Tuesday 8 January 2013

Strijbos’ Lotus Puzzle



Wil’s recent announcement of a new puzzle was greeted with plenty of excitement, and more than a few orders. 


We’d first been introduced to a Lotus prototype back in the middle of last year when Wil came over to visit us at an MPP. Several people had a go at it and none of us got very far … so he made it a little more difficult and kicked off production!

Lotus is the latest blue anodised aluminium puzzle from the Strijbos stable. From the side it resembles a classic impossible object of a trapped nail in a block of wood with a coin around the nail. On the edge there’s a nod to Wil’s other trademark feature – a dovetail joint running through the entire length of the body. On one end you can see a little black stopper and something rattling behind it… the nail slides in and out, a bit, but not enough to do anything useful, the washer around the nail spins pleasingly and the dovetail joint is resolutely locked… oh, and there’s a threaded hole in the top of the body … but that’s your lot!


Shake it and it rattles – surprise! At least that’s something to work on…


Solving the Lotus is very much a sequential discovery process … and you’ll find some rather interesting and very well hidden and/or disguised tools along the way – working out which ones are useful, and how they can be used is a wonderful little voyage of discovery. 

This puzzle is like an onion in the way that it lets you in one layer at a time … and one of the best features is that you can’t see how many layers there are from the outside, so you have to feel your way forward without really knowing how much further you have to go.


At one point you’ll get a little prize for all your troubles, and you may be tempted to think that’s the end of the road - far from it … you need to keep going until you discover where this puzzle gets its name from … or until you’ve disassembled it totally if you’re really curious. 


Wil’s helpfully pointed out that the solution doesn’t require any bashing, tapping or knocking (or any other variation thereof!) – so don’t bother investigating that, you won’t solve it that way and you’ll just feel silly afterwards! 


Please be careful though, there are plenty of opportunities to launch tools in various directions so please play carefully, and heed Wil’s wisdom and only remove that peg after you’ve solved the entire puzzle and you’re sure you know what’s going to happen…

20 comments:

  1. ..like an onion - makes me cry... :-)

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  2. I bought this puzzle, but have to wait for the next production. Already got the "firts box". I really like these puzzles where you have to do step by step!!

    Great review; makes me even wanting it more. :-)

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  3. it's impossible to remove the ring because the rod seems to be too long...

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    1. Dear Anonymous - it's a PUZZLE ... surely if it got on there in the first place there must be a way to remove it...?

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  4. it seems impossible to take the metal ring because it's blocked...

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    1. It's a puzzle, young Padawan - become one with the puzzle and it's secrets you will know...

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  5. a puzzle with no clue ;-)

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    Replies
    1. ...certainly not in public, and definitely not to someone whose name I don't know!

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  6. Hello Allard, I found a video on Youtube of a person solving this puzzle. I have had mine for a few years, I got it as a gift(it was purchased from Brian @ Mr. Puzzle). Anyway, to my surprise, I see that there is a second coin in the puzzle. I never knew this, lol. Of course I watched enough into his video to see how HE got the second coin. However, I can not seem to get it. Can you provide me a more in depth solution? I have been a customer with Eric Fuller for quite a while if you want to check up on me. Thanks for your time. - Kevin

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    1. Hi Kevin - drop me an email - allard gmail dot com or something similar and I can try and point you in the right direction...

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    2. cubicks14 at gmail dot com

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  7. Can I buy one and it so how much?

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    1. Hallo there Unknown - I really loved your battleground work... superb! Of course you can buy them - and how much depends on where you want to buy them from... either direct from Wil (Google will help you find him) or from Mr Puzzle and Sloyd when they re-stock - I'm sure if you drop either one an email they'll happily let you know when they get stock in. Best regards, enthusiastic player.

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  8. Replies
    1. You could buy it directly from Wil or from a puzzle dealer like Mr Puzzle in Australia or Sloyd in Finland... or several others. :-)

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  9. Hello! I recently came about of getting one of these puzzles but I'm having a bit of a hard time with it. Basically, the sliding part is very hard to do and I have to apply a lot of force to even get it to slide open.

    Right now the part I'm having issues with is the second coin. I get it to slide about half way and then when I release the pin, it doesn't want to move any further. I've had to reset the box again and still haven't gotten it to slide all the way.

    Right now I can't even slide the other side either to get the the first coin back in to just give up. I've tried a few of the things in the videos but it doesn't seem to work very well for me. Is there something else to this puzzle than spinning it? I feel like that isn't the proper solution to unlocking whatever mechanism is keeping it from sliding all the way.

    Any help would be appreciated it. I'm at squall34@hotmail.com if you'd like to contact me. Thank you for any help or tips you can give!

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    Replies
    1. ...someone will be be in touch shortly... :-)

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  10. Is this puzzle still available to buy?! If anyone could send me a link I’d really appreciate it. leejackson @ myself dot com

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    1. Tomas has them: http://www.sloyd.fi/lotus-p-1122.html
      Alternatively, email Wil directly - Google will give you his email address quite quickly - no he doesn't have a web-shop. You will need to actually email him and engage in conversation. :-)

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    2. ...and I expect that Brian will be getting some into stock shortly: https://www.mrpuzzle.com.au/lotus-sequential-discovery-puzzle.html
      ...as will Alan: https://www.puzzlemaster.ca/search/?category_search=&q=lotus

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