Rotating wooden anti-sliding

Anti-Sliding (I will name it AS in the article) puzzle is a puzzle that is solved when no pieces move in any direction if you move the tray from left to right and from top to bottom.

Unfortunately there are not a lot of AS puzzles out there (maybe the demand is not there as well?) while I really think they deserve more recognition!

 

 

Stabile Seitenlage (translated "stable lateral position") is a classic anti-slide puzzle.  The objective is to put all 8 pieces onto the tray, so that no piece could move, if you tilt the tray to one side.

Now why this puzzle is special? Well because there is a rotating piece in the middle of the puzzle, making the solve interesting and even more difficult than the usual AS.

Second interesting point is that we have some wooden pegs. Well without them, the pieces would clearly fall out of the tray.

So here we have 2 difficulties: the pegs and the rotating piece! And obviously no piece should protude outside of the tray.

With that in mind, it's time to explore! It's a pretty challenging puzzle. But I (and maybe you should?) tried solving it by testing all the pieces on the different pegs. Just to check which piece can go where. I feel it's always nice to try the possibilities first and then deduce the place and orientation of the remaining pieces. But it's up to you. 

 

If you like these AS puzzles, I highly recommand it to you. And it's nice to display it, especially once solved. Displaying it is a proof of your accomplishment :)

You can buy it at Puzzle Master webshop

Do you fancy some Jean-Claude Constantin puzzles?

A bit long time that I have not reviewed some JCC (Jean-Claude Constantin) puzzles :)

Here I will speak about 2 small boxes: triangle trick box and 20 cent box.

Which attributes do they both share apart from being made by the same designer and being made with wood and a bit of metal? Well, they have several steps (not a lot though), are not that big (especially true for 20 cent box) and.... they are boxes !! Amazing, right? :)

Triangle Trick Box

I first need to mention that I like th shape of the box, it changes from basique cubic boxes! It obvious at a first glace that something must move to open the box. Now how to open it? Well, I am not going to reveal the secrets. But just be curious about all the small little things here and there. What about the screw? Do you have to find a screwdriver? I let figure it out by yourself :)

It did not take me a lof of time to solve, but it was still nice to repeat the process. It should not be a big challenge for puzzlers, but may pose a bit more difficulty for newbies. Hence, I recommend it either if you're totally a beginner in puzzle boxes or for children

20 cent box

Keys bit no keyholes....

Coin but nothing to pay for....

Nothing seems to move....

but of course, things will move!

This is one move that I am not super fan of in the solution process. But I must admit that it's pretty clever though. Not a lot of steps, not overly difficult. A bit more challenging than Triangle Trick Box. You can try to cheat (yes I did), I wish you good luck if you manage to solve the puzzle like that. Normally it should not happen. When I mean "cheat" you will immediately know how you could consider cheating with this puzzle when you have it in your hands :)

This puzzles is suitable for new puzzle collectors and for more seasoned as well. Don't get me wrong, you seasoned one, you won't be challenged for hours with this one though!

Karakuri Kit

You all know the beautiful Mecanigma and Architecto Kit by NKD puzzles and you all know the nice puzzles by Karakuri Group, right?

Now let me intriduce you the Karakuri Kits. Well these are not new, but almost (if never) never reviewed anywhere, while they really deserve it !

I will focus on the Karakuri Work Kit - Kolorin
 

The goal of this kit is to build a wooden box with a drawer that can only be opened if you manage to solve the puzzle.

 

The assembly

The kit is composed of 26 pieces: 23 wooden pieces to assemble and glue with wood glue (not included), 1 transparent plexi plate, 1 metal ball, and a spring. All the elements are of very good quality.

The assembly instructions are entirely in Japanese but the illustrations are clear enough not to need the text. The diagrams in the instructions are precise and the use of color makes it easy to see which parts to use and where to use the glue.

The assembly itself is very satisfying. The wooden pieces seem to be a kind of improved plywood. There are 5 different layers (probably glued at very high pressure to get a good final quality), 3 inner layers for strength (a kind of medium glued in opposite directions) and 2 outer layers of veneer for visual appearance.

The pieces are cut (no laser cut so no blackened side) with extreme precision. Everything fits together perfectly. Nothing protrudes. It is impressive !!

 The assembly is relatively fast, 30 minutes should be enough. Once finished, the box is solid and inspires confidence. There is no fear of breaking it or damaging the mechanism.

The fact that you assemble the mechanism yourself allows you to understand both how it works and the technical details so that it can be assembled easily. It is ingenious.

 

The puzzling aspect 

Here you have to use a ball to operate a mechanism visible through a plexi plate. When manipulating it, the sound of the ball against the wooden plates is very pleasant.
 
I find the box pretty and intriguing because the mechanism is visible from the outside. We can see immediately that we are dealing with a secret box! And one is irresistibly tempted to manipulate it to try it. Although the resolution is not surprising, it remains very satisfactory. This is due to the quality of the material (everything slides smoothly), to the sound of the ball hitting the wood, to the simplicity of the mechanism that makes you want to understand it right away, etc.

I left it at home on the table and all my friends wanted to try it, and even when they had found the way to open it, they wanted to do it again, and again.

The puzzle is extremely simple. It's more of a marble game than a puzzle. It might disappoint, but I don't think this kit is intended to be too complex. The interest, for me, is to build and perceive the difficulties and ingenuity necessary to create a puzzle. The goal is also to have an object that you made yourself and that has a particular value to the one who made it. It is also possible to personalize it (paint it, stick pictures, stick small objects in the mechanism area, make it more or less complex by adding obstacles, etc ...).

 Who is it for?

For those who like to understand the mechanisms of a puzzle. For those who like to build lego and furniture kits. For those who want to have or offer an original and personalized object. The box can also be the box that contains the 'real' gift in its drawer.

This kit could also be very well suited to a parent-child activity (perhaps from 10 years old?), there is indeed no particular difficulty in the assembly or solving the puzzle.

 
 

Conclusion

The construction of this kit is very satisfactory. This is particularly related to the quality of the parts and the precision of the cutting which allows a perfect assembly! 

The object is pretty and intriguing. We immediately want to take it and try it. The handling is satisfying and makes you want to do it again and again.The puzzle itself is not surprising, it is more of a game than a challenge and that is the goal.

Many other kits are available. You can find some pictures below.

 

Some Siebenstein-Spiele

Don't even try to pronounce "Siebenstein-Spiele", you better just solve the puzzles :)

Siebenstein-Spiele is famous for puzzles that usually combines wood and plexi and many have also some coins to free as goals. Many are mazes, but not all. So in this post, there will be one maze and one that is definitely not a maze!

Euro-Falle 03 is a cute puzzle that belongs to a pretty big series of euro coins from the same designer. 

It's composed of 4 screws and I notices that 3 of them were a bit loose. So I unscrewed them. Of course, if I tell you that, then you should immediately see this not as a spoiler (because it's not the solution). And... puzzle solved!!

So I realized that was not the solution (and if it was, then it would have been super disapointing) and I managed to see the mechanism and the way it should have normally worked. Nothing really new about the mechanism, so don't expect something amazing. There is one step that I don't like and a nice step as well. I keep secret the number of step.

I recommend the puzzle if you have the other in the collection or if you like coin puzzles. If you're lookingfor a serious challenge, that may not the puzzle that suits your taste. I don't mean this is an easy puzzle though.

As for the other puzzle, the maze one, it's called "safe". I have to say that the name of the puzzle is pretty well found because the coin to release is safe as it's a challenging puzzle. It's a 2 layer maze (one wooden layer and one in plexi) that you will have to rotate while moving the 2 pins. 

 

It's for sure a challenging puzzle!

At some point you will solve it, it's mostly try, try again and try one more time. I'm not even sure we can apply a reliable logic when solving a maze puzzle....

For sure it's well made, and if you're looking for a serious challenge, go for it! You will rewarded with a real coin, so actually you can replace the coin with a fake one, resulting in a cheaper puzzle :)

Both can be found on Puzzle Master webshop !

JP Lock Bronze

JP Lock Bronze is a trick lock designed and made by Jean-Claude Constantin made of plexi, wood (MDF probably) and metal pins.

The funny thing about this puzzle is that you clearly see what you're doing when solving it. There are very few puzzle locks that are transparent. This one and the "open lock" by Gary Foshee are the only 2 that I know. But maybe there are others?

It requires several steps to open, mainly sliding the pieces while trying to not be blocked by the ball bearings.

Honestly this is a way too easy puzzle. It took me few seconds to open and a non experienced puzzler should be able to solve it under a minute or so.  So it may be more suitable for children in my opinion.

Don't get me wrong: this puzzle is nicely crafted, great quality and is pleasant to solve!

But I expect a bit more difficulty. Of course, there are versions of it that are not transparent and I strongly advise not transparent versions for a better challenge, even if I am not super found of navigating blindly during a puzzle journey...

 

You can buy the puzzle on Puzzle Master webshop !

 

Centrale

Centrale is a wooden puzzle designed and made by the famous Jean-Claude Constantin. The goal is obvious: free the coin! The task is more difficult !

Basically you can cheat (I solved the puzzle this way): just shake the puzzle and maybe if you're lucky at some point it will be solved. But of course there is an "official" way to open it.

From what I guess there must be some ball bearings inside and probably you should try to manage to put them in their respective slots or something like that. The difficulty lies in the fact that all is hidden. I assume it's a super easy puzzle if everything would be visible :)

The crafting is (no surprise) very good!

I found the solution and I had some difficulties to reproduce it. I must be doing something wrong....

In my opinion this is a nice puzzle addition in your collection for a cheap price. It's not so much my cup of tea as I am not found of hidden puzzles where you're navigating blindly. But some people are only into these kinds of puzzles. 

I think this is a nice puzzle for anyone, seasoned puzzlers and newbies!

You can buy this puzzle at your favourite online webpuzzle shop...guess!!! Puzzle Master :)

 

N-5

Not sure why this name, but I am sure this is a puzzle !!

Made in wood and designed directly from the devilish head of Jean-Claude Constantin, this nice little puzzle should puzzle you :)

The goal of N-5 is to free a small beall bearing and to be able to do so, you need to move the 4 sliders so that at the end the 2 holes match.

Of course, when you maneuver a slider sometimes it's restricted to few moves, sometimes it just does not move because of the position of other sliders. So you need to plan how to move other sliders before moving one slider.

It did not take me that long to solve, and it should not take you so long before solving it I am sure. It's just a question of analysis. So this puzzle is approcheable by non seasoned puzzlers as well and it's like a nice starter to introduce puzzles to your friends and family.

I do advise it if you like nice looking puzzles and wood puzzles, and of course if you like JCC puzzles in general. 

If you're only into super hard puzzles, this may not be your cup of tea then... :)

You can buy the puzzles at Puzzle Master webshop.

And find there the solution as well !

NKD fund raising campaign: Architecto puzzle box is coming !!!!!

Dear puzzle friends, I wanted to let you know about new fund raising campaign by NKD puzzle company!

And this time, it's on kickstarter to attract of broader audience !!

The previous time the goal was to make the Mecanigma Kit available for everyone and this time it's about Architecto puzzle box, their most challenging box so far, it really looks amazing!!

Some pictures below:

Look at the wondeful details ! It looks promising !! Full of mechanisms and gears, you cannot ask for more. Sounds they planned the perfect puzzle box ever ???

And what a wonderful box that protects the puzzle. I wonder the goal of the compass and the paper....humm I am sure it must be useful at some point. 

Maybe it can give clues on how to solve Architecto? Honestly I have no idea at all, just a quick guess...

You want to be part of this amazing campaign? Then don't wait and bid HERE !!

Some wonderful puzzle boxes

Recently I received some puzzle boxes from Transylvanyart puzzle company, which is based in Romania and crafts exquisite puzzle boxes.

Several things needs to be mentioned. As you can see from the below image, the boxes are carved (manually, good to say, because more and more puzzles are only CNC machined nowadays...) with nice patterns and vernished to give a glossy finish of the puzzle. So it's definitely a puzzle that you should not be ashamed of and show proudly among your collection !!

And depending on the space you have, you can choose between several boxe sizes, but in any case all have the same mechanism.

So let's talk about the mechanism. Several steps are required to open the boxe, none require excessive force. Ok so if I say "excessive" you may think that it still requires force? Well, some parts are especially designed and made to be tight, else the puzzle would solve by itself....and you would be spoiled completely.  So you have to keep on trying you first ideas to see if something can move.

And what is also a good point of having some tight part is that you cannot clearly see where are the pieces that should move.

Even if it did not take me long to solve, it was a pleasant journey.

Please don't bang the puzzle: no magnets are involved :)

You will see a surprise inside the box, well, not really inside...but you will see what I mean. Something that can be useful ;-)

These puzzle boxes can be used also as nice storage for little things: there is enough space inside to put things, and trust me the best way to offer them as presents is to put something really nice inside. It just adds some more motivation to keep on trying to open the boxes.

For a seasoned puzzler, solving these puzzles should not take so long, but for a totally newbie it should be a tough challenge!

Out of the 4 puzzles is one different: the book. It "opens" in an unconventional way...I mean not like a real book, and is satisfaying to solve. It requires fewer steps than the puzzle boxes, but has the same top quality finish as its brothers and sisters.

You can find the puzzles on amazon or etsy.

But be warned about something: the pictures show (in my mind) several steps of how to open the boxes. So if your goal is to give them away as presents to friends, don't mention the name of the company nor the website links. And if it's for you, be quick and buy them without paying attention too much to the pictures (just enough to be able to choose a color you want, but this is it!)

I don't like this Osanori packing

Surprised?
Maybe!

Well, usually I love al the Osanori's packing puzzle: challenging, fun, rewarding, well made and well thought. What more do you want??

But this time I did not like so much one of his designs called Triangle Ring 3 that was recently released by Pelikan Puzzle Company.

 It's not the fault of Pelikan but of the design itself. Let me explain !

First thing first, the quality is still perfect: the pieces slide smoothly, everyting is here to enjoy your puzzle experience. Did I mention that the wood is, as usual nice, and that most of the time your have the choice of the wood ?

So with all these positive things why did not I like this puzzle?

Well, as I said many times before packing puzzle with too many pieces are not fun but frustrating. This is also why I like the Osanori's packing: they are composed of "only" 3 pieces and still they are nice and challenging.
This one has 5 pieces....not fun but frustrating (my opinion). Too many possibilities ...definitely not fun. This is not a secret (if you count the "blocks" of each piece), but you will have one hole in your cube and this is not super easy to figure out where it should go. Indeed the final shape of the cube must not show any hole nor half-hole on its outter sides.

The other thing that bothered me a lot if the shape of the cage. It does not stand itself !!!!!!
So when you try to put pieces inside you also have to maintain the cage.
Definitely not practical at all !!!!!!

And even when the puzzle is solved it balances a bit on one corner. But again this is due to the design of this "unstable" puzzle.

So, as of now, I won't take any Osanori's packing with more than 3 pieces. And there is plenty left to be made with 3 pieces, so better to concentrate on these ones.

Now do I recommend this puzzle despite I did not like it?
YES!
Because the quality is very good and you must have plenty of time now at home to play with it :)
And it's still good to try it. And again my opinion is not yours, so you will probably enjoy more this puzzle than I did.

When looking at Pelikan Website, this puzzle is sold out. But there are still 2 Osanori's packing left available and you really should hurry to buy them (I liked them! lol)

Get ready for more packing puzzles by Pelikan & Osanori !!

Quick spoiler: if you like Osanori packing puzzles, watch Pelikan Website because some are to be released soon!!

Note that most of the time, Pelikan sends the puzzle a bit packed. I mean, you won't be spoiled at all and it can even be a challenge to "unpack" them. Not sure if there are "shipping instructions" so that the puzzles are packed in such a way...

If anyone knows, please put a comment!!

This new one (the one I have solved so far) is called Triple 3.

3 weird pieces and a nice cage. Of course all the holes have to be filled with the pieces.

I managed to do 2 different "configurations" of the pieces. One was impossible to put inside the cage, the other one was possible, but was hard for me to see how to do.

So I started to put the pieces inside the cage and I quickly realized that there were more moves than what I expected :-)
This is also the fun part of these seemingly easy puzzles: how can an only 3-piece packing puzzle be challenging? And this is where you find all the genius ideas of Osanori !!

I must admit I had lot of fun solving this one and if you intend to take the other 2 packing by Osanori that will be released at the same time, then I would advise you to start with this one. In my mind, it is the easiest. The pieces danced in the cage during the solving process :-)

Remember to use all the properties of the cage to solve the puzzle....

About the difficulty, I would say that it is chalenging (like all Osanori's packing puzzles) but not super hard. It took my less than one hour, maybe less than 30 minutes? Hard to figure out the time when you're puzzling hahaha.

As usual, I love these packing puzzles!!

The other 2 will be tough I feel... some puzzling fun for sure !!

It is still available on Puzzle Master webshop!

Some new cool puzzles & toy

Some new stuff arrived at home from Art of Play webshop company: some wooden puzzles and some toys.

So let's start with some wooden puzzles!

2 puzzles designed by Iwahiro: rectangular jam and pentangular jam.

Both consist of 4 pieces and among them 1 (the thinner one, which is also the one with a different color) that has to be freed from the small hole on a side of the puzzle.

Obviously you have to keep all the pieces flat on the tray. It looks impossible, doesn't it?
Well you will realize that several rotations are needed to solve the puzzle and to make them possible the size of each piece must be super precise. Else the rotations are impossible to make, and so the puzzle impossible to solve.

I must say that both puzzle check the box "perfect precision" :)

Start with rectangular jam puzzle, it's easier... not easy :)
I really like these "unconventional" puzzles, not the ones you're used to playing with.
They took my some time to solve and the solution is very nice!


Next is the famous packing puzzle designed by Iwahiro as well called "4 M" puzzle, consisting of a box with a protubing part under the lid and 4 pieces (with "M" shapes, hence de name of the puzzle).

This is a very clever packing and not super difficult (yet satisfaying to solve). I asked a friend of mine to solve it (he never plays with puzzles !!) and he managed to solve it. You will see that putting the pieces on a "normal" way does not give you the expected result. I mean, you have to think a bit outside the box to solve it. Mathematically interesting and fun to solve, this one is, in my opinion, one of the best examples of what a good puzzle is: challenging, but not too much, great design and clever solution!


The other packing puzzle from the same designer is Dango Box.
So far I have not solved it, but it seems super hard with, I am sure, a not so super difficult solution, but still a clever one!

The other puzzle is Bird in cage. It's what we know as "hedgehog puzzle", consisting of a shape (here a bird) trapped in a cage and the goal is to manipulate the bird so that it can go through the cage.
Usually, for these kind of puzzles, some space between some cage rods are larger, but it's hard to tell with the eyes. And for this one, the other thing to take into account are the wings of the bird: they can move. And that has an impact on the solution of course :)

I like these puzzles, and again they are suitable for any people, as long as they are gentle while manipulating the puzzles! You need to be gentle with birds :)


I told you about puzzle and toy, right? So final item is a toy! A shashibo cube!!
It can even been considered as a fidget toy. The goal is to create many geometric shapes by flipping and moving the magnetic parts. I managed to make some chapes (see below) but it took me a while to make the initial shape (the cube) again. So this was my puzzling part of the toy :)
Highly recommended!!

You an find other puzzles on Art of Play website as well as other toys as well.

Ulule campaign: Mecanigma kit !!!

Ulule campaign NKD puzzle is coming soon !!!!!!!!

It will be launched Saturday 15th February !!

Main project will be a Mecanigma kit for way less money than the original puzzle (time's money!)


Trailer here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UuXFw6G6tE


Campaign here:
https://fr.ulule.com/la-mecanigma/

Dice puzzle box

I don't review that many Karakuri puzzle boxes so a quick review to change that :)

Ok so it's about the Dice puzzle box designed and made by Kamei

The six sides of the cube have the digit 1 to 6 like on a normal dice. Should you roll it like a dice to open it? I let you figure out if you have it :)

The design is super great and as you expect from Karakuri works, the craftmanship is top to none!

To be honest it did not take me long time to solve it (well, most Karakuri are pretty easy puzzles anyway!) but the solution is very satisfaying! A bit frustrating at the same time as you cannot see the internals nor the mecanism and I would have loved to see it :-(

The puzzle works reliably and you need to make the complete reverse steps to really close it.
Basically I closed it and performed some steps and I was surprised it closed the puzzle. Great but....it could be opened by performing another move. So make sure to completely close it before handling to someone else to try it. You don't want to spoil the puzzle at all I am sure.

Kamei is one of my favourite Karakuri craftmen and so, considering the design, solution, etc, I can only advise to buy it.

You can find it on Puzzle Master webshop

Eggplant 1

This puzzle was part of a former release by Pelikan company and still designed by the famous Osanori

As usual, the puzzle is composed of 3 pieces and a cage to put the pieces inside. The fit is perfect and you should not have difficulties to put/pull/slide the pieces.

The big novelty with that puzzle is a rotation required to solve the puzzle. Basically this is not really a spoiler as you will soon notice that you cannot put all the pieces inside if you don't perform a rotation. Don't worry the rotation is not tricky and is easy to achieve!

The biggest challenge for me was to make the shape outside the cage (what I always do) sticking to the constraints of the box. Indeed, I managed to make a shape but each time, and disregarding the orientation of it, it could not be the right one...

Solved :)

When I finally managed to make what I considered (yes, I doubt about it because I could not put the pieces inside the box...) to be the correct shape, then I tried to put the pieces. When you know which rotation to make, and proceed step by step, normally you should manage to solve the puzzle. Of course it requires a bit of perseverance :)


I really like this one. Challenging but not frustrating. Original because of the shape of the box and because of the required rotation.

Definitely a must-have if you like these kind of puzzles!!

And as I said previously, I do hope that Pelikan will craft some other Osanori's packing puzzles. 

 

Solution here!

Stable boy

Stable boy is an anti-slide packing puzzle recently made by Brian Menold and designed by George Sicherman.

First, what is an anti-slide packing puzzle? Well, the goal is to pack all the pieces in the tray so that no pieces at all move in any direction. So it is easy to see if you have solved or not the puzzle by simply moving the tray in the 4 directions.

So the 5 pieces need to be arranged in a special way, but not in a fetched way (so no pieces put diagonally!)
This is my first puzzle of that kind and I must admit I enjoyed it a lot. This is a challenging puzzle (it still did not take me days to solve though) and I am sure you will have fun with it. I tried several approaches: I tried to put the square piece on a specific spot in the tray and tried to see how the other pieces would be put to block one another. So it's also a puzzle where you have to analyse the several possibilities and if they can work or not.

The seemingly basic shapes of the pieces and the "normal" shape of the tray will deceive you and the solution is very nice. This is a puzzle that can be enjoyed by anyone.

By the way no force allowed nor necessary. If the space is almost but not enough big to put a piece, it just means you're allowed to put it. Precision is key for these kind of puzzles!

It work more or less, but this is not the solution!!

I highly advise you to buy this puzzle while there are copies left and I wish there will be more puzzles of this type in future Brian Menold's releases :)

You can buy the puzzle HERE

Where is my hammer???

Where is my hammer?? (WIMH in the post) is not a real question. Who cares where it it actually....
It's the name of a wooden puzzle box made by an American guy, Dee (I will provide more info at the end of this post) who sells his nice puzzles through the well known etsy.

How many different wood species can you see?

The name of the puzzle has a funny story. It's pretty strange for a puzzle name indeed :)
Basically Dee asked his son to try the puzzle, he could not manage to solve it and asked for a hammer to solve it faster....solve? well it would be a pitty to destroy such beauty! Don't worry, you don't need a hammer to solve the puzzle!

Starting with the appearance of the puzzle, it looks a puzzle box (it is!) with a lid not completely closed, not completely opened....weird. And many wooden tiles on the lid and on 2 pannels of the box.
I need to point out that this is very very rare that a puzzle has so many wood species and if you love, like I do, wood species then you won't be disappointed. I don't know all the names but I can clearly recognize leopardwood which is one of my favourite wood. So if you cannot solve the puzzle, it's still a nice item to show :)
It's a puzzle box but also a sequencial discovery puzzle as you will find tools to use along your journey.

So the goal is to open the puzzle, I won't show a picture of the solved puzzle as it spoils many things. So I will stick to describing my difficulties to open it lol.
I did not have too many difficulties to find the first steps and got soon some tools.Think about this sentence when you're at these steps: "appear/disappear" lol
Then was the difficult part (for me. I know people who had difficulties for the first steps!). I could not figure out how to progress on the next step at all.
Amazing!
I tried something which did not get me further (but that was a good idea!!), I just could not do it....hard to say without spoiling.
After some pain I could manage to accomplish the hard step and then I immediately knew what I needed to do and then it opens!!! well I opened it...


In my opinion, this is a challenging puzzle and some (or maybe all?) steps will puzzle you for some time! In addition, as I said earlier, it's a very nice puzzle. I can only recommend to grab one while Dee still makes them. He also crafts other puzzles and I am sure he will be pleased to make you something that suits your puzzle tastes.

You can find Dee on etsy HERE
You can also search for the keyword on etsy: DEDWoodCrafts

More packing puzzles!!

From the recent puzzle release of Pelikan, there were many packing puzzles designed by Osanori Yamamoto. I noticed that over the recent past release each time there were several Osanori puzzles. And I do feel this is great! First because not a lot of craftmen make these puzzles and also because these designs are so good!

So far I have solved 2 (ribbon and tulip 1) but I will talk about ribbon in this post. In my opinion, ribbon is the easiest (easiest, not easy haha). Tulip 1 was pretty hard and eggplant is still unsolved even if I have the shape (hopefully I am right) outside of the cage (which is a puzzle in itself!).

So ribbon is a packing puzzle composed of a cage (with a weird shape!) and 3 pieces. As for most Osanori, there are only 3 pieces, but the challenge is still there, trust me!

Two out of the 3 pieces are bigger and thus have bigger constraints to be filled inside the box. So it's easy to guess how they should be put inside the cage. Knowing that then you need to see how these 2 big pieces can be put and there are not a lot of ways to do so. You can deduce how to put the remaining piece.

It did not take me long to figure out the assembly outside the box. Putting them inside was way more difficult. Still it did not take me super long, let's say less than one hour for sure.

The shape of the cage makes it more difficult to "predict" the assembly/disassembly, because you can think that such or such piece can be slided in such a way, but then after careful observation you realize that it's not possible. And indeed it's pretty unusual I would say. Very different from many of his "cube-caged" packing puzzle.

I finally ended up with putting all the pieces inside. But I have surprised myself with some moves I did not predict. You know it's when you put the pieces inside that some moves appear possible while you did not think so few minutes ago! :)

I do advise this puzzle as well as the other packing puzzles currently on Pelikan webshop.
Grab them while you can, you won't be disappointed !

The quality is nice, the wood well choosen, the fit perfect (and it has to be, you know how I do care about the fit!) and of course the design is very clever!
I guess none of these are a real surprise.... :)


EDIT: eggplant solved now. So all 3 packing puzzles solved!! :) (egg plant is fun!)