Blockhead

I have gone through a period in my puzzle collecting and solving where I have felt quite good about packing puzzles, so when Brian Menold over at Wood Wonders offered copies of the Blockhead puzzle designed by Bill Cutler, I couldn’t pass it up, especially given his choice of woods.

Blockhead, designed by Bill Cutler, and made by Brian Menold

Blockhead, designed by Bill Cutler, and made by Brian Menold

Blockhead is a four piece packing puzzle which at first glance looks pretty innocent. 4 cubic pieces put into a square tray, what could be simpler? Brian has made this copy using Pear pieces in an Oak tray with Paduak splines. It’s a really good looking puzzle and it’s a big puzzle too. Measuring in at 4.25″ x 4.25″ x 1.75″ the pieces are big when you’re playing with them, and the whole puzzle has a really solid feel to it.

By now you’ll have realised that any time I state that something is simple, it couldn’t be further from the truth. Removing the pieces from the frame having up-ended it, you’ll quickly realise that the nice, square, regular appearance of the blocks in the solved state was rather misleading.

Blockhead pieces

Blockhead pieces

As you can see, the blocks are more like the type of saw cuts I made as a child playing in my grandfathers shed, than the type of absolutely square sides that puzzle makers strive for. Not only are the pieces anything but square, but the inside walls of the tray are also not square. They are as slanted as the pieces, and will clearly play a part in getting the pieces back into the tray. So now that you understand what makes this so puzzling, it’s easier to see what makes it such a good puzzle.

This isn’t an overly difficult puzzle, but will provide a good solving experience and there are some parameters which will help you narrow down the possible combinations, meaning it’s not out of the realms of a determined person to solve before too long.

Brian’s work is superb, and each new piece I buy from him, the quality seems to be better and better. Given the prices he asks for this work, even the limited run puzzles, you’d be hard pushed to find a better copy of many of these puzzles elsewhere. Not to mention that Brian also threw a copy of a diagonal burr into the box along with my order, so there was an unexpected pleasant surprise when I opened the box.

Allard, Kevin and Oli have both written about the Blockhead, so go read their views too.

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