Welcome To The Home Of Despair – DODECASOMA

What happens when you take a 3x3x3 matrix of cubes, attach identical pentahedrons to each side of the matrix so that each pentahedron completely covers one of the matrix sides, define a new cubic boundary to encompass the new shape, slice the space up into into 27 identical bits, and randomly glue up some of neighboring bits back together?  Well, you get a DODECASOMA obviously.  To save you the effort of doing that yourself, Rod Bogart has done it for you so that you can enjoy the formidable fiddly fun of constructing a dodecahedron from 7 dodecahedronized Soma pieces.

DODECASOMA was designed and made by Rod Bogart and used as his exchange puzzle for the 41st International Puzzle Party.  It consists of 7 green 3D printed Soma pieces that assemble into a dodecahedron instead of the normal cube.  The pieces are nicely scored with the outline of the 3x3x3 grid to provide some guidance on how the pieces are aligned.  The puzzle also comes with a stand for displaying the assembled puzzle.  The stand is also useful to hold partially assembled constructions.  And although it is providing a helping hand, don’t expect any useful advice from it.

It all appears innocuous enough but when someone hands you a puzzle that is an anagram for CASA DOOMED, you have to stop and consider the ramifications.  Are there 240 (or 480 – you’re welcome Nick) solutions?  No!  Which is good since you probably don’t need another regular Soma cube although you should have a least one.  Is the solution unique.  Don’t know!  But trying to solve it, it seemed like it could be.

Unlike a plain old boring Soma made from plain old cubes, the DODECASOMA ends up being made from 4 types of shapes which I’ve come to think of as corners, edges, middles, and the core.  They’re really misnomers, but I’m sure you’ll come up with better names when you start handling them.

I don’t know why I was surprised the first time I had 1 last piece to add and it didn’t fit.  Why would I think it would be any different from any other puzzle that I’ve solved?  A couple rounds of that wiped the smirk off my expectations.

It’s also a bit fiddly and you have to juggle the pieces in your hand as you try different piece combinations.  Unlike the typical Soma puzzle with cubic dissection pieces, not every piece will fit nicely anywhere.  However, there are enough places where they can go together making it non-trivial to solve.

Eventually I had it all together and with a bit more effort, I had it displayed on the stand.  At least I didn’t have to try all 10 sides to find one where it would stand without falling apart.

One Tɍough – Ditch

Ditch was designed by Alexander Magyarics and entered in the Nob Yoshigahara puzzle design competition at the 41st International Puzzle Party (IPP).  Although it did not win a prize, it looked like an interesting concept worthy of spending time on.  And spend time on it I did!

Ditch consists of 12 bi-color pentomino pieces where each piece is comprised of a tetromino of one color and a monomino of a different color.  The goal is to make a 4x4 square outline with the 12 monominoes.  The problem is that all those tetromino bits get in the way of accomplishing this.

The first Aha comes early on to get you started followed by a long period of learning how the pieces can interact with each other.  Some off these relationships will help form the solution while others will lead you astray.  There were some relationships that I was unwilling to ditch that kept me from finding the solution for quite a while.  I found myself reluctant to divorce myself from these poisonous relationships and I found myself in rut with Ditch.

I eventually gained the willpower to break off some of those relationships, giving me the freedom to engage in some new, healthier relationships.  With something old and something new, I successfully managed to extract the solution from the Ditch.

There were many times where I had one piece leftover that would not fit in the available space. The natural reaction is to start moving pieces around to see if you can change the space to something more receptive.  I can certainly attest to that.  However, if you end up with the same troublesome pieces multiple times, it's worth taking some time to find them a good match and treat them as a couple.

Much nicer versions of Ditch in a selection of exotic woods are available at Wood Wonders if you would like to acquire your own copy.

It’s Simple Karma – Bram’s Hinged Cube

A long time ago in a land far away, an emerging puzzle designer attended an International Puzzle Party (IPP) with a collection of new puzzle designs.  Ensconced in a nook of the hotel lobby, this puzzle master wannabe commandeered a table to artfully arrange his new creations for attendees to play with - much to their delight. At one point, someone asked if a puzzle was difficult and after no considerable reflection whatsoever, the hapless designer pronounced that the puzzle was easy.  This seemingly innocuous response would come to haunt this young ignorant but well-intentioned individual for many years.  Watching that unsuspecting victim struggle over an extended period of time to save face made a lasting impression.  However, it was a lesson well-learned.  Puzzles are not easy or hard but one may be easier than another.  A puzzle that may be easy for one puzzler may be difficult for another.  Everyone gets inexplicably bogged down on an occasional puzzle.  There are many different types of puzzles and some puzzlers are naturally better at some types than others.

Fast forward to now where I am delighted to find myself struggling on a puzzle that others on the Mechanical Puzzle Discord (MPD) have declared SIMPLE!  This puzzle is Bram's Hinged Cube - not to be confused with the Hinged Cube designed by James Storer that made the rounds at last year’s IPP.

Nope!

Bram's Hinged Cube was designed by ... wait for it ... BRAM!!!  Bram Cohen that is.  It consists of 8 cubes that are connected with hinges so that they can be folded into a single 2x2x2 cube.  Bram said the solution is hard but various MPD members have countered that it is easy.  Personally, although it looks like it should be easy, I found it quite a challenge.

I solved James Storer's cube at IPP last year and found it a very enjoyable challenge.  And I jumped at the chance to try Bram's Hinged Cube when it became available this year.  After having solved both, I would consider Bram' s version more difficult although both are excellent.

With Bram's Hinged Cube, there was an easier solution but it was rendered invalid with the addition of faux hinges that attempt to occupy the same space in the easier assembly.  This leaves only the more difficult configuration as the only solution.  To be honest, it took me quite a while to determine how the connected cubes could occupy the 2x2x2 space in any configuration much less a second more obscure one.

Hot Off The Press!

After finding the faux solution multiple times, I finally manged to figure out where the cubes had to go.  Then I finally manged to find a folding sequence where it was not necessary to strain the hinges providing me with the solved 2x2x2 cube.  Then I finally managed to unfold it back to the starting position.  You would think that this last bit is a no-brainer shake-the-cube-back-out process but it’s not.  Of course, I even found myself forgetting where the cubes had to go in the middle of the folding process and had to start back at the beginning again.

Bram has generously made the puzzle available on Printables for anyone who would like to 3D printed copy of their own.  The stl file was created by Brian Pletcher as a print-in-place model.  One MPD member recommended using tree supports with the angle threshold set to 20 degrees and I found this to work amazingly well.  Print-in-place models still seem like magic!  You can download the stl file here - Bram' s Hinged Cube.

Screwing Around With Flowers – Tulip Twist

What do you give a wife who doesn’t like flowers or puzzles for her birthday.  A flower puzzle of course!

Tulip Twist is a flower themed puzzle with a lot of eye appeal developed by GlennovitS 3D on Printables.  For anyone who would like to print their own copy, the stl files can be downloaded from the Tulip Twist Puzzle Printables webpage.

The puzzle has 2 tulips, a planter box, and 3 layers of soil for the planter box to plant the tulips in.  Each tulip consists of a root, a stem, and a flower.  The flower and stem are the same for each but the roots are different.  Each of the 3 layers of soil has pathways for the roots of each tulip and each layer is different. The goal is to determine how the layers of soil need to be placed in the planter box to allow the tulips to be planted so that the roots are no longer visible.

From a puzzle perspective, Tulip Twist is very simple.  It’s really more about the eye appeal than the complexity of the solving process.  It may not be the most complex puzzle on your shelf, but it will certainly do a good job of drawing attention.

The design of the pieces is very well done.  The 3 parts of the tulips screw together very nicely, but note that they are reverse threaded, which feels somewhat awkward.  This is an attempt to keep them from unscrewing when you’re screwing around with them.  However, they are nice and tight and the rest of the puzzle tolerances are so well done, they don’t seem to be at risk of coming apart.

I was very impressed with this freely downloadable puzzle from Printables and my wife loved it.  It makes a great gift for that special budding puzzler in your life.