Sunday 30 December 2012

Lotus

Update 23 October 2017 - Dear Reader, please check out my new puzzle blog and e-store at http://mechanical-puzzles.com

The Lotus puzzle is the latest (and much awaited) new puzzle from Wil Strijbos. According to Wil, the Lotus is based on his earlier Yen Puzzle which he invented some twenty years ago. The Yen Puzzle was made of wood and the goal is to remove a Japanese yen coin with a nail running through it.

Forward twenty years to the present and the incarnation of the Yen Puzzle is the Lotus, made of precision machined aluminium and anodised blue. The object of the lotus has not changed; instead of removing a Yen coin, now its an aluminium circular disc instead, with a rod running through the centre.


Yen Puzzle; photo courtesy of Wil Strijbos
The Lotus measures 11cm x 5.4cm x 1.9cm. Very weighty and solid, there is no feeling of any hollow inside. The puzzle looks like it has been milled from a solid block of aluminium. The entire puzzle is made up of two main portions dovetail joined together.

Construction and quality is of the usual excellent Wil Strijbos standard. With the anodising in blue, the Lotus is the epitome of a fine and premium quality metal puzzle. Etched onto the the puzzle on one side you will notice the word "Lotus" and Wil's signature; the latter which now appears to be a hallmark on most of Wil's anodised metal puzzles, for example the First Box, New Aluminium Dovetail and  Cube Dovetails.


It took me about half an hour of fiddling and pondering before I figured out the solution to removing the disc. Very clever trick indeed! But one cannot help but wonder if there is anything more than this, given the physical appearance and rather elaborate construction of the puzzle.

Wil had mentioned in his newsletter that the Lotus holds other secrets not found in the original Yen Puzzle. However he also requested a "gag order" from us puzzle bloggers not to reveal the extra surprises so that "other solvers will be happy with the AHA moments when they find the secret(s) by themselves".

I shall not say any more lest I give anything away that will spoil someone else's fun with the Lotus. I am not even going to mention what sort of genre this puzzle belongs to (...so don't bother looking at the blog tags). But let me just say this...this is one of the best, most interesting and fun puzzles I have come across. And believe me, even though it may be pretty expensive, it is worth every cent, not just because of its quality, but more importantly, for the puzzling experience.

My advice to all readers is this - until you can explain why the puzzle is named "Lotus", you have not FULLY SOLVED the puzzle. Have Fun!

But if you are seriously stuck as a number of puzzlers have been, you're most welcome to PM me via my blog email and I will be more than happy to take you through the steps to reach the end. Trust me, its pretty complicated.

And finally, here's wishing all readers A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR!


16 comments:

  1. Very interesting!

    Do you know where to buy one of these?

    thanks
    ^M0rk^

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You can buy directly from Wil Strijbos. Please email me using my Admin email and I will give you his contact.

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    2. I just sent you an email to your gmail address. Thank you for your time and happy 2013!

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  2. You removed the disk in 1/2 hour? Amazing! I have been at it for days and days - and have done nothing at all! I wasn't even sure whether removing the disk was the first thing I needed to do! Aaargh - I haven't a clue! Then you finished the rest very quickly (hours or days!) - unbelievable!

    You're obviously much better at these sort of puzzles than me! I'm limited in when I can play because, as you know, the present wife hates it when I jingle!

    Kevin
    Puzzlemad

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Kevin

    Yes, I have been pretty lucky with some of Wil's puzzles...but I think I am absolutely lousy at Revomaze. Last week I played with the Blue Ex for well over an hour non-stop, but I didn't seem to have made one bit of progress at all. Gosh...and I have so many colours still to go through; not to mention the amount of money spent!

    Solution to Lotus-wife problem...buy more Mulberry Bags for her...

    Curious tho? why just Mulberry all the time? Is it her favourite brand? What about Hermes, Prada, Kate Spade etc....??

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. She got a new bag for Xmas - I had to sell a kidney for it!
      She loves Mulberry but does like other makes too - they tend to be MUCH more expensive though so they don't arrive so often. I think there are some Chanel's, Dior's, Fendi etc

      Keep at the revo - the blue took me 10 hours (with most spent at a "certain place"

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    2. Anyway Mulberry is an excellent British brand, great quality...I have a agenda/planner from them.

      Ah ok, now I don't feel so bad about the Revo!

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  4. I can't wait to get mine. I asked for personal delivery next week! I hope i can get mine solved in 1/2 a year! :) some of those puzzles of Wil's are mighty tough!

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  5. Its a great puzzle, you will have fun with it.

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  6. Just got mine off Santa today as well as cylinder 2.Wow its going to be a taxing christmas

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    Replies
    1. Lotus all completed I think ?.I retrieved the reason its names sake.However I can still here rattling.Have pictures of strip down but will not post as we buy these for self satisfaction of completion and that I would deny no one.

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    2. Hmmm I have now released bearing in cylinder 2 but not 100% sure if my reason behind it is correct.Have pictures of completion but not tried resetting yet

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  7. Is this puzzle reversible?

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  8. Can you buy this from anywhere nowdays?

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  9. Hi Jerry, I know I’m coming to this all a bit late but I was hoping to track down a Lotus puzzle. It’s my mother’s 60th next week and she is a puzzle fanatic like yourself... so much so that I’ve largely given up gifting her even be hardest if puzzles as she solves them in hours if not sooner! I’ve come across the phrase Level 10 which appears to be associated with this one - do you know where I could buy one, or indeed do you have any other advice? Anything would be very much appreciated! Thanks very much and all the best, Harry.

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  10. I have been bitten by 'the bug', and now I have to have one! Where, how do I get in touch with Wil Strijbos??

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