Jewel Thief solved !!

OK, I finally solved the beast!!

This puzzle is a take-apart puzzle and has several steps.

First you need to crack the code of the lock using the brass knob which produces clicking sounds and the symbols on the back of the puzzle.
This step was hard and I even had ideas that were trickier than the solution, but when you don't make progress you try to imagine what you can :)

You need to play with the puzzle in a quiet room, analyzing the clicks, their number and other things. Trust me, this will keep you busy for some time!
And as the lock doesn't pop when it's opened, then you need to pull up the shackle each time you think that you've found the right code.

You think you've solved the hardest step of the puzzle? Hummm, I thought so, but hell is coming!!!

Now you've unlocked the lock and taken out the rod, the cage of the thief can be rotated, from time to time it blocks, from other time it seems it can be pushed a bit.....But I am sure you won't understand the feature until you've solved that part. Not only because it's tricky, but also because many things are involved in this step locking the puzzle in many ways.

Right, part solved? Thief release? Now find her jewel. I looked everywhere and I could not find it....Damn!! I even thought I lost it on the floor when solving the puzzle ;-(

Remember: solve this puzzle on a flat surface. Things can fall...roll...

But actually there is no way the jewel can be lost, it's hidden somewhere and you will need to perform some more steps to find it.

After finding it, Jon made you a surprise! I cannot tell, but there is more to discover and you will really like it I am sure ;-)

A lot of work has been put into creating the puzzle, many steps and many parts for each steps.

Strongly advised for metal puzzle collectors and for people who like to be puzzled for long time!

Resseting the puzzle for the next victim is very easy, good news, no? :)


Not sure if they are sold out now (as it's in limited edition), but if not, you'd better be quick if you want one.
You can find Jon's contact on my previous post of the tumbler puzzles.

Double Tumbler

After the tumbler puzzle designed and made by Jon Keegan that I reviewed few days ago, here comes its big brother: the Double Tumbler !

Some may wonder if it looks (and can be solved) same as the tumbler and may hesitate to buy it or not.
I always feel frustrated when I buy puzzles that are the same but with minor changes. So let me explain why it's pretty different from the tumbler and why you should get both.

As a first sight, it's a cylinder, but apart from the anodization color, you will notice that you have 3 moving parts, compared to 2 for the tumbler. Which means, this should be more challenging than the (already challenging) tumbler puzzle! ;)

You still get the holes on the core of the puzzle, which look nice and can be of a help to solve the puzzle. Well, of course it does not show everything!!

As for the tumbler you will hear some ball bearing, you may assume what you need to do and you may be right. But then how to do that?
Sometimes, the top cap can be rotated, sometimes it's blocked and sometimes you can pull the cap a bit....bu the puzzle is still locked.

As for the internals, when you open it you will notice several changes from the tumbler and you will see how Jon has a twisted mind implementing some traps here and there. And you should definitely understand such or such situation that happened when you were trying to solve the puzzle :-)
I cannot tell more without spoiling, but in my mind both tumbler are worth the case to be bought together. And you should start with the tumbler, then experience the double tumbler.

Same good point as for the tumbler: no spring involved, hence no issue with damaging the top/bottom of the cylinder with it.

Tumbler puzzle

You may remember that Jon Keegan released jewel thief, tumbler and double tumbler.

So far, I have only solved completely the tumbler puzzle, so here are my thoughts about it.

The first thing to mention is the great quality and the nice anodized green color. The anodization is not only nice but also protects and makes the puzzle more resistant. So it has a useful function as well!

Jon got the idea from the famous first cylinder puzzle designed and made by Wil Strijbos. Despite some common features there are also some nice differences.

So let's go about the differences!

It's bigger than the first cylinder and has some holes. If I am right, Jon made these holes to help the solver because many people considered the puzzle to be too hard. I really like the idea, but despite it shows a little bit from the inside, it did not help (or maybe I did not think enough?...) that much to solve the puzzle.

The puzzle has 2 moving part and they need to be rotated in some ways...cannot talk more about that, though...But the thing is that there is no spring (compared to the first cylinder), so the puzzle will not pop when opened. I really like the pop sound, but the spring also damaged the bottom of the puzzle. Here, no issue about damaging and the moves are very smooth.

The puzzle is more complicated than the Strijbos' one and when you make a progress you will know what to do, but easier said than done! ;-)

At some point the puzzle opened a bit and as you may want to do (or may will) I closed it...you know sometimes you need to close and find different ways to make more progress. Luckily I managed to open it again a bit and at some point it opened.
Not sure if it's made on purpose (I am pretty sure it is, but then I will now try to figure out how it was possible) that the puzzle could open a bit, before completely be opened after some more moves.

Once opened, you can see the internals and try to find a way to solve it faster for the next attempts.

Now, I will try to solve its big brother (double tumbler) which should be even more difficult!

You can contact Jon to check if he has some left. Definitely a must-have!

Wave 7

After his 2 jigsaw puzzles, Yuu Asaka keeps on designing nice plexi packing puzzles and this time it have like wave-shaped pieces.

The goal is still the same and the challenge is still high! And it's definitely more difficult than the jigsaw 19 as you have a lot of possibilities to put the pieces inside the tray.

You will notice that some pieces fit perfectly with others when they have the right orientation and you will also soon realize that you will have to put some pieces vertically and some others horizontally. Now the challenge is: which pieces... :-)

I needed a bit of help for this one and even with the help it was still challenging. 

The puzzle does not require any force to make the pieces fit inside the tray. The fit is absolutely perfect like Yuu's other packing puzzles. So you need to think about to put 2 pieces so that the gap between them and outside of them is as small as possible, so that you can "save" some space for the other pieces. You need to take into account the shape of the pieces and experiment if you can put such or such piece inside them.

To conclude: a puzzle that will puzzle you for long time!

If you want to buy it, you can go HERE.

I would not be surprised if it pops up at next design competition ;)
We'll see!

Solution here!

Jigsaw 19

Yuu made Jigswaw 29 that I reviewed previously and he made 2 new puzzles.
So far I have only solved one, so the other one will be reviewed later.

It's called: jigsaw 19. And the goal is the same: just pack the pieces inside the tray!
"Just"?....

Well if you have played with his bog brother you will see the same features that differenciate this puzzle from a regular jigsaw puzzle.

It took me less time to solve (well there are fewer pieces also) and knowing the special features of these puzzles, I tried another approach. Trying to see which piece goes with which. And I ended up with some "packs" and put them together.

Sometimes a piece can also go with several, but you will soon realize if you're doing things right or not :)

In terms of quality: perfect! Nothing to say. The fit is perfect as well and the colors well choosen. The only drawback with plexi is that it attracts dust :-(

In terms of difficulty: no doubt it's challenging. Lesss than its big brother though. For me it's better to start with this one. And give it to non-puzzle friends and watch their face when trying to solve the puzzle hahaha.

You can go to Puzzle Master webshop to get your puzzle. The other packing from Yuu is pretty different and super challenging! So far no real progress on it -edit: solved! :)

Solution is (as most of the time) available on Puzzle Master website!

Jewel thief - update

Lock cracked!!
It was epic, pretty hard. Maybe I should have tried the 10000 combinations hahaha

Now I need to release the poor little thief still jailed. What? It's seems he changed position....was I so long?... ;)

I assume the code can be changed, but what's the point?
After all it's not about guessing the code, it's about finding a logical way to manage to find it using all the informatio provided to you. Got it?

1st step was hard...it seems second step is not easy as well, challenging puzzle.

I think not a lot of them are available now, so I strongly advise you to hurry if you want it!