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.

Ménage à Trois – Two Guys & a Gal (Free Me 9)

With a name like Two Guys & a Gal, you know that the situation will be complicated and you’re in for a protracted fight.  As the name suggests, this puzzle houses a lady flanked by 2 Johns.  More specifically, Lady Liberty and 2 John F. Kennedy’s.  I’m sure every puzzler’s favorite part will be Lady Liberty’s backside featuring a nice selection of gears symbolizing American Innovation.

Two Guys & a Gal was designed and made by Joe Turner.  This is the 9th puzzle in Joe’s Free Me series.  It is a sequential discovery (SD) puzzle concealing several imaginative and tricky mechanisms that need to be overcome to release the 3 trapped coins.  The puzzle was made with Cherry, Maple, Coins, and assorted hidden attractive and unattractive metal bits.  The attention to details like ensuring that the grain flows across piece boundaries makes the puzzle a work of art.

The puzzle houses an amazing 3-part journey to release the coins from their resting place.  This SD adventure uses several tools discovered along the way allowing you to continue the journey along the solution path until you finally arrive at the destination.  Of course in the beginning, it’s just you and the puzzle.  Just keep repeating to yourself: I’m just a tool.

This puzzle was so good, I couldn’t put it down.  Once I started, I didn’t stop until I had freed each of the coins and then reassembled it.  When I initially reset it, it seamed right but didn’t quite seem right.  One of the coins appeared too loose and I thought that maybe I had worn out one of the mechanisms.  After analyzing the associated mechanisms closer, I realized that I failed to properly reset it.  Once properly reset, it was back to the state that it arrived in.  So if it looks like you’re done but it’s loose, you’re not done.

From start to finish, the tools and mechanisms never ceased to amaze and delight me.  I can’t wait to get my hands on Free Me 10 next year! {insert seed of rumor here - done}