Derek's Half Dozen

Name
Derek's Half Dozen

Designer
Derek Bosch. Just did a review of his Pole Dancers in the previous post.

Manufacturer & Availability
Produced by Eric Fuller in 2013. A limited edition of 40 copies sold for US$69 each. Not available.

Type & Classification
Interlocking solid

Dimensions
6.5cm x 6.5cm x 6.5cm

Materials & Construction
Six pieces comprising three woods; ash, wenge and bubinga. Great looking! Excellent construction, fit and finish with tight tolerances. All the pieces slide and move very smoothly.

Overview
Externally it looks pretty just like an ordinary burr (save for the three pairs of different coloured sides) but the 6 pieces forming this puzzle are anything but ordinary. They are not your regular burr pieces with the typical notches and groves but rather odd shaped with loads of protrusions as you can see from the photo below.

This is an extremely difficult puzzle to take apart with a level 26.9.5.2 solution, meaning it requires 26 moves to remove the first piece. I was stuck for quite a while during the opening moves trying to figure out things. However, something totally unexpected happened next. I am not sure if it is my copy that was a bit looser than intended (because my wooden puzzles are usually kept in a camera dry box for a few days prior to play). But midway through the solving, I was actually able (to my great and pleasant surprise) to rotate one of the pieces out without any force whatsoever. Having done that, the rest of the pieces came out quite easily thereafter. OK, so its not the way it should have been done and I am not sure how I did it...but too late...its over! Was it an accidental discovery of something in the puzzle that neither Derek nor Eric were aware off?

[Edit 16 April 2016: I am informed by Derek that apparently this rotation is well known and certainly not intended]

Difficulty
"Fiendishly difficult" is what Eric describes on his site. Fully agree. The movements of the pieces are absolutely dizzying! Without Burr Tools, my copy will have remained on the shelf in their separate pieces. If the rotation of that one piece had not been possible, I definitely would not have been able to take the Half Dozen apart. Even with the aid of Burr Tools, trying to reassemble the six pieces was still quite a handful (no pun intended). 

Pole Dancers

Name
Pole Dancers

Designer
Derek Bosch. Very well known in the community for his cylindrical burr designs range, see for example the Helical Burr. For his other works, click here. I just realized I do have a copy of his "Derek's Half Dozen"....stay tuned for a future post on this one.

Manufacturer & Availability
Produced by Steve Nicholls. May be available but in limited quantities. You can contact Steve here.

Type & Classification
Interlocking

Dimensions
16cm x 4.5cm diameter

Materials & Construction
3D printed in plastic resin. Very well made and absolutely gorgeous colours. Mine's a bright yellow and purple. I saw other colourful combinations as well at IPP. Nicely presented in a transparent carrying tube. 

Overview
Looking like a delicious ice lolly, you can probably guess why the puzzle is called Pole Dancers. No prizes here. The puzzle was also Steve's IPP35 Exchange Puzzle in Ottawa, Canada last year. The goal here is to separate the purple and yellow pieces from the rod. 

For this type of cylindrical puzzles, 3D printing is probably the best (and only) choice available. I seriously doubt if they can be made in wood. As I mentioned previously in my review of the Helical Burr, the manipulation of a 3D printed burr like this is never going to be as slippery smooth as a well made interlocking wooden burr. However, it is sufficiently slick for comfortable play and I did not experience any jamming. One of the advantages of 3D printing is that the puzzle won't expand in humid climates unlike their wooden cousins. In fact as I played more, the puzzle got quit "seasoned" after a while and the movement of the pieces became smoother overall.

Solving consists of pulling, pushing and rotating the pieces around the axis of the rod. The pieces are interlocked together via grooves and notches on their insides and the surface of the rod. Typically trial and error is required at the beginning to see how the pieces interact with each other. Careful observation of the movements is also necessary, particularly when you want to re-assemble the puzzle later. And remember the orientation of the pieces too. I don't know the exact number of moves as I lost count somewhere after the first 5 to 6. But by my estimation, I think its somewhere between 13 to 15 moves for full dis-assembly. Honestly the dance gets quite confusing halfway through!

Difficulty
Its a difficult puzzle no doubt, but strangely I felt it was a bit less difficult than the Helical Burr which had four pieces (vs three for Pole Dancers) and even fewer moves. Maybe the Helical Burr was the first time I was playing with this sort of puzzle and hadn't gotten used to it yet.

While Helical Burr required only the removal of the first piece and the rest became pretty straight forward coming apart, Pole Dancers is tricky in the sense that you are not sure which end of the rod the two pieces emerge from (or is it from both ends?) and you get a bit confused halfway and need to back track once you hit a dead end. 

Summary
Another great design here from Derek Bosch. Well made, colourful and a nice alternative to the usual rectilinear wooden burrs. And what an appropriate name!

Of Symmetry And Shapes

This weekend's puzzle play consisted of Symmetrick from Vesa Timonen of Finland and Four Triangles Five Shapes from Emrehan Halici of Turkey. 

Symmetrick

Symmetrick was a Top 10 Vote Getter during the IPP33 Puzzle Design Competition in Japan. It was also Vesa's exchange puzzle during IPP32 the previous year. In case you didn't know, vesa is a very prolific designer with a number of Hanayama Cast puzzle designs to his name.

Comprising of just two irregular shaped pieces made of Finnish Curly Birch wood in a raw finish, the goal here is to form a symmetrical shape. The instructions are clear....to place the two pieces on a flat surface to form a symmetrical shape...no tricks, no silhouette, hole in centre and the like.

One would wonder how difficult can that be with just two pieces right? Wrong...it is in fact a rather difficult puzzle, more so if you don't even understand what a symmetrical shape refers to. 

During IPP33 itself, I had already seen quite a number of puzzlers in the competition room trying to figure this one out.... and many couldn't solve it even by the end of the event. All round it received a lot of positive comments. I took about a couple of hours before hitting the jackpot. Please PM me if you would like to see the solution...it's really quite unexpected.

Symmetrick IMHO is really an example of a great puzzle design, so simple and innocuous looking with just two pieces, yet very challenging. For those who love this sort of shape forming puzzles, its a must have. Available from Mr Puzzle Of Australia and Sloyd of Finland.

Four Triangles Five Shapes

This puzzle came courtesy of Emrehan Halici. I had a privilege of meeting Emrehan the second time during IPP35 in Ottawa last year and his Four Triangles Five Shapes (FTFS) was his exchange puzzle to me.

The FTFS is made of 3mm red laser cut acrylic. The four pieces comprise of four triangles of different shapes. Nicely cut and pretty large pieces so easy to handle.

There are five different tasks here (hence the name "five shapes"). Using all the triangles to make the following shapes:-

1. 3 different Pararellograms

2. An Isoceles triangle

3. A Square

I was able to make just one of the parallelograms, the isoceles triangle and the square...or so I thought. I shot an email to Emrehan for the solutions to the other two parallelograms and when he replied I was in for a shock; I had only gotten the square correct!

How difficult is the FTFS? Well, I only managed to solve one of the five shapes, despite just four pieces. I would rate it as very challenging indeed. As this one is an exchange puzzle, it's only available from the designer (assuming he has any left), so please PM me if you would like to get a copy and I will link you up with Emrehan.

Ladybird

Name
Ladybird

Designer
Robrecht Louage. Designed in 2014. For his other puzzles including his IPP31 award winning 4 Steps Visible Lock, click here.

Manufacturer & Availability
Produced in collaboration with collector Michel Van Ipenburg. There may still be some copies available from either gentlemen. PM me if you are keen to get a copy.

Type & Classification
Sequential movement; route finding.

Dimensions
16cm (incl the antennae) x 11.5cm x 1.5cm

Materials & Construction
Acrylic, tespa, steel screws and a 1 Euro coin. Construction fit and finish is excellent and all the parts move smoothly with no jamming. 

Overview

Robrecht is very well know for his "remove-the-coin" maze puzzles. And the best part is when you buy one of his puzzles, you get a 1 Euro discount! 

Unlike his other trapped coin puzzles, the Ladybird ups the ante in terms of sophistication of design and aesthetics. This time Robrecht encapsulates his puzzle within a ladybird design. 

Another main difference is that the Ladybird allows for some visibility of the maze route, hence you can see and feel your own progress. However, the Ladybird is no easier because the puzzle involves a double layer maze.

The goal is to navigate two pins (connected to the two antennae) along both maze channels, by manipulating the two maze plates either clockwise or the opposite. Upon successful completion, you are rewarded with the 1 Euro coin that leaves through the circular cut-out on the top cover.

Difficulty

Moderate difficulty but tricky at times. The starting steps gives you a feel of what you need to do. I found that somewhere about a fifth along the way, If you do not get both pins in their right respective positions within the maze channels, you will find yourself stuck much later on and this would require an almost full backtrack. If you are lucky and get it right near the beginning, navigation becomes quite a breeze for a majority of the way. It took me a couple of attempts and one or two backtracks to finally extract the coin. 

Overall a fun puzzle and one of those that once you pick it up, you won't want to put it down until the coin comes out. Done correctly, it doesn't take too long to solve and reset. A really beautiful and interesting looking puzzle.

Pyramida

Name
Pyramida

Designer
Frederic Boucher

Manufacturer & Availability
Produced by Frederic in 2012. May still be available in limited quantities. For anyone interested please PM me.

Type & Classification
Dexterity

You rarely find this sort of detailed instructions with a puzzle

Dimensions
8.5cm x 8.5cm x 2.7cm

Materials & Construction
Aluminium, glass, cherry wood, steel. Very well crafted and put together and Frederic has chosen glass instead of acrylic for the cover, which adds a touch of class to the puzzle.

Overview

It would be an understatement to say that Frederic Boucher is a versatile designer. While there are designers who focus and are good at one category of puzzles, burrs for example, Frederic has designed puzzles in several categories including burrs, packing, impossible objects and dexterity puzzles. 

This is my second dexterity puzzle from Frederic after his Manholes 55 the latter which was his IPP33 Puzzle Design Competition Entry.

The Pyramida has one simple task; Arrange the 10 marbles (4 green and 6 red) inside the box to form pyramids of different colour configurations. The puzzle comes with a total of 36 challenges. For 12 of the 36 challenges, 2 reds and a green are swapped with 2 yellows and a blue that comes extra with the puzzle. You will need to unscrew the glass cover to do this, but fear not; Frederic also supplies a screw driver and extra screws and printed instructions (although' in Japanese) for the task. What great attention to details!

Difficulty

While some of the 36 challenges look easier than the others, even the easier looking ones are not. It may look simple to swirl the marbles around inside the box to try to achieve the desired colour pyramid but believe me, it is anything but that. The marbles don't behave like you want them to. I only succeeded in getting a couple of the challenges right. The marbles are much more difficult to stay atop one another thank you think. A gentle touch is definitely an advantage for play here.

I can only imagine the ones involving the yellow and blue marbles are even more difficult given there are now 4 different colours inside the box.

Challenge #33 which I managed to solve

Summary

For anyone who enjoys dexterity puzzles, this one is a must-have. Not just a single challenge as in most of the dexterity puzzles out, but 36. And all in one very attractive and superb quality package. 

Binary Key II

Name
Binary Key II

Designer
Goh Pit Khiam

Manufacturer & Availability
Produced by Eric Fuller of www.cubicdissection.com. Limited edition 40 copies made and sold for US$46 in 2003. Currently unavailable.

Type & Classification
Take-apart; sequential movement

Dimensions
15.5cm x 7.5cm x 1.8cm

Materials & Construction
Stainless steel, nylon and acrylic. Laser cut acrylic built to very high tolerances. Excellent quality.

Overview

This is my second Key puzzle from Goh, the first was the Tern Key reviewed over 3 years ago in this blog.

Goh's Binary Key II is a re-design of his original "Key Puzzle" (which was also Bill Cutler's IPP24 Exchange Puzzle).

The Binary Key II comes under the group of gray-code or N-ary puzzles as they are called. The well known Chinese Ring puzzles are a good example of this type of puzzle. For a comprehensive explanation of n-ary puzzles, click on Dr Goetz Schwandtner's webpage here.

The object as you can probably tell from the photo is to remove the horizontal rectangular "key" that sticks out a bit on both ends from the "lock" by moving the 10 pieces resting inside the tray. 5 of the pieces move up and down and the other 5 left and right within their confined spaces. Movement is facilitated by the use of short steel pins pressed into the pieces.

While at first it may look like you are moving pieces randomly to try to move the key piece out. However, the fact that there is a "binary sequence" in place means that the movement of the pieces have to be made through a repeated pattern; back and forth, left and right until none of the pieces is restricting the key.

Initially it was a bit of trial and error as I was coming to grips with figuring out the puzzle. But I was slowly able to discern the repetitive moves and discover the sequence. Even then, it took me a good 40 minutes to solve from start to finish.

Difficulty

It is a bit much more than moderately difficult although not frustrating. Early on in play, you are likely to encounter problems eg; one last piece that holds the key back to a complete solve, hence requiring a restart again.

Although the moves are repeated, it takes a hefty 85 moves to free the key, so its definitely no walk in the park. Once solved, returning the puzzle to its original state is slightly easier and more manageable.

Ali's Bolt & Nut Puzzle

Name
Bolt & Nut Puzzle

Designer
Ali Morris

Manufacturer & Availability
Produced by Ali Morris. May or may not be available. PM me if you are interested and I will connect you with him.

Type & Classification
Bolt & Nut. 

For other bolt and nut puzzles (from other designers and producers) reviewed previously in this blog. Please click here, here and here.

Dimensions
At 10cm long, its a huge and heavy bolt!

Materials & Construction
Steel. Looks like any ordinary bolt with a nut. Modified into a bolt puzzle and workmanship is very good.

Overview
As far as I know, this is Ali's first bolt puzzle design that he has produced for sale commercially. And a really nice one too!

I have played with a number of bolt puzzles in the past and for most of these, the solution involves most of the time finding a way to unlock the nut (usually held in place by a retaining pin of some sort) and screwing the latter out. 

Ali's bolt puzzle is rather different from the majority in that while the goal is still to unscrew the nut from the bolt, the solution is very unique and the first time I have come across such a dissimilar and unusual solving method. Kudos to Ali for thinking up something different from the rest.

This is one of those puzzles that I can't say more here without letting out spoilers, so my only advice for those interested is to go purchase one from Ali, and I am assuming he still has some left for sale or will be making more. For the craftsmanship and work put into it and from a puzzling aspect, its well worth the money!

Difficulty Level

Not difficult once you discover what needs to be done and how the puzzle works. But rather tricky tho'. Certainly the solution was not at all what I thought it would be or expected and the puzzle stumped me for a while.

When Is A Burr Not A Burr?

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

Name
Pinwheel Burr. 

Designer
Oskar van Deventer

Manufacturer & Availability
Produced by Dave Rossetti (mentored by Tom Lensch). This was Dave's IPP35 Exchange Puzzle in Ottawa, Canada last August. 

Type & Classification
Interlocking solid; 3D Packing; Put-Together

Dimensions
9cm x 7.7cm x 7.7cm

Materials & Construction
Made of four different exotic woods; Bocote, African Mahogany, Spalted Tamarid and Ebony and plywood for the base, the construction fit and finish is very good. All the pieces fit nicely.

Overview
The Pinwheel Burr looks like a burr, is as difficult (if not more so) than a typical mid-level burr but yet isn't really a burr as such. I would consider it more a 3D packing puzzle since the goal is to fit the eight pieces around a cube and the whole lot onto a base. Not only that, but also to form the "pinwheel" with the same wood type for each of six facings.

Each of the eight pieces comprise three blocks each measuring 1 x 2 x 2 glued together to form different shapes and in different combination of woods. Initially it doesn't look that difficult as you take out the pieces from the base. 

However, the whole ensemble and the orientation of the pieces relative to each other is very confusing to put back once the pieces are fully scrambled (just look at the photo above). Also trying to tell the different woods apart was also quite a challenge for me. To match back the same wood type to form the pinwheel for each side is really no joke. I got nowhere with this one and had to resort to the solution, which thankfully came with the puzzle. 

Difficulty Level

Very difficult and it even took me a while to understand and figure out the solution diagrams too before I managed to get the whole lot back correctly together. Hardcore packing puzzle enthusiasts would enjoy this one!

Twelve Bow Ties

Name
Twelve Bow Ties

Designer
Wayne Daniel

Manufacturer & Availability
Produced by Wayne Daniel

Type & Classification
Interlocking Solid

Dimensions
5cm x 5cm x 5cm

Materials & Construction
All wood and what appears to be cherry and walnut, the latter for the bow ties. Very well made with fine attention to detail and cutting, for such a small puzzle. Everything slides smoothly as intended.

Overview
Twelve Bow Ties was Marti Reils' IPP34 Exchange Puzzle in London. This puzzle takes the shape of a polyhedron with 12 faces and is known as a dodecahedron. Each face is itself a pentagon. 

The object of the puzzle is to take it apart and put it back together. The puzzle comprises of 8 pieces (with 2 sets of 4 congruent pieces each). Each of the pieces has grooves, notches and "bow tie" protrusions and the pieces slide and interlock against each other in the most amazing way. At first glance, you may even mistake it for an impossible object but not really, as the puzzle can be taken apart from different angles and directions depending on on which face of the puzzle you start from. 

Difficulty Level

Given the way its been cut, can be a bit tricky to put back together, if you totally scramble the pieces. The puzzle first splits into half and then into quarters and so on, so its best to try to remember which pair of pieces go together. 

Baffling Bolted Book

Name
Baffling Bolted Book ("BBB")

Designer
Louis Coolen & Adin Townsend

Manufacturer & Availability
Produced by Allard Walker (but all 3 gents had a hand in doing the modding and fittings with Louis doing most of the work!)

Type & Classification
Trick Opening/Take-Apart/2D Packing

Dimensions
18.2cm x 12cm x 3.8cm 

Materials & Construction
The puzzle is actually a box which has been made to resemble a book and I believe the box is commercially available. Made of plywood with canvas wrapping. The 2D packing puzzle is laser cut acrylic.

Overview
This is one of the more unusual looking (and rather large in size) puzzles at the IPP34 Puzzle Exchange and it was fellow puzzle blogger Allard Walker's exchange puzzle. The BBB follows the theme of his previous year's (IPP33) exchange puzzle the Conjuring Conundrum where an available object (in the case of the BBB, a box-book) is fashioned and modified into a working mechanical puzzle. 

Like the Conjuring Conundrum, the BBB offers two challenges. The first and easier (not easy) task is to open the box. The second is to use three pieces stuffed in a bag inside the box to make a line-symmetrical shape in a frame that is attached to the underside of the lid.

This is a sequential discovery puzzle where you are required to use whatever's in the puzzle (eg; tools etc) to solve it. No external implements or tools are allowed. To open the box requires approximate 7-8 steps. After about 3 steps, the lid opens partially and you get to have a bit of a glimpse of the inside. An a-ha moment! You can just about see a cloth bag and a card which holds the acrylic pieces for the second challenge but not more. From here, the difficulty increases. Not easy moving forward and it does require you to do some thinking how to use what's within the box to progress further. The next 4-5 steps if executed correctly will release the lid fully and bring you to the second challenge, forming a line-symmetrical shape inside the frame.

In case you are wondering what's a line symmetrical shape...simply put is this...if you draw a straight line over the shape you have formed with the three pieces and if the shape is the correct intended shape, you will get a mirror image on the left and right side of the line. Although its only three pieces, this 2D packing challenge is tough because you not only have to firstly form a symmetrical shape, but you need to form one that fits inside the parallelogram shaped frame. There are several symmetrical shapes to be found but only one which will fit inside the frame. Here is what makes the second challenge so very difficult, despite only having three pieces. Took me a while to figure this part out. I will not link the solution here but will provide it via email upon request.

Difficulty Level

For sequential discovery puzzle lovers, this is a pretty good one with some tricks here and there. Need to be careful or might miss some things. Not overly difficult but by no means easy either. For the 2D packing challenge, very difficult and can be a real pain! Not that many symmetrical type puzzles out there and this one is really a toughie.

Summary

A very nice, unusual and well executed exchange puzzle which provides two challenges in one puzzle. The BBB is available in limited quantities from puzzle purveyor Wil Strijbos. The 2D packing challenge is also available as a standalone puzzle (called the Symmple Puzzle; what an understatement! and designed by Adin Townsend) and available from Louis Coolen.

Leprechaun's Dilemma

Name
Leprechaun's Dilemma

Designer
Patterson G. Feeney 

Manufacturer & Availability
Allen Rolfs

Type & Classification
Slocum Classification 4.1 Disentanglement

Dimensions
13cm x 10cm.The ring is about 6cm in diameter.

Materials & Construction
The puzzle is entirely made of sheet metal. Everything fits and moves as intended. Pretty good detailing given that the puzzle is hand-painted. Alan painted a 100+ copies? Wow!! Only problem is that with continuous play (if your solve is slow), the paint can get chipped away.

Overview
I usually don't fancy disentanglement puzzles as they are usually way to hard for me. But when I do play with one, I try to choose one that is not too difficult or does not look difficult. In the case of the Leprechaun's Dilemma, its both.

The puzzle was Allen Rolfs' Exchange Puzzle at IPP34 in London. His reproduction is based on a 1912 design pattented by P.G. Feeney. Object here is to remove the yellow ring from the Leprechaun's body.

Difficulty Level

Not too difficult. With a bit of experimentation, I was able to remove the ring in a matter of minutes...hooray. Nonetheless its sufficiently tricky enough that I took a bit more time to put back the ring. What can be taken out (without force), can be replaced. And its all a matter of physics, even though the ring looks "impossible" to remove (like most string/disentanglement puzzles)

Summary

Cute and colourful puzzle that can be solved quickly once you master the couple of moves required. Great for novice "Disentanglers" and a nice exchange puzzle with (IMHO), just the right level of difficulty.

4L Co-Mo

Name
4L Co-Mo (4 layers Co-ordinate Motion Puzzle)

Designer
Johan Heyns, South Africa. This circular version is based on a hexagonal shaped version designed by Johan in 2011. Johan has also recently produced a hex-shaped version with a cutout in the middle.

Manufacturer & Availability
Handcrafted and sold by Johan himself. 

Type & Classification
Co-ordinate motion

Dimensions
Relatively large at about 9.1cm diameter and 4.5cm thick, but a good size that fits the hands pretty well.

Materials & Construction
The three pieces of this puzzle is made from Pau Marfim (a Brazilian "substitute" for Maple), Rhodesian Teak and Mansonia. Quality of construction, fit and finish is excellent with the entire puzzle built to tight tolerances. Hefty and yes the sliding is also very smooth. The stand that comes with the puzzle comprises of offcuts re-purposed from the same three woods. A nice little extra touch here!

Overview
This is my first puzzle from Johan and certainly would not be my last. My copy is the less expensive "non-stripey" version (US$38). The stripey version has each of the pieces made from a combination of three woods. It is also overall thicker to maintain the strength and integrity of the puzzle and correspondingly a little more expensive.

Generally I don't have much problems with co-ordinate motion puzzles (based on past experience) and I didn't think I would have much issue with the 4L Co-Mo. But I couldn't be more wrong. I took apart the puzzle in a jiffy (this was the easy part) but spent the better part of an afternoon trying to put the thing back together and still couldn't! 

I made a comment (to Otis Cheng's FaceBook picture post of his 4L Co-Mo) about my difficulty and within minutes, Johan (who must have seen my comment) shot me a PM to let me know that I needed to align certain match markings on the pieces to slide them back to the original state. He mentioned that the markings were a necessary guide to ensure that the pieces fit especially after sanding and turning. In my case, it was a small dot drilled into the joining ends of two pieces. Others could be two dots or a circle, depending.

With this new info, I was then able to position the pieces correctly and slide all three pieces back into the solved state. 

Difficulty Level

Easy to take apart but even with the match markings, this is still a relatively difficult puzzle to put back together; you need to align all three pieces "just nicely" in the correct position and orientation to slide them inwards. If not, one of the pieces would always be excluded. Not an easy task and I did take a bit of time on this as well. Perhaps the hardest co-ordinate motion puzzle I have come across so far. Thanks for Johan's help, otherwise I would still have been grappling with this one. A bit of practice here and there and I got the hang of it after a while.

Summary

The 4L Co-Mo is a great co-ordinate motion puzzle; very high quality and sturdily constructed with thick stock and can withstand abuse (but be more gentle with the stand tho'). Johan calls his works ICTA (Intellectual Coffee Table Art), not puzzles. How true; supported on its own stand, the 4L Co-Mo displays really very nicely on any desk or mantle. And did I mention that it is very good value for money too?

Antislide Tetramino

Name
Antislide Tetramino

Designer
Vladimir Krasnoukhov, Russia. The AT-Puzzle was also Vladimir's IPP35 Exchange Puzzle. For some of his other very nice puzzle designs, click here and here.

Manufacturer & Availability
Manufactured and sold by Vladimir himself. He may still have some copies available. 

Type & Classification
2D Packing

Dimensions
13.5cm x 7.5cm x 0.6cm

Materials & Construction
Laser cut acrylic used throughout. 3mm thickness for the pieces and the tray. Excellent quality and Vladimir went one step further by providing a red piece-holder so that all the pieces are are nicely held together when not in play.

Overview
This is not just your usual packing puzzle, but one with an added task; to pack all the 5 tetramino (each piece is 4 units) pieces into the tray in such a fashion that none of the pieces can slide (or move) in any direction. As a pure packing puzzle, this would have been a no-brainer, but with the anti-slide requirement, the AT-Puzzle becomes a very difficult puzzle indeed!

I took the better part of a day and still couldn't figure out the solution and decided to email fellow puzzle collector George Bell (who had solved it a while back) for a clue. But before he replied, something clicked in my brain and I tried arranging the pieces in a new way...and there, within seconds...I had solved it! I usually don't spend so much time on any one puzzle, but this one just drew me in and I went on and on playing with it, refusing to give up. I wish I could do the same for burrs.

Difficulty Level

Very difficult! thinking outside the norm is required no less. If you wish to see the solution, please click here - Password - antislide.

Summary

The AT-Puzzle is absolutely fantastic. It is also George Bell's favourite. So innocuously simple looking yet extremely challenging for a 5-piece puzzle. One of those puzzles that once you pick it up and know what you have to do, you simply can't put it down.