The column by Curio

The column puzzle by Curio is a black metal puzzle with only 2 pieces and the goal is pretty straightforward: remove and put back the inner piece.

Taking it out is super easy, putting it back is definitely where the challenge is! 

First, the look of the puzzle: aestetically, it's perfect. Only 2 pieces in a dark black color and a shape that is more evolved as just a basic cylinder. The look matters and I can only say "congrats" for that.

The goal is easy to understand and only 2 pieces for this nice puzzle. I've learned in the past that the number of pieces is not always synonymous of difficulty. And the genius mind always tries to find the right balance between difficulty and frustration. Here, the balance is right between these 2.

I have played more than what I've initially planned to solve the puzzle (but don't get me wrong, it just means that I am bad at solving puzzles haha) and at some point I solved it. Then extracting the core and trying to solve it again proved not to be a success. Back to the starting point!

Honestly I am still wondering how this thing works (I am always frustrated when I cannot see the inner mechanism) as sometimes I manage to solve it, and sometimes not...And in anycase, I really enjoy the fidgety aspect of the column puzzle and this "feature", if we can call it so, is shared by many puzzle owners of this puzzle.

I guess there are several ways of solving the puzzle: one being the official way of course and I am sure all solutions lead to the same behaviour inside the puzzle. Try to find the most elegant solution.

 

This is definitely a puzzle that has something special, that you can proudly display in your puzzle cabinet and also let your friends play 

  

A new Australian puzzle designer

Yes, you read it right. It seems there are more and more puzzle designers coming from Australia and obviously we won't complain!

Let me introduce you Nick and his SD white puzzles made with 3D printers. Nick will launch them on kickstarter soon and so I thought that it would be a nice idea so that then you can decide whether it's for you or not a bit in advance.

 

Nick designed a series of several puzzles called Entity Containment Device or shorter as ECD. The first one is ECD-001.

 

At a first glance, the puzzle looks neat and with a pure/esthetic design. But don't get fooled, it does not mean that it has nothing in its body. And that appearance makes it wonder "where will I start?".

 

ECD-001 is a Sequential Discovery puzzle which means that you will have to find tools and use them to make progress in your puzzle journey.

But I was wondering where can I find and use them because from the outside, there are no holes, no tools, nothing. But trust me, it will be clearer later during your puzzling journey. The solving process is pretty smooth and should not frustrate you too much, just pay attention to all the details as they can give you some clues...just saying.

All things work as expected and no force is required. And honestly, the puzzle is sturdy enough, so you're unlikely going to break it. 

You know that you've solved the puzzle when you find the token.

The solving time is mentioned to be around 50 minutes based on an average solving time from several people. Personally it took me less than 30 minutes. But it really depends on everyone, so don't be biased by me.

 

To conclude: I really enjoyed the puzzle and look forward to playing with the others in the series that I am sure will be as good as this one!!

Should I advise it? Of course!

You can put the project on your favorite and be ready on the D-Day!