Holiday Puzzling – Christmas Advent Calendar

As empty-nesters, my wife and I decided to celebrate the holiday season with advent calendars.  A puzzle calendar for me and a lego-ish puzzle for her.  I was surprised by the number of puzzle advent calendars that were available on Amazon.  I zeroed in on one that had a lot of mini hanayamaesque puzzles sprinkled with some disentanglement puzzles.  I thought that this might be a good opportunity to try some of the easier Hanayama puzzles that I never acquired.  Normally, I acquire all Hanayamas from level 4 on up although I do have some of the easier ones as well.

The puzzles are not identified with the Hanayama brand and the quality is not quite the same. It would have had to be pretty bad to not be worth the price but I was braced for the worst.  However, the quality was better than expected and I was very happy to open one of the 24 2” cubic boxes every day leading up Christmas Eve.

Here is a brief overview of each day:  

Day 1:  ABC (Level 1) – Good beginner puzzler.  Nice choice to get things going.  When done, I looked at solution and it showed removing the loop earlier, but this was not actually possible.  1 down, 23 more to go.

Day 2:  Lock – Nice little lock with a key.  I tried everything and was sure that it was broken due to being a reduced sized lower quality reproduction.  Then I did something that I normally never do and peeked at the solution sheet.  The solution sheet verified that it was indeed my brain that was of reduced size and lower quality and the lock was doing what it was supposed to – confounding me.  The score was now 1 and 1.

Day 3:  Disentanglement Puzzle – Typical beginner disentanglement puzzle that took seconds to solve and reset.

Day 4:  Chain (Level 6) – Good puzzle and worked well in the smaller size.  However, it didn’t feel like a level 6 Hanayama puzzle, leaving me to wonder if it’s really the same as it’s big brother.  I’ll need to compare them at some point.

Day 5:  Keyring (Level 2) – Not difficult but not a quick solve either.

Day 6:  Star (Level 3) – Not supposed to be difficult and I’ve solved a larger version in the past.  However, still haven’t managed to get this one apart.  Nice to have a puzzle on the side that will take some more effort.

Day 7:  Key (Level 1)– Nice entanglement of 2 keys.  Not difficult but fun.

Day 8:  Violin (Level 3) – Was working on how to remove the key piece when the real key piece fell out.  This one has a nice logical solve after analyzing the pieces.

Day 9:  3 Rings – Argh!  I’m too scared to make too many moves trying to untangle this entanglement puzzle.  Wish it had been the 2 ring version to verify what I thought needed to be done since I’ve never done that one.

Day 10:  Disentanglement Puzzle #2 – Still easy but nice step up from Day 3.

Day 11:  Loop (Level 1) – Easy puzzle, especially since I have the larger version.  This version has some quality issues but still works fine.

Day 12:  S&S (Level 3) – Nice version of 2 entangled pieces that need to be separated.

Day 13:  Quartet (Level 6) – I actually have the full size version but have never gotten around to doing it.  I thought that it was supposed to be difficult but found it quite easy.  Perhaps it’s not exactly the same.

Day 14:  2 Rings – Lowe and Behold, the easier version of 3 rings from Day 9.  Although not difficult, this puzzle has a very nice Aha moment.  Need to apply what I’ve learned here and retackle 3 Rings.

Day 15:  Laby (Level 5) – A 2 piece, 2-sided maze puzzle.  I have and have solved the bigger version but did not have time to solve this smaller version yet.  It’s now sitting next to Star and 3 Rings.

Day 16:  Elk (Level 5) – I have the larger version of this one and solved it very quickly.  Much move quickly than the original version.  It leaves me wondering whether it’s really the same or the tolerances are not as tight making it easier to move the pieces.

Day 17: Dolce (Level 3) – Nice implementation of 2 entwined lovers that need to be separated.

Day 18: Remove The Ring Disentanglement Puzzle – Another nice disentanglement puzzle with the goal to remove a metal ring.  This one is similar to the horseshoe puzzle but utilizes a cord instead of a second horseshoe.

Day 19: Disk (Level 2) – This one was a disappointment.  It came apart in a couple of trivial moves although it looked like it was designed to require many more moves.  Checking with the instructions, a 13 move sequence is mapped out.  The quality on this one is a complete failure, which is a shame since the small size is nice for this puzzle.

Day 20: Delta (Level 3) – 3 piece coordinate motion puzzle.  I didn’t find it a challenge because I’m familiar with these types of puzzles but it’s a must for beginners.

Day 21: Coaster (Level 4) – Simplicity itself to scramble.  Difficult to get it back into position.  Similar to the many ring puzzles, this puzzle has 3 rings that are connected in a chain and can be interwoven and laid flat by aligning the notches.  It’s not difficult to get 2 links aligned but getting that third into place has so far eluded me. 

Day 22: 4 Rings – HaHaHa (or HoHoHo).  Should have seen this one coming.  Right in the unsolved puzzle pile you go.

Day 23: Amour (Level 5) – Easy enough to take apart.  Had to study it a bit to get it back together.  This seemed much easier than a level 5 but maybe this version is more forgiving.  I always thought that the plate represented a heart, but looking at the Hanayama description, it’s really an apple to commemorate the original sin.

Day 24: G&G (Level 3) – 2 intertwined G’s that need to be separated.  Nice little challenge with several rotations.

  

The Other One

No Problem Puzzles, Update #6

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.  Another contributer, Crab on Printables, has also tweaked some of the models to improve them.

This post continues the review of the No Problem Puzzles as the models are being released.  Since the last review (No Problem Puzzles, Update #5), more No Problem Puzzles have become available.

3OPc

Packing squarish pieces within a circular area is always challenge.  It just seems to mess with your head.  This particular puzzle has 3 normal squares (aka O’s) and 3 warty squares (aka P’s) that need to be packed within a circular tray.  Lacking a brilliant solving approach, I started putting pieces in the pan and swirling them around, occasionally flipping them over to make sure that they were done on both sides.  And then I had an epiphany!  Maybe they weren’t warty squares after all but really disabled rectangles.  Or maybe there were some of both.  Turns out that they were all disabled rectangles when I found the solution.

This is a nice example of packing squares in a circle.  It’s rated with a level 4, but I didn’t find it as hard as some of the other level 4 puzzles.  You just have to know the difference between a warty square and a disabled rectangle.  Of course, you may just see rabbits or ducks but that’s just silly, and it’s not going to help you.

Pyre

What could you make with a lot of sticks.  27 sticks to be exact.  A pyre?  Yes indeed, a pyre puzzle.  This particular Pyre is cubic and constructed from 9 bundles of 3 sticks.  And each of the 3 sticks is oriented on a different axis.  This results in a cube with a 3x3 grid of sticks oriented along each axis.

My initial attack on Pyre was to start from the outside.  However, I quickly had the spark of an idea on how to start the Pyre and shifted to working from the inside out.  Following this approach and shifting some pieces as I went along, I ended up with an assembled cube.  However, I did perform some wonky rotations and squirrelly movements, which leads me to believe that this assembly is not The Assembly.  This is the second week in a row of this now and hopefully will not become a habit.  I’ll just have to set it next to 12 Logs for another shot after the holidays.  The level 4 rating is well deserved. 

7 Spiders

Halloween has come and gone but we can still enjoy a cluster of spiders within a pumpkin.  7 Spiders is a 2D packing problem consisting of ... um ... let me see … oh yeah - 7 identical spiders that need to be packed within a pumpkin tray.  Initially, the spiders seem very territorial and don’t nest together very well.  However, after a bit of coaxing and jostling, you can find some nice tiling patterns.  Unfortunately (or fortunately for your continued enjoyment), the 2 obvious ones are not in the solution.

There are a variety of ways to easily place 6 spiders within the tray, but the 7th is a bit more recalcitrant.  It looks like there is a nice big opening, but all those legs get in the way.  I found at least 1 configuration where everything fit except for the very tip of a single leg.  My approach to interlocking the spiders was to spin them until I had a nice web of spiders that fit within the pumpkin.

This is a very nice Level 3, 2D packing puzzle and will definitely come back out next October.

Aghhh!  I just read the puzzle description and it said that the eyes, nose, and mouth of the pumpkin need to be covered.  Is that possible?  I see bits of each peeking out from behind the spiders.  Luckily, rotating the web of lying spiders completely covered the pumpkin features.  So it is possible and looks even more awesome in this solved state.  And it’s certainly a big clue when solving that I missed out on.

Hexatanglers

This 3D packing puzzle has 6 identical pieces that need to be placed within a restricted opening box.  I naively thought I could see the answer, but when I finally printed it, it was just shy of being able to slip the final 2 pieces in.  Now it was a proper puzzle.

With a slight change in perspective, It was easy to add 5 of the 6 pieces with room to move them around.  However, there never seemed to be enough room to squeeze that last piece in.  It could have been forced in but that should be avoided.  Taking another look at potential assemblies outside the box, I found one that worked like magic.  The pieces just slide in with no resistance.  There is even a nice Aha moment associated with inserting the pieces.  It’s a nice introduction to 3D packing puzzles with a difficulty rating of 2.  

 

Jigsaw Box

With a difficulty level of 2, this one is a quicky.  The 4 jigsawy pieces along with 2 floating panels comprise the 6 sides of a cube.  Once the cube is constructed, it’s loose but will not fall apart.  In fact the looseness is required to assemble and disassemble the cube.  It’s nice and compact so you can keep it in a pocket to share with others.



 

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.

Crafty Sunflower – Release #2

We now continue the Crafty Sunflower Puzzle saga.  Previously, we reviewed the 3 puzzles from the May release (Crafty Sunflower Release: May 2025).  Now, 3 new puzzles have been added to the series. 

As with the last release, all the puzzles were designed by Serhiy Grabarchuk.  However this time, they are all 3D printed.  And they’re all completely different.  There is an entanglement puzzle, a multi-challenge 3D assembly puzzle, and an interlocking burr puzzle.  

Similar to the prior release, the packaging is still amazing.  Each puzzle comes in a clear acrylic box with nicely printed documentation.  And the ordering and shipping process continues to be top notch with frequent updates.

Flower Coaster

Do puzzles have utility beyond puzzling?  Of course they do.  I mean who hasn’t used a Kagen Sound puzzle box as a place to put a sweating drinking glass?  However, you would be better off using a puzzle like Flower Coaster that is specifically designed to double as a coaster as well as a puzzle.   

Flower Coaster arrives nicely displayed in a circular acrylic box.  The box also includes a nicely designed spacer to keep the puzzle from flopping around.  

The puzzle consists of 2 linked rings that have to be manipulated so that the notches in each are aligned and the links lay flat, nestled together.  When solved, it fits nicely within the accompanying holder or you can use it as … A Coaster!  There is also an option to get it as a set of 4 with the holder extended to hold the stack.  

Although the instructions say to separate the links, this does not mean to completely unloop them.  You should simply take the 2 pieces out of the flat configuration and make a 2 link chain.  After rotating the links a few times, the challenge is to them put them back into the flat configuration. It makes for a nice trick and is good for beginner puzzlers.

I like Flower Coaster as a puzzle but would I actually use it as a coaster?  Probably not.  I’d be worried about a hot mug on the plastic or a cold glass dripping through the openings.

Checkered Chairs

This puzzle arrives in a cubic acrylic box that fully displays the checkered cube solution.  I got the Fall Edition color scheme because it was different from most other 3D printed puzzles that I have.  The first thing that I noted after the colors was the weight of the box.  The pieces are denser than I had expected and had some heft to them.  Through the top of the box, you can also see the cover of the 24 page manual that includes 18 challenges. 

Removing the 8 pieces from the box, you can see that each is a combination of light and dark color cubes.  The goal is to the satisfy the shape and color constraints provided by each challenge described within the manual.  Of course the checkered cube solution is done for you since it arrives that way.  But can you really bring yourself to put it away any other way?  Not likely, so you will be making that checkered cube many times.

Some challenges don’t require all the pieces, but it’s up to you to determine which pieces to use.  The last 5 challenges only provide the shape for one of the colors.  It reminded me a bit of Ditch (One Tɍough – Ditch).  Great fun!

I had a good time going through all the challenges.  Once you get going, you start to pick up speed.

12 Logs

And now for something a bit more challenging.  Like Checkered Chairs, 12 Logs arrives in a cubic acrylic box with a 24 page manual.  However, unlike Checkered Chairs, you don’t need multiple challenges, the manual contains the step-by-step instructions on how to put it together.  However, I know that you are all like me and have taken the oath not to indulge in such crutches.  And since it comes solved, you should pull it apart blindfolded so that you don’t see how the pieces come apart.

I ordered the fuzzy edition because, why wouldn’t you get the Fuzzy Edition!  Is anyone really going to order a non-fuzzy one?  Then again, maybe it’s just me since I saw that the fuzzy option only comes in 1 color choice.  It’s even officially called the Orange Edition deemphasizing the fuzziness.

This puzzle is a true burr puzzle with round logs instead of square sticks.  A bit reminiscent of Two Brass Monkeys’ puzzles that use round sticks.  In this case there are 4 sticks along each axis and they have a peculiar offset.  And it’s this offset that provides a clue on where some of the pieces have to go.  Luckily, the puzzle comes with a base that is a huge help in understanding and working with the offsets.  And the base also comes with a significant clue to get you moving along.  The initial phase of solving this puzzle is identifying and using those clues to get started.

There are 6 types of logs with each type having it’s own set of notches.  The ends of the sticks are branded on each end to identify the type.  After working on this puzzle for a while, you get to know the properties associated with each brand.

Solving 12 Logs is a serious effort and I completely enjoyed putting it back together.  Although I confess to having used an unauthorized rotation (the pieces are round after all).  Which just means that I get to enjoy more time with it.  Definitely my type of puzzle!

At first glance, this puzzle looks like a monumental task, but upon reflection of the clues given and the reduction of unique piece types, it’s very doable.

  

All 3 puzzles are now available at Crafty Sunflower!

Life, The Universe, And Everything – 42

So what is the answer to life, the universe, and everything?  By now, everyone knows that the answer is 42.  This answer to the ultimate question was generated by Deep Thought well before we had all that fancy-schmancy AI crap.  And it only took 7.5 million years to compute.

Riffing on the 42nd International Puzzle Party (IPP), Joe Turner created the shapely puzzle 42 to use as his exchange puzzle at this year’s IPP.  The puzzle consists of various 2D shapes that form the digits 4 and 2.  The 6 Mahogany pieces are used to make the 4 and the 6 maple pieces are used to form a 2.  Each digit is also required to have 180 degree rotational symmetry.  The shape of each digit is provided on the cover of the box.  And to put a different slant on things, the digits are italicized.

The Maple pieces looked the easiest of the 2 so I thought that I would start there.  I spent quit a bit of time going around in circles, zig-zagging back and forth.  However, my zigs and my zags were not matching.  One would be slightly longer than another, a space would be too big, the slant was going in the wrong direction...  But after a long protracted battle ... I finally switched to the Mahogany pieces.

The Mahogany pieces reminded me of the classic T puzzle and I was hoping to have better success than with the Maple pieces.  But this one turned out to be Tough 2.  But I kept at it, basically because there were no other digits to work on.  Using my acute sense of geometry, I determined that the Mahogany pieces were pointier than the Maple.  And all these oddly angled pointy bits weren’t playing nice.  I eventually got the point and was rewarded with a nice 4.

With the first half of the challenge complete, I transitioned back to the Maple pieces.  I zig-zagged along my merry way before the epiphany that was stuck in the back of my mind finally made it’s way to the forefront.  With this new approach, I left a vast collection of malformed 2’s behind and had a nicely formed 2 to go along with the 4.

42 was certainly more challenging than I had anticipated.  I’m certainly looking forward to seeing what comes after life, the universe, and everything.

Better Than TV – Widescreen

More than a decade ago, I stopped paying for TV service to focus on other more important things.  Things like puzzling.  Dropping this service not only gave me more time to spend with puzzles but also left me with more funds to buy them.  At least that would be what I would tell me wife if I even dared to hint that she no longer had TV service so that I could buy more puzzles.  We’ve stopped going to the movies as well.  Apparently we were ahead of our time since everyone stopped going to the movies about 5 years ago.  Fortunately, I recently had the opportunity to appreciate watching things unfold within the ... Widescreen.

Widescreen is a 3D restricted-opening apparent-cube packing puzzle designed by Alexander Magyarics and made by Wood Wonders.  The pieces are made from Tauari and the box is made from Tigerwood with Avodire accents on the edges.  I love the look of the Tigerwood and the contrast with the Avodire edging makes it a stand-out eye-candy piece.

There is one large wide opening in box that also makes use of half-voxels.  These half-voxels prohibit the movement of pieces while at the same time forcing a piece to be located there to satisfy the apparent-cube requirement.

Shipping Configuration

The puzzle arrived with all the pieces within the box pretending to be a disassembly challenge.  However, the pieces did not make an apparent cube leaving a lot of the box opening unfilled.  All that was needed was to shuffle the pieces around a bit to fill that unfulfilled opening.  HaHaHaHa.

It doesn’t take a lot of effort to remove the pieces from the box in their unsolved shipping state.  Once the pieces are fully visible and fueled by the success of quickly liberating the pieces from the box, I immediately came to the conclusion that this was not going to be that difficult and it would be a quick solve.  BwaHaHaHaHa.  There are just some things that I will never, ever learn.

This puzzle definitely benefits from an approach that starts with determining what orientations the pieces can enter the box with.  This reduces the number of possible assemblies utilizing the 2 largest pieces, which can quickly be reduced to 2 main candidate assemblies.  However, both of these assemblies support several complete assemblies with the final piece added.  I ended up bouncing between these assemblies searching for one that would work with the box.  And even though, after experiencing many, so many, of these puzzles, and writing this over and over again, I doubted the assemblies that were providing several moves along a path and looked for other assemblies as I struggled to find that allusive solution.

Eventually, I found the one thing that I hadn’t tried and the solution unfolded in front of me.  And after a couple of attempts, I even manged to follow the sequence and get all the pieces within the box where they were supposed to be.

The 12 move dance to get that first piece out is terrific and it even took me few minutes the following day to liberate the pieces from the box again.  Just another great design from Alexander.