It’s been a couple of weeks since my last puzzle blog post. Hence I thought this weekend, I will write about this wooden puzzle box that captured my intrigue.

Of Mice & Mazes is a rather interesting looking puzzle box. Designed, manufactured by Thomas Beutner, it was also his Exchange Puzzle at IPP38 in San Diego this past August. It’s an all wooden puzzle box. At first glance, I even thought it looked very much like a Karakuri styled box from the Japanese master craftsmen. Measuring 13cm x 9cm x 5.3cm, the box is constructed out of glued strips/layers of wood. The outer surface is some sort of light coloured veneer. It has a round ball knob at one end of the box. Obviously for the purpose of pulling out the drawer. And on top there is a little wooden mouse “attached” by a magnet. Construction, fit and finish is more than good enough for an exchange puzzle, but of course, not to the level of Karakuri quality.

The object is to open the box and retrieve a deck of cards stored within. I would classify this puzzle as a “sequential discovery” puzzle where the trick to solving the puzzle is to use whatever “tools” that come with the puzzle. But you need to “find” those tools first. Take a look at the Angel Box for instance.

Solving the Mice & Mazes box took a bit of fiddling and experimentation. I started with the obvious of tugging at the knob and expected, I could pull a drawer out but only partially. I was stuck at this stage for a while. So I decided on a more careful examination of the box. In doing so, I was able to successfully navigate four or five other steps which eventually saw me extracting the drawer. Inside the drawer was a deck of new unopened cards. A quick check with the provided solution confirmed that I had solved the puzzle box correctly. Oh by way, no force whatsoever was needed too.

The mechanism/trick of the drawer is rather clever, and so is the solution. What aided my solve was that I was able to see part of the insides which gave me the idea for the solution. Made it much easier of course! And where does the mouse feature in all this?…for those who have this puzzle, I will leave you guys to figure out for yourselves!

The deck of cards itself is not an ordinary deck but came from a Kickstarter project according to Thomas. These cards called “Bicycle Mazing Playing Cards” are “maze cards” (hence the name of the puzzle) and every card in the deck has a picture of a maze.

Reassembly was just the reverse and I easily got all the parts back to original. Overall a nice puzzle box with an interesting design and trick to it. 

The post Of Mice & Mazes – A Puzzle Card Box appeared first on JL Puzzles.

I return to JL Puzzles for a quick follow-up to last month’s Flight Case post. As it turns out, I actually own two Smetsers items. When I purchased Flight Case, I couldn’t resist getting Leo Smetsers’ other trick “box” called The Vault. It is worthy of the name, I assure you. But before we get to that I need to provide a little snippet of information on Flight Case that I forgot to mention last time. Although produced and sold by Leo Smetsers, the Flight Case mechanism (or loading principle, as they say in the trade) was developed by fellow magician Gijs Benneheij who hails from Limburg, Netherlands. Credit where credit is due.

Now back to The Vault. I should start off by stating up front, in no uncertain terms, that The Vault is NOT a puzzle box. Unlike Flight Case, it is quit impossible to open this box from the outside once locked. So don’t rush out and buy this expecting a cool, refreshing solving challenge. Why am I reviewing it on a puzzle blog, you ask? Well, simply put, because bloggers like Jerry and my day-job boss Kevin let me get away with it. It’s as simple as that. But there is actually a puzzle element to The Vault which I will divulge at the end of the post, so read on.

The Vault is a very high quality machined aluminum box composed of four basic elements: a box frame, a half-cylinder lid, a stainless steel rod to bind them, and a diminutive padlock that secures the whole affair. The box frame is fashioned from separate front, rear, side, and bottom panels. The front and rear are anodized black while the sides and bottom are polished to a mirror finish. Four screws secure the front and rear panels. The semi-cylindrical lid is especially beautiful. It supplies the box with a cross-section appropriate to its moniker. The interior floor and walls are carpeted in velvet to prevent unwanted noise when an item is magically deposited. In the buttoned-up state it is quite hefty, considering its size, and feels very solid in the hand. It could surely be scuffed and dinged if abused, but it is not likely to ever break. All said, it is a very fine piece of work. All this beauty and craftsmanship however, does come at a price. The Vault retails for US$150.

Now, if it is not a puzzle box (i.e., not solvable) what exactly is it? In today’s parlance, it is known as a Lippincott box. This is a handy shorthand used by the magic crowd for a whole family of boxes, most of which employ similar mechanisms. The name comes from Mal Lippincott’s Quarter Go, which hit the market in 1949. Although Mal was quite successful with his product, the box and mechanism actually date back quite a bit further. From what I gather, the earliest published version of such a box is in Professor Hoffman’s 1876 Modern Magic. This audience is surely familiar with Professor Hoffman (pen name of Angelo Lewis) from his 1893 Puzzles Old and New, the bible for collectors of older puzzles. Much as we puzzlers would like to think that Hoffman was a fellow puzzle guy, it appears that magic was his first and best love. He wrote four books on magic between 1876 and 1918. Professor Hoffman can, in a certain sense, be considered the original spoiler for magic. Prior to his publications, magic was a highly secretive, well-guarded art form. That is still true today, to some extent, but after Hoffman the cat was out of the bag (excuse me, the rabbit was out of the hat). It was bound to happen at some point, of course. Today you could fill a library with books on magic.

In Modern Magic we find a nice puzzle box in the form of the Watch Box (pp. 219-220), which can be solved from the outside. As you know, Hoffman’s books are simply compendia of tricks and puzzles known at the time, so the actual “invention” of the mechanism must date even earlier, perhaps very much earlier. It seems that the Lippincott mechanism is a variation on the Watch Box, made smaller for a coin and, critically important, not openable from the outside. Although a “Lippincott” box should probably only refer to such unsolvable boxes, it seems that the term is now widely used for either internally or externally open-able boxes.

It would be the very definition of bad taste to reveal the secret of the Lippincott mechanism here, so of course I won’t. But the interested read can find plans, explanations, and how-to’s all over the interweb. For the solver, it will likely be the solvable versions that are of most interest. The renaissance puzzler, however, with an abiding interest in all puzzle-adjacent phenomena, may find it unobjectionable to own an impossible box like The Vault. As a bonus, that routine you’ve been working on with Flight Case can be used equally well with The Vault.

I promised to provide a puzzle aspect for The Vault, so here it is, simple though it be. In order to have a problem to solve, you first need to resist the urge to research The Vault, Lippincott, or anything related. Simply order The Vault and 1) figure out the mechanism (not hard for a true puzzler), and 2) figure out to vanish and reappear items. How do you do magic with a box you can’t get into? You can check your answer against the video provided by Smesters (it comes with the box). You don’t have to be a magician to figure it out, just work deductively. As for convincingly performing the vanish/reappear? That, my friends, requires practice.

OK, that concludes my short but sweet second JL Puzzles guest blog post. A warm mahalo nui loa to Jerry for once again giving me space here. I promise to review a proper puzzle next time around!

The post The Vault – Guest Post By Mike Desilets appeared first on JL Puzzles.

Before I go any further, yes, you are at the correct blog! This is JL Puzzles, not a certain other highly esteemed blog I frequent. I have not turned colors, just indulging in a bit of moonlighting between Puzzlemad assignments. Jerry has very graciously offered me space here to write and I thought it best to take full advantage. What I post here at JL Puzzles will be a little different from my current fare. The intent is to put out shorter, quicker posts on individual puzzles. Something easier and faster that won’t take up my whole weekend, but which will still be of interest to the solver/collector/designer community. It remains to be seen if I can actually pull that off. It’s hard to sit down and write, but once I do things seem to get away from me.

So today let’s look at a puzzle which wasn’t even intended as a puzzle, per se, the Flight Case. You may recall a blog article a couple years back concerning a pair of de facto puzzle boxes produced by Joe Porper? Flight case is along these lines. Precisely along these lines. It is a “gimmicked” box employed by magicians to convincingly, and impossibly, disappear and reappear items. Although primarily useful for magical routines, it is also very interesting as a puzzle box.

Flight Case was designed and produced by working magician Leo Smetsers from Holland. As such, it comes complete with a routine which, with a little practice, even I could pull off. But that was not my intent in purchasing it. I wanted to solve the box.

Upon arrival of my Flight Case, I duly locked it with the miniscule brass padlock provided and then proceeded to explore. Within about 10 minutes, trying this and that, I managed to get it open. The mechanism is actually very simple, but also well hidden. Quite invisible, in fact. Examination of the exterior provides no clue to the mechanism, although there is plenty of room for speculation. In terms of difficultly, I would say it is moderate to low for the experienced puzzler. It is much easier than Strong Box 2.0 and perhaps equivalent to Strong Box original. It could be handed out for examination during a routine, but not for too long!

How does it fly?

Although Flight Case is not difficult from a solving perspective, I think it would be of interest to serious puzzle box aficionados. Difficulty is not necessarily the defining quality in a puzzle box. Craftsmanship, beauty, and design ingenuity all play their part. Certainly within the very narrow subcategory of trick magic boxes, Flight Case stands out as a very high quality item on all counts. It functions flawlessly with perfect fit between moving parts.

Construction-wise, with its faux-wood panels and riveted aluminum and steel frame, it stands apart from everything else I have seen. I’m not a puzzle box guy by any means, but I do keep my eye on them (often lustfully). Like the best puzzle boxes, Flight Case is a hand-crafted item made in small numbers, usually to order. The price reflects this, running north of 200 USD. Though not in the stratospheric range like some boxes, it is a serious purchase.

I wouldn’t recommend Flight Case to anyone who is principally interested in the solving aspect. It probably won’t provide sufficient value based on that criterion alone. But if you take the broader view, this box may be something to consider. There are a very small number of high quality trick boxes produced by the magic folks. Joe Porper’s Strong Boxes are probably the premier example, but Leo Smetsers’ Flight Case is in the same class and is a necessary item for the committed collector. And hey, once you have it, why not put it to use? The routine can be mastered by anyone willing to put in practice time. It would be great for friends and family entertainment. And on the practical side, it’s the only way to get full value for your money.

That concludes my short but sweet maiden JL Puzzles blog post. Thanks so much Jerry for this opportunity! Back over to you….

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

A big thank you to Mike for a very nice write up on the Flight Case. I am already looking forward to his next article!

The post Flight Case – Guest Post By Mike Desilets appeared first on JL Puzzles.

UPDATE 22 Jan 2018 – Free Goodies For Winning Bidder of misenary box!!!

Michel van Ipenburg has decided to give incentives for bids exceeding various levels in the hope that this will raise higher bids for charity. These are fantastic puzzles and I have played with three of them personally. Bid more than € 450 and get to take home a whopping 5 extra puzzles!

It goes as follows:

Bid < € 250,- : two prototypes of the CFF100 ltd ed. puzzle will be added

Bid < € 300,- : first prototype of Larva and second pair of sliders will be added as well.

Bid < € 375,- : first prototype of Ladybird will be added as well.

Bid < € 450,- : first prototype of 8 stars labyrinth will be added also!

All puzzles are fully functional though may be different from the sold products as these were for review purposes.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

My friend and fellow puzzler Michel Van Ipenburg has listed his puzzle, the MiSenary Box, a puzzle box  on puzzleparadise.net for auction. This is his last copy!

Proceeds from the winning bidder will be donated to cancer research. Have a look here: https://www.puzzleparadise.net/auction_details.php?name=auction-for-charity-misenary-puzzle-box&auction_id=101683

It will run for two weeks, ending January 28th, 2018.

For reviews of the MiSenary Box please click on the following links.

http://allardspuzzlingtimes.blogspot.sg/2018/01/misenary-puzzle-box.html

http://www.puzzlemad.co.uk/2018/01/a-chance-for-you-to-win-and.html

Please share about this, thank you.

The post MiSenary Box appeared first on JL Puzzles.

Unlike the previous two Push Boxes which I managed to solve it one way or another without help (and within a relatively short time), the Push Box 3 stumped me the moment I got it out of my puzzle cabinet. I was very surprised to see that the drawer was already out-meaning the puzzle was in the solved state. My first thought was that Dr Nightingale had changed his design to make the goal of the puzzle to “close the box” this time, instead of opening it.  So I decided to try to solve it on that basis instead. I must say I spent quite a lot of time on the box over a number of days but couldn’t get anywhere. Like the previous boxes, there is a ball bearing rolling around inside somewhere and the drawer is spring loaded and refused to stay inside. I even entertained the idea that the puzzle may have been damaged during transit from Paris back to Singapore.

Finally I decided to throw in the towel and shot an email to Dr Nightingale to consult him (no pun intended). Dr Nightingale replied to say that the “open box” was already solved; meaning that perhaps the long plane ride had caused the puzzle to open solve itself accidentally. Anyway he gave me some directions as to what to do and after another longish period, suddenly the drawer went in and stayed shut-so it wasn’t damaged after all.

Like the previous two versions of the Push Box, I still have no clue how the mechanism of this puzzle box works. But I am happy to return it to the shelf with the drawer nicely tucked inside the box. Will there be a Push Box 4? Well, I will know when I attend IPP38 this coming August.

The post Push Box 3 appeared first on JL Puzzles.

I received the  Euro Falle 06 courtesy of Allen Stein during the IPP37 Puzzle Exchange in Paris this past August. This puzzle is shaped like a crescent moon, with the silhouette of a man’s face. Hence the alternative name of La Luna. The puzzle measures about 10.5cm x 8cm x 2.5cm. It is made up of layers of laser cut wood glued and held together by two screws. A top-plate made of acrylic covers a Euro 20 cent coin inside its own recess. On the back is a Euro copper 1 cent coin which is held within its own little hole. Quality of construction and finish is very good and the puzzle feels very thick, heavy and solid. There are identification marks and etchings  on both sides of the puzzle and the detailing is decent.   The object as mentioned is to remove the 20 cent coin from its slot. I guess you could consider it as a wooden puzzle box, just shaped differently.

An initial inspection would seem to suggest that it is impossible to remove the coin, there are no visible exits and all the layers are screwed and glued tight…but then again, there is often a hidden trick to it. Except sadly to say that I wasn’t able to discover it. My other experience with an earlier Euro Falle puzzle was the Euro Falle 03, co-incidentally also an exchange puzzle from Allen two years back at IPP35 in Canada. Now with that one I didn’t have much problem.  The current puzzle I had a lot of problems and after several days of play, I still got nowhere with it. I tried all sorts of stuff, the usual tapping, shaking and of course tried to figure out if the 1 cent coin had anything to do with the solve. In my mind, I had a rough idea of how the puzzle functioned but it was the execution which got the better of me. Nothing seemed to work and I promptly shot an email to Allen asking for a clue. He did come back with an explanation which I still couldn’t grasp (on hindsight, my own inability to understand) and I asked him to clarify.  Allen decided to send over the solution instead.

I wasn’t too surprise when I saw the solution. I just didn’t execute the critical move correctly. With the solution in sight, I solved the Euro Falle 06 in a jiffy. The mechanism has a very neat trick to it I would say that the Euro Falle 06 may even come under the class of Sequential Discovery puzzles, which requires a puzzler to find and use certain tools (that come with the puzzle) to solve it. Can’t say anymore without spoilers. The entire solve takes about 5 steps. But they are not easy steps, again depending on who is solving it. This is one of those puzzles that if you can figure out step 1, the critical step, the rest becomes fairly easy. Unfortunately I was stuck at step 1 for the longest time.

The post Euro Falle 06 (La Luna) Wooden Puzzle appeared first on JL Puzzles.

This Chinese Puzzle Box  measures about 15cm x 8cm x 5.5cm and while nothing to shout at like those very fine wooden puzzles or boxes made by expert craftsmen, the quality here is ok, and the puzzle works.  And it even has marks and stains of sorts and an aged look to it to lend it an air of vintage origin. The object of course is to open the box. The lid shows off two knobs, one on either end but apart from that, nothing that makes the box stand out. The box looks like any other ordinary wooden/puzzle box. There are Chinese motive etchings on the side and top and the words “Long Life”; I wonder why the text isn’t in Chinese characters as this would have been more suitable to a box of this nature. There is slit on the side, presumably for depositing notes and coins into it as a wooden piggy bank?

I expected not to have much difficulty with this one, but to my own surprise, I actually took longer to solve than what I had expected. I have not played with puzzle boxes in quite a while so perhaps I was a bit rusty and didn’t notice the trick needed to solve it. Indeed the “mechanism”  was very well disguised. Which leads me to conclude that the craftsmanship is pretty decent after all!

The post Chinese Puzzle Box appeared first on JL Puzzles.

Without a doubt, Heblo is very well crafted and from what I can tell, consists of various hardwoods including cherry, maple, oak and walnut. Quality and construction is top-notch here and the contrasting woods really bring out the “shine” of this puzzle. The cube measures 6.8cm all round with curved edges and a nice woody smell to it. 

The object is to remove a small ball residing inside. You can hear it rolling about in some void within. My first thought was that it is an interlocking burr of sorts. Well, there was really no other way to begin solving except by pushing and pulling at the cube itself. But just to make sure that pieces were not compressed together due to the high Singaporean humidity, I left it in my dry box for a good half a day before play.

After a rather unexpected and surprising solve, I got the ball out. Rather too quickly too I might add.  But then again, if it had been harder like a mid-level interlocking burr, who knows? I may not have been able to solve it. But once you are able to find the opening move, its pretty easy. Unfortunately, I can’t show the solved state here as it will be a dead giveaway. From a puzzling standpoint, not at all difficult but from an aesthetics point of view, a beautifully made puzzle for display.

The post Heblo appeared first on JL Puzzles.

I was rather delighted when I received the Moulin Rouge from Roman Gotter during my IPP37 puzzle exchange with Roman in Paris recently. What was a bit surprising tho is that Stephan’s Moulin Rouge doesn’t follow the themed burr concept that he is famous for….in fact at first glance it looked a bit “Karakuri-ish”. But still the puzzle has a French theme connected with IPP37 – Moulin Rouge (in French means “Red Mill”) is a world famous cabaret in Paris.

And so the puzzle resembles a miniature windmill. The object is to “help” Colette, a can-can dancer who’s trapped inside the mill to “escape”. Practically speaking, it means you have to find a way to open up the windmill to discover Colette who’s inside. A trick opening puzzle box one can call it perhaps.

The Moulin Rouge is made of a combination of exotic hardwoods (Amarant, Merbau and Beech) and takes roughly 8-9 moves to solve. No external tools are necessary and yes, as you might have guessed, the fan of the windmill does serve a purpose other than being decorative.

Unexpectedly I was stuck at the last step of freeing Colette. For more than several minutes I could see Colette but could not fathom a way to get her out of her “trap”. For a while, I though Stephan had inadvertently left out something from the puzzle which was necessary to solve it. But as I realised later, I had myself to blame for being careless and not paying close enough attention to the overall puzzle itself. Everything was there which I needed. Nonetheless all ended well and out came Colette. For Exchange puzzles, the Colette is unpainted, like mine in the photo but as I understand, those copies that are for sale have a very detailed painted Colette.

A nice little puzzle indeed! The Moulin Rouge is very well made and provides an adequate amount of challenge, at a level of difficulty which is “just right” for an exchange puzzle.

The post Moulin Rouge appeared first on JL Puzzles.