Category Archives: Puzzle Reviews

The Always Empty Box

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The Always Empty Box created by Phil Tomlinson is his first puzzle box, and what a cracker it is. Phil is a cabinetmaker and woodworker with 35 years experience. He lives in Cincinnati OH, and his business is called WolfAngel Studios.

The Always Empty Box

The Always Empty Box

This is a beautifully made box crafted from Black Walnut, Curly Maple, Bloodwood, Rock Maple and Pawlownia. Opening the card box the puzzle is stored in, you are greeted with a Care, Feeding and General information booklet, with lots of info about the puzzle, and how best to look after it. This did make me chuckle, and the information is all worthwhile, especially if you’re not familiar with wood puzzles. Phil did a great job here, and even before taking the box out of the box you’re left with a smile on your face.

The box itself is beautifully finished as you can see from the photograph, with a wonderful satin lacquer giving the box an almost polished look. It measures 3-1/4″ x 3-1/2″ x 5-1/4″ so is a good sized box, and really wouldn’t look out of place as a work from the Karakuri Group. Yes, the quality is that good in my opinion. Phil notes that only 30 of these boxes will be made, and only 22 were sold on Puzzle Paradise, so I was lucky to be able to get one, as these sold out very quickly.

The fit of the box is very snug, the moving parts move very smoothly, but they are a tight fit, just as mentioned in the care booklet. If I were to be picky, there are a couple of gaps at some of the joins in the box, but really that’s being very picky. Overall, this is a stunning looking box, and looks great beside my other wooden boxes.

Opening the box is a fun experience. Initially nothing much seems to do anything, until you find a co-ordinate motion which moves things a tiny fraction, but no more. Finding the lock to open the box the rest of the way takes a little more exploring. Once the box is opened, Phil is quite right with his description, it is always empty (except for the few wood shavings that were still inhabiting my box). I’ve kept those shavings for what its worth!

The final surprise is left to finding out why the box is always empty. This isn’t disguised as cleverly as I have seen in other puzzle boxes, but it is a nice touch, and Phil has done a great job on the box. The magnetic catch which keeps the box empty is a nice touch.

Having given this box to a fellow puzzler, he also enjoyed opening the box, and likened it to some of the Karakuri works in terms of quality. High praise indeed.

Happy to have added this to my collection, and I’ll be happy to show this one around! Great job Phil. Love the work.

Magic Dice

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Magic dice is another Puzzle Master designed and built wooden puzzle, where the object is to remove a small marble from the inside of the dice. Thanks Puzzle Master for sending me this puzzle to review.

Magic Dice by Puzzle Master

Magic Dice by Puzzle Master

The 2 4/5 inch cube is made from Rubberwood, and has countersunk holes on each side corresponding to the faces of a dice. As far as the magic part of the name goes, I have no idea where that came from. Inside the cube, a small marble is trapped, and runs along tunnels, forming a sort of simple maze. By looking through the holes in the sides, and tilting and turning the puzzle, you can navigate the marble through the maze until it can be removed through the side with the single hole, which is slightly larger than the others on the cube. The outer cube is well finished, and looks great. The inner ‘maze’ is a lot rougher, and the finish of the wood isn’t as high as on the outside.

Getting the marble to that side is a reasonable challenge. There are no internal stops on most sides of the cube, so it’s easy to have the marble run from one side of the cube to the other, without pausing anywhere in the middle. A gentle hand, and the occasional ‘hop’ is required to coax the marble to where you need it. There is an added challenge by not being able to see through the puzzle on all sides. Given that the holes represent a dice, there is no visibility in the centre of the puzzle on the #4 side for example.

Magic Dice Solved

The Marble removed from the puzzle

Puzzle Master rates this is a level 5 puzzle (easy) and I’d agree. It’s not a tough puzzle, but can be a little frustrating as you watch the marble speed past where you wanted it to stop. I took around five minutes to remove the marble, and I suspect most people would be the same. Overall a fun puzzle, just don’t expect it to keep you entertained for hours.

Convolution

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Convolution is another Stewart Coffin design, and is numbered 30 in his numbering Scheme. Originally produced in 1980 the seven dissimilar pieces can be assembled in one way, and one way only to give a 4x4x4 cube with a symmetrical pattern on all faces.

Convolution designed by Stewart Coffin made by Brian Menold

Convolution designed by Stewart Coffin made by Brian Menold

This version was made by Brian Menold over at Wood Wonders and is made entirely of Zebra Wood. The puzzle is a nice size at 1 7/8″ and the choice of Zebra Wood really helps to show off the symmetry on each side. This is a very nicely made puzzle, at a very good price.

You may remember from my post about the MMMM’s puzzle that I received from Brian when ordering the convolution that there were some issues in Brian’s view when I was ordering. Brian normally makes the Convolution in either Oak or Poplar, and the puzzle is slightly larger. When I contacted Brian about buying a copy of Convolution from him, he got in touch to say he had a few copies in rarer hardwoods which were slightly smaller but the same price if I was interested. I thought this was a great offer, and took him up on it.

After a little back and forth conversation via email, we settled on the Zebra Wood version, however there were a few hiccups along the way which led to Brian sending me the MMMM’s free. Originally when he told me about the puzzles he had, he’d looked at his Involution puzzles, as they are so similar, so it turned out he didn’t have the wood combination he thought he had. He really didn’t have to, and to my mind there were no issues at all. Just goes to show that Brian’s a really decent guy and I highly recommend both his work and him as a person to buy from.

The seven pieces of Convolution

The seven pieces of Convolution

Getting back to the puzzle itself, this is a classic Coffin reproduction, and is well made. The pieces have a tight fit, and are simply finished with a wax, so there are no stains or other products to tarnish this beautiful wood being used. The puzzle itself creates an interlocking cube so unlike many other cubic dissections, this one doesn’t need a box to hold the pieces, and isn’t going to fall apart if someone bumps into it.

The fact that the pieces are interlocking also adds to the complexity of solving the puzzle. There is only one assembly, and the symmetrical pattern on each side does help with the assembly to some extent. This would be a tough puzzle if it was sent unassembled, and looking at a picture of the assembled cube isn’t going to give a clue as to where certain pieces should be. This is a great design, and while it may not stand out on the puzzle shelf amongst other flashier puzzles, this is one that you really want to pick up and solve.

Deja Vu

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Deja Vu is a trick dovetail box produced by Puzzle Master. Thanks Puzzle Master for sending me this box to review. The object is simply to open the box. It looks simple until you point out to the potential opener, that there is a dovetail on all four sides, which in the normal world would hold the lid and base quite firmly in place.

Deja Vu

Deja Vu trick Dovetail box from Puzzle Master

This is a really striking box to look at, and the staining of one half as a bright red wood really helps to make the detail in the dovetails stand out. The box itself is made from two solid pieces of wood, and there is a small circular hollow in the centre of the red half which could be used to store a small item. Most puzzlers will probably end up with at least one trick dovetail puzzle in their collection, the real beauty is finding one with a really tight fit so as not to give away its secrets.

Puzzle Master offers this box for $11.95 Canadian dollars, so it’s not an expensive puzzle at all, and that does show in its build quality. Given the price you shouldn’t be expecting a hand fitted dovetail with perfect mating between the two parts.

The fit between the two halves of the dovetail is quite loose. As such you can lift the two halves away from each other, and see the locking mechanism in one corner, keeping the box closed. Also as you can see from the close-up picture, there is rounding on the edges of the dovetail, which is a shame as it lets you see how the box opens too.

Deja Vu closeup

A Closeup of the dovetail joint on the Deja Vu puzzle

The locking mechanism itself uses a round ball bearing which also allows for a certain amount of play in the mechanism. One problem I found is that having handed the box to a few people to play with, they would start to slide the two halves apart, and hit the curve of the ball bearing with the slot in the box that the bearing sits in. This has started to round the outside edge of the slot the bearing moves in as the wood is much softer than the bearing. I don’t think it will get to the point where the puzzle will be able to be opened without first releasing the lock, but the amount of play will increase over time. This could easily be fixed by replacing the ball bearing with a metal cylinder which would behave the same way, but would prevent the rounding as the top of the box would not be able to lift on the ball.

The lock in the box is magnetic, and when closed, it holds the box nicely in place, To re-close it, lining up the two halves and then reversing the opening process is required. I’ve found holding the two halves in place correctly is a little challenging as they have a tendency to move as you try to re-lock the box, or at least they do the way I am holding the box. It’s a minor concern as the real challenge is opening the box not closing it.

I do like this box, and it provides a simple challenge to hand to friends, or to leave sitting on a shelf as its striking appearance will have someone itching to pick it up. It’s worth picking up a copy as there are few dovetail boxes available for the general public, and this is a nice box for the money.

MMMM’s

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I recently came across Wood Wonders, run by Brian Menold. Brian makes wooden puzzles in small numbers, and has several beautiful looking puzzles for sale online. I was ordering a copy of Stewart Coffin’s Convolution from Brian, and Brian felt that given a few minor things that happened when ordering that he was going to send me a free puzzle as a way of saying sorry for any confusion.

MMMM's designed by Hirokazu Iwasawa

MMMM's designed by Hirokazu Iwasawa, made by Brian Menold

I should point out that from my point, there were no issues at all, Brian was an absolute gentleman, and was very quick in getting back to me not only with some other options for the puzzle I was buying, but with lots of great feedback.

The puzzle Brian sent on was MMMM’s designed by Hirokazu Iwasawa. The idea for this puzzle is simple enough. Place the four identical ‘M’ shaped pieces into the box, and close the lid. The lid is designed so that it fits snugly onto the box, and contains an inset block which fills some space inside the top of the box. Brian’s version of this puzzle is beautifully made with a snugly fitting box, and the four M’s made from Zebra Wood.

Your first thought is that this shouldn’t be possible. The pieces are both longer than the box is wide, and tall so it doesn’t look good for a simple solution. The height of the pieces is almost exactly the width of the internal dimension of the box, so it’s a snug fit, and not a lot of room free, or so it appears. There’s a good few ways in which you can put all four pieces into the box, but only one way in which the lid will sit closed on top of the box.

You require a little bit of out of the box thinking on this puzzle, but it does provide a nice challenge, and I have found it very satisfying to open the box, and tip the pieces into an unsuspecting person’s hands then ask them to put the pieces back in. Doing this adds the extra challenge that they know the pieces were in there to start with, so it has to be possible, but doesn’t let them see the solution by opening the box themselves. Maybe there is a cruel streak in me somewhere?

Everyone I’ve given this to has really enjoyed the puzzle, and Brian’s version is very well made. Thanks for sending me this puzzle Brian. I really appreciate it, and it is a very welcome addition to my collection. Look out for my review of Brian’s Convolution soon. I highly recommend you browse Wood Wonders, there are some beautiful puzzles there, and Brian’s craftsmanship is excellent.

Free The Key

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Following on from my recent theme of maze based puzzles, this is a review of Puzzle Master’s metal puzzle, “Free The Key”, designed by Oskar Van Deventer and produced by Puzzle Master themselves. I’d like to thank Puzzle Master for sending me this puzzle to review.

Free The Key

Free The Key by Puzzle Master

At first glance this is a nice looking puzzle, and has a solid feel to it. It’s much larger than I expected, at around 4.5″ long by 2″. The puzzle I received has some discolouration around the gold ring as can been seen in the photographs, which spoils the look slightly when close up, but sitting on the puzzle shelf you’d never know that.

The object is to remove the brass ring from the key, and then return the ring to its starting point. It seems like a simple enough objective, and really is. There are a few dead ends and more than one start point, as with any good puzzle of this type. The arms on either side of the puzzle interact with each other meaning you occasionally have to back track and re-orient the ring to get over the dual obstacles. It does mean that you have to look ahead to see which notches in the ring you’ll need to have lined up before you progress too far down the key.

Where the puzzle is let down slightly is that the fit of the ring on the main shaft of the key is slightly loose. This leads to what I’d consider cheating where you can angle the ring so it is not 90 degrees to the shaft of the key, permitting the spikes on the key through a gap in the ring it was not intended to go through, simplifying the puzzle at points. This aside, it’s a fun puzzle, and is well made for the price.

Free the Key partially open

Free the Key by Puzzle Master partially open

Puzzle Master lists this as a difficulty level 8 puzzle, however I feel that it should be lower, maybe around a 5 or 6. I solved this in under 10 minutes, both removing the ring and returning it to its starting point, and had little trouble in doing so. If you’ve not played with this type of puzzle before, it may provide more of a challenge, but a more experienced puzzler will have little difficulty with this one. If you’re looking for a gift for a younger puzzler, I’d recommend this, and it’s the sort of puzzle you’d have no worries about passing round.