Aroma

This puzzle came to me courtesy of Hirokazu Iwasawa ("Iwahiro") and is called Aroma. 

Iwahiro has a number of well known puzzle designs to his name including two IPP awarding winning ones; the  "ODD Puzzle" and Square In The Bag.

 I obtained this during the IPP34 puzzle party and I should have asked him why it bears such an unusual name, but I didn't.

Aroma was Iwahiro's IPP30 Exchange Puzzle. Made of a very hard and solid type of plastic, and I mean this one is really very very solid, the puzzle is sized around 7.7cm x 6.7cm x 2.3cm. Fit and finish is very good. Tight tolerances.

It is a co-ordinate motion puzzle and the object is to fit the 3 identical pieces flush (sideways) into the hexagonal frame. I played with the puzzle while on the flight back to Singapore after IPP34 in London. I thought it would take me longer to figure this one out but several minutes was all I needed. Not difficult but a nice fun solve.

Locked Drawer

Name
Sandfield's Locked Drawer Puzzle.

Designer
Robert E Sandfield and Kathleen Malcolmson.

This is the unsolved state!

Manufacturer
Kathleen Malcolmson

Type & Classification
Puzzle Box; Sequential Discovery

Dimensions
7.8cm (Length) x 6.5cm (Width) x 3.8cm (Height).

Materials & Construction
Walnut, Prima Vera and White Oak. Construction, fit and finish is excellent with slight bevelling on the exterior box to minimise sharp edges. Nice size with an attractive colour contrast between the handle, drawer and outer box. Overall, aesthetically very pleasing. It comes with its own drawstring pouch which is a nice touch.

IPP
The Locked Drawer was Robert Sandfield's Exchange Puzzle during IPP30 held at Hakone, Japan. in July 2010.

Overview

I had read Allard's review of this puzzle late last year and wanted one. The opportunity came along when I found Robert Sandfield selling several of these Locked Drawers during this year's IPP33 Puzzle Party. Although relatively expensive, I picked up one with little hesitation. This was also the first puzzle I bought during the Puzzle Party.

The Locked Draw is somewhat different from the Japanese style boxes with multiple sliding panels or other trick opening ones because it incorporates a sequential discovery aspect as well. Meaning that the puzzle has to be solved in a particular order of steps and using the tools that come together with the puzzle. No other external implements or tools are necessary.

The object of the Locked Drawer is NOT to open the drawer (as most people would assume looking at the box) but rather to figure out how to close the drawer once its been opened. To open is simple, nothing puzzling about it; just pull the drawer open normally and it will reveal a circular cavity that contains a US$0.25 coin. Pull the puzzle fully out and the drawer click locks. Here is where the puzzling begins; ie pushing the drawer back in again.

I took about six steps to get the drawer "unlocked" and then back into the closed position, which is the reset/ unsolved stage. There is no force whatsoever required to solve the Locked Drawer. A very clever and rather interesting trick to the whole mechanism.

Difficulty Level
For the total novice, he/she is likely to be stuck for quite a long time. But for the experienced puzzler, not overly difficult with enough challenge to make the puzzle fun and entertaining. This is the sort of puzzle that gives you mini "a-ha" moments to let you know you are on the right track until the final step when you know you have reached the goal. Easily solvable repeatedly once you know the solution. Nothing finicky about the Locked Drawer; everything works as intended.

Summary
For lovers of Sequential Discovery puzzles and/or puzzle boxes generally, a definite must-have for the collection.

Fuji 1707

This wooden take-apart puzzle resembling a volcanic mountain (hence the name Fuji 1707) comes from Mr Puzzle Australia. Designed and made by Brian Young as an exchange puzzle for IPP30 in Hakone, Japan, the Fuji 1707 is made from Papua New Guinean Rosewood with the snow-capped peak made of Queensland Silver Ash. 1707 was the year the last time Mt Fuji erupted over 300 years ago and experts have warned that the next eruption is overdue.

The puzzle measures a handy size of about 8.7cm across and 4.3cm tall from the base to the top of the peak.  The Fuji 1707 comes from Mr Puzzle Australia's Craftsman range of superior wooden puzzles and as to be expected, quality fit and finish is excellent with various parts manufactured to tight tolerances. Externally the puzzle looks like a circular pyramid with holes drilled into the sides and one at the peak.

The object of the puzzle is to remove the snow-capped peak from the mountain and find the Buddha Of All-Illuminating Wisdom, the Dainichi Nyorai, hidden inside the mountain. The Fuji 1707 is a sequential discovery type of puzzle, similar to Houdini's Torture Cell reviewed in this blog. To solve it, one needs to execute a series of steps in a particular order from beginning to end. In the case of the Fuji 1707, there are 4 steps to solving the puzzle.

I took a pretty long while before I managed to remove the snow-capped peak; however, when I checked my solution against the one that accompanied the puzzle, I realised that my method of solving was totally wrong and way off the (official ) charts! The official solution for the Fuji 1707 is actually pretty simple (with hindsight of course!). The mechanism for removal of the snow-capped peak is not only rather clever, but the solution (particularly step #2) is in my opinion the most unusual I have across so far! Totally unexpected! Mr Puzzle Australia rates it at Level 8 difficulty, the same as Houdini's Torture Cell, but I am well inclined to give it a 9 rating because the solution is unique and not easily discoverable, and it is really much harder. In terms of steps taken, less steps but more difficult than the Houdini puzzle.

The Dainichi Nyorai sitting atop of Mt Fuji
No photo of the puzzle in the solved state as this would reveal too much

Jeff Chiou wrote about the Fuji 1707 in his puzzle blog a while back and mentioned some issues concerning the mechanism in the puzzle; I believed this has since been rectified by Brian Young to make solving and assembly much more reliable. Certainly I didn't encounter any problems with my copy. By no means an inexpensive puzzle but for the quality and uniqueness of the solution (which is rather fun and you can solve it repeatedly quite easily), the Fuji 1707 is well worth the money and acquiring.

Remove The Yolk

I received this puzzle with the kind courtesy of Robrecht Louage. Robrecht, as you may remember was the winner of last year's IPP31's Puzzle Design Competition Jury Grand Prize for his 4-Steps Visible Lock; and also the designer and maker of the La Cerradura Doble, both of which have been reviewed earlier in this blog.

The Remove The Yolk was also an entrant 2 years ago for the IPP30 in Osaka, Japan. Unfortunately, being very limited in numbers, it is not commercially available from any puzzle retailer, as far as I am aware.

The Yolk is a relatively large puzzle measuring 12cm x 8cm x 1.5cm. Made of Corian (the material used in domestic kitchen counter tops) and metal (ie; internal ball bearings you can hear rolling about), the Yolk is very well constructed and exudes quality. The only visible moving part of the puzzle, the "sliding key" slides smoothly and nothing gets stuck during play. Corian is not light so the puzzle feels weighty in the palm.

The object of the puzzle is to remove a 1 Euro coin which is lodged inside the sliding key. The key is locked in the body of the puzzle. The key can slide left and right and protrude from both ends of the puzzle but within certain limits. While I had no sight of the internals of the Yolk, I can only assume that the locking mechanism is similar to that of the 4-Steps visible lock, employing the use of a maze and ball bearings. Hence the Yolk requires a certain dexterity to solve.

There are two holes on the top of the puzzle, a small one where you can see part of the Euro coin and a larger one for the coin to come out once the key is unlocked and the puzzle is solved. If you have ever puzzled over Jean Claude Constantine's Centrale puzzle, you will find the Yolk very similar to the Centrale.

However, that being said, while the locking mechanisms of both puzzles adopt the same principle in the way they work, they are well likely to be entirely different in design and construction. I guess unless both puzzles are cracked open (ie rendering them damaged and useless forever), we will never know for sure.

Like the Centrale, I spent a substantial amount of time on-off puzzling over the Yolk but could not solve it. I even placed the 4-Steps and Yolk side by side and tried to trace the movements of the 4-Steps to the Yolk, hoping that since they were both from the same designer, similar in dimensions and consist of sliding keys with ball bearings etc, there was a slim off-chance that the Yolk might have a similar mechanism to the 4-Steps, as the Yolk came out a year earlier before the 4-Steps...wishful thinking!!

Nothing worked and in the end I gave in and referred to the IPP30 online solution for the Yolk. I followed the movements from a series of photos but still the key refused to budge and the coin remained trapped. Finally I emailed Robrecht for help and he directed me to a YouTube video where (Robrecht's son) shows the way to remove the coin. Following the steps, I eventually managed to solve the Yolk. There are a total of 6 steps required to remove the coin.

Once you remember the steps, solving becomes easy and repeatable (which is always the case isn't it?... with the benefit of hindsight). Compare this to the 4-Steps Visible Lock + NOTHING VISIBLE....well you can guess how difficult it is! This is one of those puzzles which I would never have been able to solve without the full solution; even clues would not have helped, since you can't see what you are doing and you can't feel your way around either (unlike a Revomaze).

In conclusion, I wish to thank Robrecht for the Yolk and I am very happy to have one in my collection.