No Problem Puzzles provided over 100 amazing puzzles designs for the community between November 2020 and April 2023 until the tragic passing of Symen Hovinga on 7 April 2023. Theo Geerinck, the other half of the No Problem Puzzles duo, decided to graciously allow the puzzle designs to be made available to the puzzle community for anyone to print their own copy to keep the legacy alive. Mr BurrTools himself, Andreas Röver, is currently in the process of verifying and publishing the stl model files over the next several months. These are being made available on the Printables site under the No Problem Puzzles collection.
This post continues the review of the No Problem Puzzles as the models are being released. Since the last review (No Problem Puzzles, Update #3), we have another 4 No Problem Puzzles to review. They consist of Black Cat White Cat, Pizza Panne, Donut Perplex Junior, and Twist Them In. For this batch of puzzles, the specified level of difficulty varied between 2 and 4 on a scale of 5.
Black Cat, White Cat
This puzzle addresses the problem of herding cats. It’s not difficult to determine how they need to be arranged but a real challenge to get them to all cooperate by coming together. The difficulty level of 2 is a compromise between the ease of determining how the pieces are oriented and the difficulty of putting them together.
Black Cat, White Cat consists of black cats and white cats. 6 of each. All identical in shape. 2 to a side constructing a cubic box. It’s up to you to arrange the distribution of the colors but I would recommend having a black and a white cat on each side for the best visual appeal.
Pizza Panne
7 Pizza Slices. You know what that means. Yeah, I don’t either. Who cuts a pizza into 7 slices? And it doesn’t make any more sense when you realize that 5 slices seem to make a complete pie. In any event, you have the task of packing 7 pizza slices from a deranged pizzeria into a pizza box. The puzzle claims to have a single solution but I’m not sure how this can be determined. The level of difficulty is rated as 3 on a scale of 5.
In addition to the 7 slices and the box, there are garnishes for the pizza including salami, mushrooms, and olives. I didn’t originally plan on adding the garnishes since it doesn’t impact the function of the puzzle but since I was printing other pieces in multiple colors, I just added them to those prints. I have to admit that it does look a lot more appealing and it did add some nice heft to the pieces.
This one is tricky. The tricky part is knowing if you have solved it or not. Adding 6 slices to the box is trivial and that last piece just needs to be folded to get it in. Unfortunately, these pieces don’t fold too well. It takes a while of jostling the 6 pieces around before you eventually create a space that seems like it would take the last piece. On my first attempt, I had a configuration that looked like the last piece would fit if given a little force to wedge it in there. Suspecting a more elegant solution, I forgoed (take that you forewent snobs) the brute force physical cramming technique that I employ for packing suitcases and continued the search. I was eventually rewarded with a configuration where the last piece slid in with a little friction but no force to lock everything in place. Solved! However, when I put the pieces back in after taking the blog photos, I found a different solution where the pieces are still loose in the box. I suspect that this last configuration may be the intended solution.
Donut Perplex Junior
I originally assumed that this puzzle was a simplified version of Orange Perplex that was covered in the last blog, but in fact it is a decomplexified version of the senior Donut Perplex consisting of 13 pieces that was entered in the International Puzzle Party (IPP) Nob Yoshigahara Puzzle Design Competition in 2019. I didn’t see the senior version originally offered on No Problem Puzzles so I don’t know if we should expect to see it released as part of this series.
I can see why the puzzle was knocked down to 4 pieces since it conveniently provides a top, bottom, inside and outside. I found it easier than the stated difficulty level of 2 would suggest. Certainly a puzzle for beginners.
Twist Them In
A restricted opening packing puzzle with a twist. Not only do you have to pack the pieces within the frame but you have to accomplish this whilst being able to rotate the 2 halves of the frame. With a difficulty level of 4, you know it’s going to be interesting.
Twist Them In consists of a 3 piece frame and 4 pentacubes that have to be packed inside. The 2 halves of the frame are connected but can be rotated. One half has an open side but it has a sliding cover that can only be removed when the halves are rotated 90, 180, and 270 degrees. However the lid is locked firmly in place when the 2 halves are aligned at 0 degrees.
This one is a great challenge even with the experience gained from solving the prior puzzles in this series. It’s obvious that the last operation in the assembly is to add the cover and rotate the halves so that they are aligned. Analyzing the impact of the rotation on the space within the frame provides a good starting point on how the pieces need to be placed within the box. Even so, it took me a while to finally come up with the winning combination. This is my favorite No Problem Puzzles puzzle so far.
This is the fourth blog post continuing the review of No Problem Puzzles as they are released on the Printables site under the No Problem Puzzles collection. The prior posts and the puzzles that they cover are:
Preserving a Legacy – No Problem Puzzles
- Sandbox
- Swinging Lid Tray
- 3U Frame
- Turn Around
- Unmatch Box
- Quinta Cuboids
- Dizygotic
- Boon
- Sliding Doors
- Pivot Window
- Orange Perplex
- Salmiak
- Vixen’s Antlers
If you don’t have a 3D printer, you can obtain copies of these puzzles from Nothing Yet Designs based in the US or the PuzzleguyStore based in the EU.
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