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2 x 2 Burr

The 2x2 Burr is the design creation of Osanori Yamamoto and the puzzle was also Rosemary Howbrigg's IPP35 Exchange Puzzle.

The 2x2 was produced for Rosemary by Mr Puzzle and its a 4-piece puzzle made of Western Australian Jarrah for the wooden pieces and 10mm thick acrylic for the remaining two. The 2 wooden pieces are identical while the acrylic slabs have different shaped cut-outs for each. Construction fit and finish is very good and the wooden pieces are strengthened at the joints with bamboo dowels even. Very nice touch.

The puzzle came un-assembled and the object is to fit the pieces together to form the symmetrical shape as shown in the photo. I didn't think it would be that difficult looking at the cut of the pieces, after all, Rosemary's Exchange Puzzle to me at last year's IPP34 the 4-piece "Black Hole Burr" only took me less than half hour to solve. But I was dead wrong. This one is a lot harder!

Firstly the assembly of the pieces cannot be achieved in orthogonal fashion; meaning moving the pieces left right up and down against each other. Instead, putting the puzzle together requires multiple rotational movements. And this is something that Burr Tools won't be of help. 

I tried all the usual stuff but the 2x2 took me on and off trying for a good several days before the a-ha moment came. It appeared that I didn't expand my thinking a bit further! Some careful analysis right at the beginning of how the wooden pieces can be possibly inserted into 2 flat layers of acrylic and how the puzzle will end up in the final state would yield dividends as you play along. And NO force at all is necessary!

Not an easy puzzle at all by any means and Mr Puzzle has rated the 2x2 at a difficulty level 9/10; ie very difficult, and I concur. At the time of this writing, the 2x2 is available from Mr Puzzle for A$38.50. 

Ice Pillar

I bought the Ice Pillar from Pelikan well over a year ago and promptly forgot about it until I recently found it in the deep recesses of my puzzle cupboard. 

I had even forgotten what the name of this puzzle was and who designed it, and had to trace my emails with Pelikan way back to early 2013.

Ice Pillar is constructed from Bubinga for the frame and Zebrano for the 4 burr pieces. Quality of build is top-notch. Surprisingly, the pieces have a very loose fit in the frame, even after a few days out of my de-humidified cupboard. This is the first time I have a wooden puzzle that didn't lock up due to the humidity. Shape-wise, Ice Pillar is like a short Tall Joe. Similar with a  "+" cross-section sort of shape, very different from the typical cuboid burrs.

Ice Pillar is from Osanori Yamamoto and I am not sure if its just me lousy, or this one is really tough....well, its both! The Ice Pillar requires nearly 40 moves to completely disassemble. With some of Yamamoto designs, usually I can make some sort of progress but for this puzzle, I just couldn't find my way anywhere. 

Being of such loose fit, all the pieces could slide left right up down too easily...nothing was ever stuck, but nothing ever came out of the frame either. Tried as I did, I made no headway and had to resort to the solution provided by Pelikan. At least Allard managed to take it apart without any help. 

I didn't bother to try reassembly, knowing full well it would be futile; instead I generated a Burr Tools solution to see how the puzzle worked. Amazing, and just as fun, as always!

Orion

Name
Orion

Designer
Osanori Yamamoto. For other designs by Osanori, click here.

Manufacturer
Pelikan.  Currently available from PuzzleMaster.

Type & Classification
Interlocking, sequential movement

Dimensions
7.2cm (Length) x 7.2cm (Width) and 3.5cm (Height).  

Materials & Construction
A combination of 5 solid hardwoods giving the puzzle a very beautiful contrasting finish. The square frame is Mahogany while the pieces are Wenge, Acacia, Paduak and Maple. As with all Pelikan puzzles, the quality and manufacturing is superb. Fit is snug and overall everything feels a bit tight but the pieces can still slide ok. Those living in humid countries may have to "dry out" their puzzle before play.

Overview
Designed in 2014, this is a very recent release and like the earlier Mysterious Galaxy and Galaxy Z, bears a space themed name, "Orion". 

Object is to disassemble the 4 pieces that interlocks with the square frame. At first glance, the four pieces (which resemble jigsaw pieces) all look identical. However, as you start playing, you will discover that only two of the 4 pieces are identical. The frame also has a protrusion at one of the inner corners.

All the pieces can move in rectilinear fashion, sideways, up and down. When they are spread sufficiently far apart, each of the pieces can also rotate. I tried various moves for the pieces taking into account their shapes and notches and that one particular corner of the frame; all the while sure that one of the pieces had something to do with that special corner. However, it turned out I was barking up the wrong tree. After being stumped for several days, I threw in the towel and checked the solution, only to discover that the way to extract the first piece was not what I had expected. I had over-complicated things and missed the obvious. 

Firstly all four pieces must be in their correct orientation relative to the frame. Then the right sequence of moves for each of the pieces must follow next and only then can the first of the 4 pieces be removed. I counted 14 moves to get the first piece removed. Once the crucial first piece is out, the rest is easy. Reassembly is the reverse of everything.

I am not certain if the original solved state of the puzzle has everything lined up ready to go or one has to rotate the pieces around the frame to get them in the right positions. My guess is that it would be more difficult in the case of the latter.

Difficulty Level

Very difficult. But relatively easy once the first piece is out. And you need to make sure that the correct piece goes back into the frame first, since all look similar and can get mixed up. The wrong piece means you'll end up stuck. Not a whole lot of moves and with some practice, manageable for repeat solving.

Summary
A very interesting design with just 4 pieces and the frame. Looks deceptively simple (as compared to the high level burrs out there), but is anything but that. The subtle differences in the shape of the pieces add to the complexity and challenge.  And since it comes in 5 different contrasting coloured woods, the puzzle also displays very nicely.

Mysterious Galaxy

Name
Mysterious Galaxy 

Designer
Osanori Yamamoto. For other designs by Osanori, click here.

Wonderful detailing of the four corners and notice the curved edges top and bottom of the box

Manufacturer
Pelikan. Mr Puzzle of Australia, PuzzleMaster of Canada and Puzzlewood of Germany are retailing them but currently only available from PuzzleMaster and Puzzlewood.

Type & Classification
Interlocking, sequential movement

Dimensions
7.8cm (Length) x 7.8cm (Width) and 6.4cm (Height).  

Materials & Construction
A combination of 5 solid hardwoods giving the puzzle a very beautiful contrasting finish. The frame is Mahogany, the pieces are Wenge, Acacia, Paduak and Maple. The corner embellishments are Maple. Excellent construction and quality.

Overview

The Mysterious Galaxy was released in August 2012, a couple of months prior to the easier (not easy) Galaxy Z reviewed earlier. 

In fact there are two other variants in Osanori's Galaxy class puzzles (NB: there are several puzzles from other designers also named "Galaxy" this or that) ; the Galaxy I (2011) and the latest in 2014, the Galaxy R. The R is also probably the most difficult of the lot with the most moves.

The Mysterious Galaxy is a framed burr; consisting of a box frame with a number of internal protrusions. The object is to take out and fit back in all the 4 pieces. Unlike the Galaxy Z, only 3 pieces here are congruent (identical). 

This puzzle is no walk in the park. The orientation and interlocking of the pieces (especially with the one single different piece) with the notched protrusions provide for a very difficult process of removal. 

While trial and error may work to some extent initially, it can also land you in a dead end and figuring your way back to the start position then becomes another additional challenge that frustrates.

It took me a good while and several dead ends before I managed to get the first piece out. I thought with photo-taking of the moves, this would help. But nope, too many incorrect moves so photo-taking became confusing and a waste of time.

This is not a pure rectilinear puzzle and rotations are also required. So Burr Tools here won't help very much, save as to show the various possible assemblies of the pieces within the box frame. (which may be sufficient help for some perhaps). 

The challenge is also discovering which pieces need to be rotated into position and ensuring rotation is done within the correct space. Done properly, nothing should get stuck. Done wrongly, or worse still with force, and your puzzle may end up dented and damaged.

Difficulty Level

The Mysterious Galaxy is very difficult, particularly the putting back together. It has two solutions, of which one is level 17.5.2.4; in other words it requires 17 moves to extract the first piece, 5 for the next and so on. Unlike the Galaxy Z, I found it hard to memorise the moves for this one. Even after four attempts at reassembly, I still had to refer to the solution.

Summary
Without a doubt, very challenging puzzle (especially for non-burrists like me); and if you already own the Galaxy Z, get this one as well. With its sexy curved edges and colourful exotic woods, even if you can't solve it, it still makes for a very nice display.

This Is "It"!

This is "it"? You are probably wondering what sort of puzzles these are. 

 Nope, nothing to do with information technology, computers or software (more on this last one later) but I am referring to the Cockpit and Petit puzzles, both by Japanese designer Osanori Yamamoto. As of to-date, he has 175 designs! Many of which have have become production copies including the following which I own:-

1. All Tetra Stick

2. Galaxy Z

3. Pair Dance

First off, both of these puzzles are smallish in size as compared to the typical cuboid interlocking puzzle. Both are around 5cm cube, with the Cockpit a couple of mm larger all round. Given that the Petit has only 3 pieces and the Cockpit has 4, it is quite possible to make a puzzle in a much smaller package yet remaining comfortable during handling.

Both puzzles came to me from Pelikan. Craftsmanship, fit and finish is excellent. Fellow puzzle blogger Allard Walker had commented in one of his posts that the superb quality to be found from Pelikan these days is comparable with a certain North American puzzle maker (now I wonder who that might be?). Yes, I couldn't agree more! And not to mention at great value for money prices too! 

Cockpit

The Cockpit is made of Jatoba for the frame and Maple for the pieces (2 of which are congruent). It didn't take me long to unlock the 3 intersecting pieces. No particular way of solving for me, just the usual random manipulation at the beginning and thereafter, seeing how the pieces interacted to try to get them apart.  

Putting everything back together was altogether different. I found a solution pretty quickly which got the pieces back to what appeared to be their original positions in the frame. But I knew it wasn't the right solution since it took me quite a number of moves to take them apart initially. I checked the solution with Burr Tools and found that I had used the easiest of 4 possible solutions (just 6 steps) which probably wasn't intended. The more difficult solution takes 20 steps to get that first piece out.

Petit

This one I found less difficult than the Cockpit. The Petit is made from Cherry (frame) and Paduak (pieces). Consisting of just 2 pieces interlocked within the frame, it was a much easier task trying to remember the moves, which were also far fewer than Cockpit. I managed to disengage and later assembled the pieces without the aid of Burr Tools. I would think that for Petit, even with a trial and error approach and persistence may achieve the desired result, but not the Cockpit.

Petit is definitely recommended for less experienced burr puzzlers (myself included) as it gives a good challenge but wouldn't frustrate you. To begin with, just a total of 3 pieces is already much less physically intimidating and this undoubtedly inspires confidence. The Petit is definitely much more manageable with far fewer steps. Available from Puzzlewood, Germany.

All Tetra Stick

Name
All Tetra Stick. 

Designer
Osanori Yamamoto. For Osanori's other designs, click here.

The square block at the top left corner of the opening is fixed

Manufacturer
Pelikan. Available via email from Puzzlewood of Germany and PuzzleMaster of Canada.

Type & Classification
3D Packing, sequential movement

Dimensions
4cm (Length) x 4cm (Width) and 12cm (Height).  

Materials & Construction
The Tetra Stick comes in 3 wood options. In all 3, the pieces are Maple but there is a choice of materials for the box; Walnut, Bubinga or Zebrano. My copy in the photo is Bubinga.

Very well constructed with excellent finishing throughout. All the pieces fit perfectly and slide smoothly within the box.

Overview

I suppose the puzzle is called Tetra Stick because well, firstly it looks like a stubby stick or sorts. Secondly, the way the pieces "fall" into the box (and you need to slide them some sideways we well) as you pack them in resembles the computer game Tetris. Thirdly, because each of the 8 pieces are formed out of 4 connected squares (ie tetrominoes), the "tetro" bit forms part of the name since the game Tetris also comprises of falling 2D tetrominoes!

The Tetra Stick is a really nice departure from the ubiquitous square or cube shape of many wooden interlocking or packing puzzles. Very nice shape I must say which I like a lot!

The puzzle comes solved so you basically "pour" the pieces out and re-pack them in. All the 8 tetromino pieces are non-identical.

Removing the pieces is very easy, just pour them out! Re-packing is more challenging. While you can group the pieces together outside the box and get it into the shape that will eventually fit the box, you must take into account the box having an obstruction at its opening; ie a square cube that is affixed to one of the corners. 

This effectively means that you can only solve the repacking part by inserting one piece at a time and orientating the pieces in a way that will fit through the opening. You can't just plonk in the whole lot together. This requires planning of the sequence of the insertions. Once a piece is inside, you may also have to manoeuvre it by sliding it into the correct position or allow for other pieces to fit in thereafter. Gravity does the job and as you let go each piece at the opening, it slides into the box almost like in slow motion.

Difficulty Level

Challenging but by no means very difficult. Once you can sort out the shape the pieces need to form in order to fit inside the box, the rest is a matter of getting them in one by one in the correct manner though the partially obstructed opening. Or course the initial attempt to get the pieces into the right shape may already prove very challenging for some.

Summary
Very nice looking and well-made packing puzzle. 3 different choice of wood combinations. Looks different from the norm. Definitely worth getting!

Galaxy Z

Name
Galaxy Z

Designer
Osanori Yamamoto. For Osanori's other designs, click here.

Notice the wood detailing at the corners

Manufacturer
Pelikan. Mr Puzzle of Australia and PuzzleMaster of Canada were retailing them but currently both are out of stock. Do check back with them if you are interested.

Type & Classification
Interlocking, sequential movement

Dimensions
9.0cm (Length) x 9.0cm (Width) and 5.2cm (Height).  

Materials & Construction
A combination of 4 solid hardwoods. The frame is Mahogany, the pieces are Wenge while the corner embellishments are Wenge, Paduak and Maple. Very well made and excellent finishing throughout. There is also another version Pelikan made which had a straight edged frame

Overview

The Galaxy Z is a 2012 design from Osanori. It consists of 4 congruent pieces that resides within a square frame. The object is to disassemble and repack the 4 pieces. 

When I first got the Galaxy Z, it was the straight edged version. After a couple of moves, I found myself stuck in the same position over and over. I also found that I could not move a particular piece fully as it kept getting jammed against one of the notches inside the frame. Initially I thought it was the humidity that had expanded the wood and caused the problem, so in went my puzzle into the camera dry box for a good 5 days. But the problem persisted. 

That same weekend, puzzle designer Goh Pit Khiam happened to be at my place. What better person than Goh to ask for help; award-winning designer of the Tenary Burr and a host of other well known puzzles. Goh on the spot generated a Burr Tools solution for me, with the starting point at where I was stuck. Despite following the solution, it didn't work because the piece in question couldn't move where it was supposed to, due to the jamming against a notch. 

I contacted Pelikan and showed them a photo of the stuck piece.They replied that it could have been a manufacturing error and duly sent me a replacement puzzle with my next order of puzzles.

This time round, things went smoothly (no pun intended). Within 20 minutes or so, I had my first piece out and the rest came out easily after that. Repacking the pieces was a different kettle of fish. Very difficult! 

As mentioned, the frame within contains a number of notches that protrude from all 4 sides. These mesh and interlock with the pieces. Tried as I did, I could only manage to get 3 but not the 4th piece into the frame most of the time. I was obviously not getting the orientation and sequence right. I referred to the supplied printed solution after squinting at the page (very small diagram steps) for a rather long time, finally managed to fit all 4 pieces back into the frame. 

Difficulty Level

Galaxy Z has a 19.2.3 unique solution; in other words it requires 19 moves to free the first piece, 2 for the next and so on. Reassembly is very much harder than taking it apart, because the latter you are just fiddling and trying different moves here and there, while the former requires you to fit the pieces which won't all go in unless they are in the correct order. 

But what I found was that because it contains only 4 pieces (and all 4 are identical), after a bit of continuous practice, I actually could memorise the key moves and solve the puzzle without the solution. It became relatively easier after that.

Summary
This one must really be a popular puzzle indeed given that both major online puzzle retailers are sold out. Aside from it being very challenging, the superb construction and detailing make this one a very beautiful puzzle to display. A must-have!

Pair Dance

Name
Pair Dance

Designer
Osanori Yamamoto. Osanori has designed to-date 167 puzzles!

Manufacturer
Eric Fuller. Website www.cubicdissection.com. 40 copies were made, each priced at US$37, currently sold out.

Type & Classification
Interlocking

Dimensions
3.8cm (Length) x 4.2cm (Width) x  5.2cm (Height). Small but easy to handle .

Materials & Construction
Two versions were offered in exotic contrasting solid woods; Jatoba/Purpleheart and Walnut/Imbuya. Very well constructed with bevelled edges. Fit is good; pieces move smoothly, but those in high humidity countries would no doubt want to "dry out" their puzzle if possible before playing. 

Overview
I like this one because....

1. Well made
2. Only 3 pieces
3. Not difficult
4. Inexpensive (well relatively anyway)
5. I didn't have to use Burr Tools

This week was a difficult and busy one for me at work, so as I looked at my more recent puzzle haul (most of them complicated interlocking burrs) and deciding which one to puzzle with, I went straight for the Pair Dance without hesitation. As Eric had stated in his website:-

Pair Dance is a fun little distraction with a level 14 solution. It's not nearly as difficult as that may sound since there are only two pieces. Approachable and interesting, I'm glad I made this little gem!

Eric was right. I got the two pieces out of the frame within 5 minutes or so, but took about 10 to fit them back in correctly. To solve, you need to manipulate the two pieces relative to each other within the frame, requiring 14 moves (I didn't count). During reassembly, if you get them wrong side up, well...you'll need to release the pieces and start over.

Difficulty Level
Some challenge but by no means that difficult. This is one of those puzzles if you keep at it and persist, you'll eventually get it.

Summary
Nice puzzle that you can solve repeatedly quite easily once you get the orientation of the pieces correct. I think its a very good puzzle for those looking to get into more serious burrs.

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.