A Puzzle to Save the Day - Mighty Pin

Once you’ve had a couple of successes, people start to expect it from you.  I’ve never had to worry about that, but after Alan Lunsford’s successful launch of Unsafe Deposit and Bolt Action, he must have been wondering if his latest entry in the series, Mighty Pin, would continue to garner the high praise achieved by its predecessors.  If you haven’t yet had a chance to play with Mighty Pin, not to worry, it’s a worthy successor of the coin cube conundrum series.

If you have not been acquainted with Alan’s c3 series, each puzzle is a cube with a coin visible in a window that needs be freed from the cube.  Each requires multiple steps, utilizing tools that become available during the journey.  My favorite part of these puzzles is the engineering that Alan packs within these little cubes.

The Mighty Pin is 3D printed in black with the name debossed in grey.  Similarly, the coin is black with grey debossing with Alan’s logo on the exposed side and a stylized “A” on the flip side.  Of course, the box also has an assortment of mysterious holes to eventually be explored.

The c3 puzzles are more fun than difficult and Mighty Pin continues that trend.  However, it took me a while to discover the second to last move of Mighty Pin.  I danced around the correct move many times until I finally figured out what was required to be rewarded with yet another tool.  It’s so well done (and so unobviously obvious in retrospect).  I accomplished the last move much quicker, but you can’t fully appreciate it until you free the coin to see exactly how it works.  That final “click” is very satisfying as it lets you know that you’ve arrived at your destination.  As I mentioned earlier, the engineering is awesome!

As with the other puzzles in the series, Mighty Pin comes with a nice card that outlines the goal.  My favorite part was the note: “small taps may be used to loosen misplaced tools”.  This can be loosely translated as: “yeah, you may regret dropping tools in the bottomless dark holes”.  However, I give Alan a lot of credit for coming up with a design that seems to preclude unrecoverable mistakes although I wouldn’t be surprised if some enterprising individual manages to wedge a tool somewhere it’s not supposed to be (force = frustration x time).  {Unrefined comments about mighty pins in dark holes purposely avoided here – you’re welcome.}

Will there be a fourth in the series?  One can only hope.  My guess is that Alan has developed a cache of ideas during the development of this series that may get incorporated into new puzzles in or apart from the series.  

You can get Mighty Pin and Alan’s other puzzles on his layerbylayerpuzzles Etsy shop.  Since Mighty Pin just came out, you may have to wait for it to be stocked again.

Screwed! - Bolt Action

My break from blogging has been rather rudely interrupted with the arrival of Alan Lunsford’s new sequential discovery puzzle, Bolt Action.  It is reminiscent of Alan’s prior sequential discovery puzzle, Unsafe Deposit (Hiding Money in Puzzles - Unsafe Deposit).  Like Unsafe Deposit, Bolt Action is a cube with a US quarter peeking out a window, various holes and slots in the cube, and a bolt screwed into one of the sides.  The new cube is gray with the name of the puzzle embossed in Black.  In one of the square openings, you can see the end of a long bolt wobbling about, but it’s secured on the other end.

Being in the US, I received the puzzle with a quarter inside instead of one of Alan’s own printed coins.  For worldwide distribution outside the US, Alan decided to print his own currency.  As of this writing, the Lunsford is worth about 25 US cents.

The puzzle arrives with a card specifying the goal to remove the coin and find a reason to smile.  What does that mean?  Doesn’t everyone smile when the coin is released?  All I can say is that you will know when you are not done and then when you are.  

After seeing various comments about Bolt Action, I expected it to be a similar experience to Unsafe Deposit.  I expected to knock this one out quickly and decided to keep track of the solve time since Unsafe Deposit was so quick.  

After 20 minutes, I hadn’t gotten anywhere.  I knew exactly how the quarter would be released, but I didn’t have the tools to accomplish it.  Another 20 didn’t give me anything more.  I was pretty sure that I had done just about everything that one could do to this cube and still hadn’t made any progress.  To be honest, after 40 minutes, I was pushing the “No excessive force” rule since I was out of other options.  Tap, tap, tap, spin, spin, band, Bang, BANG!

After an hour, I had to step back and reevaluate the situation.  My options were: 1) I got really lucky on all of Alan’s previous SD puzzles and was now faced with having to really solve one the right way, 2) My mental facilities have started to decay during the quarantine, 3) Something was wrong with the puzzle.  Although all three were just as probable, I opted to pursue #3.  Just after the hour mark, I went out into the garage to look for the box that BA came in.  I shook it and was rewarded with something rattling in the box.  Sure enough, there was a bolt sitting on the bottom under the filler paper.

During that first hour, that empty space that I kept opening (many times), attempting to discern its purpose, was for the missing bolt.  Armed with the missing bolt, the coin was removed and the reason to smile was discovered in 5 minutes.

Am I bothered by the fact that I spent an hour trying to solve an unsolvable cube?  Not really.  I enjoyed spending time thinking about how the puzzle worked.  It’s clever and very well made.  And yes, it’s very much on the order of difficulty as Unsafe Deposit.  You can get your own copy of Bolt Action on Alan Lunsford’s layerbylayerpuzzles Etsy shop.

This was just another reminder to carefully unbox puzzles that you receive in the mail.  There are many sad stories from puzzlers that inadvertently threw away a puzzle piece or extra puzzle.  This first happened to me when I accidentally threw out the chicken poop from Eric many years ago now (This Puzzles No Turkey - It's Chicken).

Hiding Money in Puzzles - Unsafe Deposit

It’s difficult to chastise my wife for “saving money” by buying things on sale when I’m “investing” in puzzles that come with money inside.  In my defense, Alan Lunsford specifically adds the amount of the coin to be released to the price of his puzzles to highlight the fact that you are explicitly paying for that coin.  The price of the puzzle is in the dollar’s field and the value of the coin to be released is easily identified in the cent’s field.  Unfortunately, this puzzle was only released in the US due to issues with mailing US currency to other countries.  I’m assuming that future puzzles will utilize some form of decorative non-currency token.

Unsafe Deposit is Alan Lunsford’s latest coin release puzzle available on his layerbylayerpuzzles Etsy Shop.  Unlike the prior Cop Out puzzles, Unsafe Deposit is a cube with openings on 5 of the sides.  On the front, you can see George Washington’s head on a quarter through a square window.  On the left, there is a quarter sized slot that looks like it may be the exit point, but it is blocked on the inside.  There are also different sized slots on the top, front, back and right side.  Only the bottom of the puzzle is untouched.  Through the slots, you can also see that there are other objects within the cube.  The one visible from the top is blocked by an internal hex head socket screw bolt - or simply for this context, a screw with grabbable head.

The goal is to remove the quarter.  Given the name, Unsafe Deposit, you immediately assume that it is possible to remove the quarter that Alan has deposited in the puzzle.  Included with the puzzle is a card with the following rules:

• The use of external tools is not permitted.  You should avoid the temptation to use your hammer.  Unless, of course, you have already solved it and want to see how the internal mechanisms work.  In that case, you may want to buy a spare.
• No excessive force should be used in solving the puzzle.
• The internal mechanisms are delicate so don’t hit it hard.  To be honest, you don’t need to hit it at all.  Hopefully your mail service doesn’t drop kick your package to the door.
• Store below 40C/100F.  I’m not sure at what temperature puzzles made from PLA start to warp, but I’m assuming that it’s best not to store them in your car or garage in the summer.
• Contains magnetic components.  Yes, the puzzle is attractive.
• Have fun!  This reminder was added for those that get stuck and circle back to check the rules again for a clue.

The first thing you’re going to do is try the moves that you used for the Cop Out puzzles, but that’s not going to help you.  Of course, you’re going to do it anyway even though I just told you that it’s not going to work, but that’s OK - I would too.  Forget everything you learned with the Cop Outs.  Unsafe Deposit is a different kind of animal.  I knew that I was in for something different but I didn’t quite realize how much change to expect.  It is more of a sequential discovery puzzle than a coin release puzzle even though the ultimate goal is to release a coin.  Along the way, you will discover other tools that you will need to continue the journey.

The solving sequence of Unsafe Deposit used very clever mechanisms but I found it very simple overall.  I solved it quicker than any of the Cop Out puzzles.  However, it makes an excellent introduction to sequential discovery puzzles.  What really impressed me was the construction of the puzzle.  The box looks like it has been seamlessly printed as a single object and not assembled from separate pieces.  This would require the printer to be paused while internal pieces such as magnets and sliding panels are added.  And of course, the filament needs to be changed to add the name of the puzzle in a contrasting color on the top of the box.  It really is very well made and I was immediately impressed when I unboxed it.  If anyone does take a hammer to theirs, please send me a photo so I can see what the internal structure looks like.  What is needed now is an Almost Safe Deposit follow-on.

Don’t Give Up - COP OUT 1, 2, 3

Some people go to great lengths to protect their pennies and Alan Lunsford has made it his mission to help these people.  Through his Etsy shop, layerbylayerpuzzles, Alan offers fiendish devices that you can use to safely store your pennies.  Alan is so confident in his product that he actually sends them out with an entrapped penny and dares you to remove it.  These devices are called COP OUT 1, COP OUT 2, and maybe you can guess it, COP OUT 3.  All 3 are 3D printed with a dark green box with light grey sliders and sold together as a single set.  I like how Alan priced the puzzles with a nice round dollar figure and then added 3 cents to cover the pennies used.

I don’t normally like blind mazes but the COP OUT puzzles don’t leave you in the dark for too long.  Alan has done an excellent job of engineering each of them so that you don’t have to keep flailing in the dark. 

COP OUT 1

On quick inspection, the case appears pretty solid, there is window with Abe Lincoln peering out, and 2 tabs that look like they can be pulled.  As you’re looking at the penny, it’s obvious that it won’t come out through the window.   However, on the side you can see a slot that is big enough for a penny to escape.  Now all you have to figure out is how to move the penny from the window to the exit.

Given the size of the COP OUT box and the size of the penny, you quickly realize that there is a lot of space that can be exploited to confound the puzzler.  Add to that some moving parts and you have a recipe for a good time.

I don’t think that it’s much of a spoiler to mention that you will need to pull on the tabs.  After all, they arrive with a rubber band on them to keep them from being pulled out and putting the penny in play.  Pulling that first piece sets the penny in motion and the second move makes it disappear like a magic trick!  Now it’s a blind maze and you have to rely on audible clues to determine how you are progressing through the maze.

Eventually, the penny will pop out of the exit.  Yes, even if you randomly pull, flip, shake, spin, and take a hammer to it, the penny will eventually escape.  I dare you not to drop the penny.

The real trick to this puzzle is to figure out how the internal mechanism works so that you can release and reset the penny as efficiently as possible.  If you are like me, the first time that the penny is released, you will be saying to yourself, “how did that happen”.  It took me almost a dozen attempts before I had a solid understanding of what was going on to reliably solve and reset the puzzle.

COP OUT 2

Unlike COP OUT 1 where it’s easy to get the penny to disappear, It seems impossible to get the penny to go away in COP OUT 2.  Peering into the window you can get half of an idea of what you need to do.  I tried to take a lockpicking approach to solve this one and wasn’t too successful.  It would occasionally start to jam, but I made sure not to force it and completely jam the penny.  It was then that I realized that a significant clue was provided and with that flash of insight, I solved it immediately.  It’s a brilliant Aha moment.  Once you know how to solve this one, it is very easy to repeat both the solve and the reset.  Unlike COP OUT 1, you know immediately what is going on and you don’t have to do it multiple times to figure out how it works.

COP OUT 3

COP OUT 3 adds a large helping of confusion, a dash of humor, and a pinch of trickery.  I started this one like the other 2 and immediately got stumped once the penny was out of sight.  To make things more difficult, there are other metallic components rattling within the box along with the penny.  I spent quite a while trying to figure out the internal mechanism as various attempted things appeared to change the movement of the internal components.  The Aha moment on this one is terrific.  Very sneaky.  Never saw it coming.  Like COP OUT 2, once you have it figured out, the solve and reset are easily repeatable.

I could have sat down and solved all 3 at once, but I like to spread them out and did 1 a day for 3 days in a row.  They’re quick solves, but they’re fun, and it’s nice to have a bit of fun for as many days as possible.  I’d recommend that you do the same.