'd be hesitant to hand this one to somebody who doesn't have much patience when they're not making some progress.

As I mentioned, the movement is quite nice: it is satisfying to open and also closes up quite nicely with a snug fit.  One downside is that the lid can come open rather suddenly, so you may want to play with it over your lap or a table. Kawashima warns in the description: "When you open this box for the first time, please take care about the surroundings." Also, I wish he had included a mark indicating which way the lid was supposed to be put on, since it can go either way and the fit is a bit too tight the wrong way. Still, Triskele is a fun little box that I'm glad to have purchased!

Medallion

Medallion is another interesting take-apart puzzle designed by Oskar van Deventer and produced by Hanayama. The folks at Puzzle Master were kind enough to send me a copy to review. Thanks!

As with many of Oskar's puzzles for Hanayama, this one is a maze, perhaps more clearly so than some of his other work. However, as you would expect, there's a bit of a twist. The way you navigate the maze is by rotating the metal plate and sliding the left and right sides of the medal in and out.

This would all be fairly straightforward, except there's another, different maze on the opposite side! So you have to flip back and forth, figuring out how to proceed through both mazes simultaneously, which often requires doubling back on one side so you can advance the other.

There's nothing tricky about this one, it just takes a bit of time and patience to figure out what moves are required. That's a great thing about a puzzle like this, it is all fairly logical, but you still get a good feeling of accomplishment from figuring it out, since it is certainly not easy. This would be good to hand to somebody who has patience as long as they feel like they're making progress.

Medallion is fairly similar to Cast L'ouef, in that there are two mazes to be navigated. However the mechanism is simpler for Cast L'ouef since it consists of only two plates with pins attached to the maze plate.  If you enjoy one, you'll probably like the other: they're both probably worth checking out!

Another similar puzzle that I tried recently was Safe, which has pretty much the same mechanism as Medallion, only it is constructed mainly from laser cut wood rather than metal. Also, rather than disassembling completely, goal is to navigate the two mazes in such a way so as to release a coin. I think this is probably the most challenging of the three similar puzzles, though I think I prefer the aesthetic qualities of Medallion: it has a beautiful shine to it, and a nice weight in your hand.

The only downside I can think of to this one is that there is a small washer that you can potentially lose when you take the puzzle apart. Unless I'm missing something, I think it would have been better to include it in the casting than have it as a separate piece that can be lost.

Overall,  Medallion is a solid puzzle, definitely worth checking out if you like puzzles of this type. If you're not sure if you like puzzles like this, this would be a great one to start with.

Way

I wrote briefly about the Way puzzle construction set by Volker Latussek back when I was reviewing all of the puzzles in the 2011 Puzzle Design Competition, and Volker was kind enough to send me a copy of my own so I could more fully evaluate it. Thanks Volker!

The puzzle is quite nicely crafted from beech wood, with a very smooth finish. The pieces are generously sized, which gives them a nice feel in your hands and makes it easier to manipulate them.

The goal of the puzzle is to create "free standing circuits".  Free standing in the sense that it won't topple over, and circuit in the sense that it is a closed loop. On the puzzle's website, there are almost 50 challenges, with more being added each week. Each challenge specifies what pieces are used, as well as the goal. Sometimes you're just building a circuit any way you can, other times the goal description hints at the position of a particular piece (e.g. an L-shaped piece is touching the table) or has other restrictions. This can either be a hint, or to restrict problems that would otherwise have multiple solutions.

The fun thing about this puzzle is that you can use logic to some extent to figure out how some pieces must be placed, due to the restriction that the puzzle must be free standing. For example, a C-shaped piece usually won't be able to rest vertically, since it would tip over. Sometimes other positions are only possible if there are other pieces in place to stabilize the structure.

There are no real downsides to this puzzle that I can think of. I really like puzzles with multiple challenges, since it gives you plenty of replay value. I personally prefer the challenges with fewer pieces, the ones with a lot of pieces are tough! Some of my friends saw this puzzle and were taking turns solving the different challenges, and had a really good time with it. I would think it would be enjoyable for children just to build with as well, trying to make interesting looking structures that don't tip over.

Overall, a solid puzzle that I'm glad to have had a chance to play around with more! If you're interested, you can purchase it by emailing Volker at the address listed at the bottom of his website. Also, check out Neil's review here, where he has posted lots of good photos and a video review as well.

The Yot II

I reviewed The Yot a while back, and have been wanting to try The Yot II ever since. It looks quite similar, so I wondered how it would be different. The folks at Puzzle Master were kind enough to sell me a copy at a discount to review. Thanks!

The Yot II is a bit thicker than the original YOT, but is otherwise identical. It is quite well made out of aluminum and has an unusual appearance that invites folks to play with it. As with the original, it has a trapped coin that you are trying to remove.

Before even getting the puzzle, I had a guess about how it would work, based on the fact that it was a bit thicker. Unfortunately, I was correct! This was a bit of a let-down, since I pretty much just took it out and opened it immediately. If you don't have this flash of inspiration, it may take a bit of time, but I think most people will come to the same conclusion fairly quickly if they are familiar with The Yot. A friend of mine who is fairly good with puzzles expressed similar disappointment when he found the solution fairly quickly.

The reason I tend to like puzzles that look similar but operate differently is that it really stretches your imagination about how many different mechanisms can be contained in a puzzle with the same appearance. In this sequel, they could have gone in a completely different direction, but it is quite similar to the original.

If you have The Yot already, it is probably not worth getting The Yot II since they are so similar. If you have neither, I'd probably recommend The Original Yot: it is cheaper and more fun to show people since you can open it right in front of them without them knowing what you did! However, if you're looking for a bit more of a challenge for yourself, you can try The The Yot II first so knowledge of the original Yot doesn't make things easier for you!

To read more, check out Jeff and Jerry's reviews of The Yot II.