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2 Piece oddity |
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6 board burr in a cage |
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Last week began with me mysteriously (???) receiving 2 absolutely stunning works of art from
Brian Menold. The 2 piece oddity was designed by Tom Jolly and is an interesting, if not particularly difficult puzzle - Brian's workmanship is amazing - here we see Purpleheart, Padauk and a Holly veneer. The 6 board burr in a cage was designed by Stéphane Chomine it is made from Granadillo for the cage with 6 Walnut and Olivewood pieces for the Burr The solutiom has a level of 17.8.9.3.3 and I have not yet managed to solve it.
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Pyracube |
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Mini Chessboard |
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This pair arrived last Thursday from
Eric Fuller - Pyrracube by Stewart Coffin is a packing puzzle made from Ash and Sapele - I am rubbish at packing puzzles but every now and then I try a new one to see whether I can improve! The Chesspoard is by William Hu and is made of Peruvian Walnut & Maple. A nice little challenge for me!
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You cannot have too many twisty puzzles! |
Unbeknownst to me, I also had a delivery on Saturday whilst at the MPP - this is from Calvin at the HKNowstore. Here we have the Greg and Felix's 2x2 & Megaminx and the Moyu Wheel of time. The un-stickered puzzles are Eric Vergo's Pentagram and the Constrained megaminx (with interchangeable centres) both from MF8.
Whilst at the Midlands Puzzle Party I might (ahem!!) have made a few acquisitions:
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A printed plastic version of Lee Krasnow's Barrcode burr |
I have lusted after Lee Krasnow's barrcode burr for years but it has always been out of my reach. But a good friend got permission to make a few in plastic and I couldn't say no! This has some rather interesting movements!
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Coronation Cube |
This printed plastic creation was given to me by Rich Gain - it is the Coronation cube and was his entry into the 2014 IPP design competition. I solved it at the MPP and it has a lovely sequence of moves including one rotation!
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Lucky Clover |
I couldn't resist buying this from Wil Strijbos - it is a sliding tile/sequential movement puzzle designed by Hans van der Zon and whilst I very much doubt whether I can solve it or the other 2 puzzles that can be made using the extra pieces supplied, I was totally captivated by the movements that were possible! This will provide me with hours and hours of fun!
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A rather unusual Rubik cube |
Wil gave me this as a gift - It is a keyboard converted to a 3x3 cube - unfortunately I realised last night that the keys are from a dutch keyboard! This will be a fun little challenge!
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q3Fight cube |
I bought 2 of these from rich gain - it is a shiny metal version of Livecubes and will allow me to experiment and make hundreds of different interlocking puzzles from Ishino's site. Having 2 sets means that I can go up to 5x5 and even 6x6 cubes for added fun! You all know that I cannot resist shiny things! I am sure that my friends Steve and Noella will want to play too - they love my shiny toys too!!!
Finally - the
ULTIMATE in shiny toys:
My friend Stephen Miller started
Pyro puzzles and the first in his series of Elemental puzzle is about to be released - the Fire Puzzle is the first. Those of us at the MPP managed to get our copies ahead of the official release - mine is Number 5! I have seldom seen such a beautifully made and packaged puzzle. I have not really done more than open it and play with the movement. There is a lot too this puzzle including deciphering clues as well as the mechanical aspect of it! If you haven't ordered one then be quick before they all go!
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How about that for beautifully packaged? |
Just opening the box is a lovely experience!
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Drool |
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Fire |
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Look at the attention to detail - it even has feet! |
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