Portico J

First off, Merry Christmas to everyone!

This post is long overdue. In fact it is a year overdue. I received the Portico J as a Christmas present from Pelikan Puzzles of the Czech Republic during last Christmas in 2015. Portico J was designed by Stephane Chomine, who (at the time of this posting) has just done over 500 designs on PWBP.

I had played with Portico J for a while, found it a tad too difficult and put it away telling myself that I would come back to it sometime in early 2016...and promptly forgot about it for the next 12 months. 

But over the last couple of days after some much required puzzle closet spring cleaning, out appears the Portico J and I decided to give it a go again. But before that, here are the stats; Portico J measures about 10cm x 5.5cm x 4.5cm. Consisting of an inverted T-shaped support with 3 traditional burr pieces and 2 board ones, it is an unusual shaped and looking interlocking puzzle. I figure this sort of shape may not appeal to everyone, but hey, there are loads of cubes and rectangles about so this is nice change. And I certainly quite like it. Comprising of Wenge and Cherry woods, it's impeccably made by the Pelikan Workshop. Everything slides and moves smoothly. 

It took me a couple of hours spread over several sessions before I finally managed to remove the first piece. It has a level 20 solution and while the movable pieces can move only in certain directions within limits, it's a much harder puzzle to take apart than the shape (or the few number of pieces) would suggest. My early attempts were met with dead ends and when I finally got the first piece out, the process rather surprising, something I did not expect. After that, a bit more puzzling was still needed before the rest of the pieces were disentangled. Full take apart requires 35 moves. 

As with such puzzles I needed Burr Tools to help with the re-assembly before everything was back to original. Can't do by memory here unfortunately!

The Portico J is very tricky right from the start and although not a very high level burr on paper, still it makes for a very challenging solve indeed. Oh, and there is a 5-piece Little Portico around too!

Vauban H5

Name
Vauban H5

Designer
Stephane Chomine. As of this post, he has a staggering 497 published designs on PWBP. Stephane stopped posting since mid 2014 but he continues to come up with new designs that are now and again picked up by various puzzle craftsmen.

Manufacturer & Availability
Manufactured and sold by Pelikan Puzzles of the Czech Republic. From what I can see from their website, its currently unavailable. Your best bet is to drop them an email to see if they have any spares or will be producing some more in the future.

Type & Classification
Interlocking solid

Dimensions
7.2cm x 7.2cm x 6cm

Materials & Construction
My copy is the Red version. Made from Bubinga with Maple, the Vauban H5 is excellently constructed. All the 4 pieces are cut accurately and precisely with tight tolerances and with edges slightly beveled. But despite this and all the pieces pretty snug against each other, everything slides very smoothly and I experienced no jamming whatsoever. A very high quality piece of work.

This is the stage I usually reach before getting stuck

Overview
As usual, this level of burr is beyond me. And despite me spending a relatively long time with this one, I could not get the first piece out. After like 10 to 15 moves, I would eventually end up stuck at some dead end. And from what I can tell, there are quite a number. Each of the pieces seem to be moving around another in all directions. Beyond a certain point, I was lost in confusion and at times even had trouble getting back to the original position.

The design is also such that you can't really see what goes on inside the spaces and this makes it a lot more difficult.

Difficulty Level
Very difficult! Although only 4 pieces, this is a mid-to-high level burr with a level 31.10.7 solution (meaning it takes 31 moves to remove the first piece). A total of 48 moves to completely disassemble the puzzle. I had to use burr tools both for the dis-assembly and re-assembly. Looking at the solution, my first moves were quite wrong to begin with.

Summary

For puzzlers who enjoy this kind of challenging burrs with the time and patience to match, the Vauban H5 is a must-have. Not only great looking (just look at the diagonal Maple trim along the sides) and extremely well built, but value for money too. However, if you are like me, lousy with burrs but just can't resist the beauty and craftsmanship, then go for such puzzles anyway. Even if you can't solve them, they will look great in your puzzle cabinet.

Optiborn

No way! - my first thought after reading Kevin Sadler's review of Optiborn. He had mentioned:- "don't be put off by such a high level - this is definitely solvable by almost any puzzler".

I was not put off by the level 27.2.5.2 of this puzzle...not at all. I was just stumped and stuck like after 10-12 moves...well, more on the solve later.

Optiborn is from the most recent range of puzzles offered by the Pelikan Workshop. I had gotten it together with Castle, reviewed previously. Made of Paduak and Walnut, the puzzle is very well constructed with superb quality and finishing. Nice touches include the fine beveling of the edges and the name of the puzzle engraved on the cage! 

The Pelikan Workshop have always produced quality value for money puzzles in the past. But with their newly revamped website, the level of quality has also correspondingly gone up a few notches as well.

Optiborn was designed by Stephane Chomine, who has done a staggering 497 designs in the last five years, since March 2010. That's an incredible average of 2 designs every week! 

Not a large puzzle by any means, the Optiborn measures about 6cm x 4cm x 4cm. Externally, it doesn't look intimidating, sporting a minimalist look with four regular burr pieces and a ordinary looking cage. But this is a tiger in sheep's clothing! Its really tough...at least I found it so. So don't believe Kevin what he says. After all, he's quite an accomplished burrist, but not so much of a packist (the latter by his own admission; "packist"- one who plays with packing puzzles).

I wrestled with Optiborn for quite a number of evenings; in between playing with other puzzles but got nowhere. Usually hitting a dead end after a number of moves. Finally I threw in the towel and configured the design in burr tools. The first 27 moves look so convoluted and confusing that I knew I wouldn't have been able to solve it on my own. 

Its one thing to design high level burrs using all sorts of notches, grooves, cuts with numerous pieces and odd shapes. But in my opinion, a really good design is one like the Optiborn - innocuous and simple looking, with regular shapes and few pieces...yet in terms of difficulty, punches well above its weight!

Little doubt that those who are into burr puzzles would enjoy this one! And great value for money too! 

Coaxial

Designed in 2012 by really prolific puzzle designer Stephane Chomine (who has a whopping 497 designs to-date), the Coaxial was another non-starter for me. 

Made by Pelikan to the usual high standards out of Maple and Wenge, this interlocking solid does not sport the more usual box frame style. Instead it consists of 6 pieces, three of which are regular burr units while the "frame" is made up of another three odd-shaped pieces; pairs of square rings each joined by a spar and with protrusions.   

While it has a 17.2.3.2.2 solution (ie 17 steps to remove the first piece), not a lot compared to some other interlocking burrs, some with well over a 100 moves, the Coaxial is, in my view very difficult. I got stuck around step 10 and could proceed no further. No amount of trying, random or otherwise yielded any luck. Fortunately for me the good folks at Pelikan provided a printed solution to help and Burr Tools took care of the re-assembly.

Coaxial is currently available via PuzzleMaster of Canada for CA$49.99.

Triaxe

Name
Triaxe

Designer
Stephane Chomine. A prolific designer, Stephane has to-date 457 designs, click here to see them.

Manufacturer
Eric Fuller. From his website, 40 copies were made priced at US$73/-. Currently all sold out. 

Type & Classification
Interlocking, sequential movement

Dimensions
6.7cm (Length) x 6.7cm (Width) and 6.7cm (Height). 

Materials & Construction
The cage is Quilted Maple and the pieces Bloodwood. Nice colour contrast. Workmanship is top-notch and fit and finish is excellent. Surprisingly, my copy has not really been affected by the high humidity and despite not being in my camera dry-box, the movements are still smooth and easy. 

A word of caution; the edges and corners of the cage are all straight, sharp and precise. One careless drop on a hard or rough surface is almost guaranteed a ding, dent or worse, crack on the cage and Eric will have to make you another one. Handle the puzzle over thick carpet or on your bed.

Overview

The Triaxe consists of a cage within which are three different shaped pieces interlocked together. The object of course is to disassemble and fit the pieces back into the cage again. Unlike the HALT reviewed earlier (another of Staphane Chomine's designs), this one is far far more difficult. I took a good half hour or more to remove the first of the three pieces. Thereafter the other two were pretty easy. Mainly through trial and error rather than a systematic or logical sequence.

However, when it came to putting back everything, I was stuck, really stuck. I had lost track of the orientation of the pieces relative to the frame somewhere during disassembly. I found myself the next couple of hours trying to manipulate the pieces to fit each other, without any success. Every time, the last piece was always kept out of the cage somehow and couldn't find its way inside. 

In the end I gave up and resorted to Burr Tools. Only with the help of the programme did I manage to fit the pieces back together. No way I could have succeeded without the aid of this life-saving and "frustration alleviating" software.  

Difficulty Level

Extremely difficult! Especially during re-assembly. This is a level 24.3 one-solution only puzzle requiring 24 moves to remove the first piece from the cage!

Summary
There are interlocking burrs that look intimidating but in fact are really quite manageable. The Triaxe not only looks intimidating, it IS intimidating!  As Eric mentioned on his site..."with only three pieces it's not impossible, but this is definitely an advanced puzzle. Lots of movement and lots of dead ends. Lucky for you I'm shipping it assembled!" 

Its a good thing he did; otherwise I would have had no chance even to take it apart without external help!

HALT

Name
HALT

Designer
Stephane Chomine. Stephane has to-date a whopping 452 designs, click here to see them.

Manufacturer
Pelikan. Online seller PuzzleMaster of Canada are retailing them at CA$53.99.

Type & Classification
Interlocking, sequential movement

Dimensions
6.5cm (Length) x 6.5cm (Width) and 9.0cm (Height). Nice size for the hands.

Materials & Construction
A combination of 2 solid hardwoods. The frame is Wenge and the pieces are Maple. Excellent construction, fit and  finishing throughout. All the pieces are very precisely cut and came to me rather snugly fit. As usual, it spent a good 5 days in my camera dry box to loosen up all the pieces before play.

Overview

Look at the photos above and you can probably tell why the puzzle is called HALT. Only 2 pieces are all is needed to spell out the 4 letters H.A.L.T on the 4 sides of the frame.

Object is to remove the 3 irregular shaped pieces within the rectangular frame and re-assemble them. It took me about 25 minutes to get the first piece out. This was the most difficult part but thereafter, pretty easy to remove the 2nd and 3rd pieces.

The putting back together was much harder tho'. For this sort of burr/interlocking puzzles, I would normally take photos of my steps during disassembly so that I can retrace my steps but in this case, somewhere along the way, I got lost and the photos were of little help. After some time of fiddling and trial and error, I managed to get the pieces back into the frame. Thank goodness its only 3 pieces otherwise I would have had a much harder time.

Difficulty Level

This is a 2-solution level 21.8.2 puzzle requiring 21 moves to remove the first piece and a further 8 to remove the second!; even though after the first piece is out, there are only 2 pieces left in the frame. Largely due to the notches and protruding blocks glued to form the odd-shaped pieces. Although 21 moves may seem like a lot, it is not as difficult as one would imagine, although the re-assembly portion is much more difficult.

Summary
One of those interlocking burrs that look rather intimidating from the outside. But once you settle into the puzzling, really it is quite manageable. 

Burrs Galore!

Due to work and other personal commitments, I have not played with or reviewed any puzzles for a while. But during the last several weeks, a number of new wooden burr puzzles arrived, the latest batch from Jakub and Jaroslav Dvorak of Pelikan and Eric Fuller's Cubicdissection.

Clockwise from top left: Unassembled Vectes/Ghidorah (Yavuz Demirhan/Alfons Eyckmans),
Triaxe (Stephane Chomine), Estergon 2 (Yavuz Demirhan),
Columnata 2P3C (Yavuz Demirhan), Cockpit (Osanori Yamamoto),
Ice Pillar (Osanori Yamamoto), unassembled Four Cross Twelve (Guy Brette),
Derek's Half Dozen (Derek Bosch), Centre: unassembled 2-In-1 (Oskar Van Deventer)

Now what was I thinking when I ordered so many puzzles, I am now wondering to myself. Well, for one, I was attracted by some of the very colourful woods used, for example, Eric Fuller's 2-In-1 which uses 12 species of exotic hardwoods. Another reason being I wanted to have a bit more hands-on play with burrs, since I don't own many of them (and absolutely lousy with burrs!)....hmm, but now I am not so sure after looking at this complicated stash.

Virtually all of these are "super expert" level and "many-many-moves-before-the-first piece-can-be-removed" type burrs and interlocking puzzles. I am not even sure which one of these wooden beauties to start with. I still have a backlog of other puzzles which I have yet to touch beyond their unwrapping. If anyone has any suggestions, please feel free to comment.

I think I have bitten off a lot lot more than I can chew. But knowing myself, I would not unduly labour and lose sleep over a puzzle beyond a certain amount of time. I will still enjoy the exploration process of trying to it take apart and re-assembly even if I can't solve the damn thing. So we'll see how it goes with this lot of ten in the weeks, months (or years) to come.