Wil’s working title for this puzzle was Pleasure and Pain –
which is far more descriptive of the puzzler’s journey – although the machining
on the back of the puzzle does look rather a lot like a butterfly…
Wil first showed me a sketch of the puzzle about a year or
two back… he had the idea more of les sorted in his head and he’d made a rough
sketch of a padlock captured in some sort of frame – while it looked intriguing,
there were no clues as to what the puzzle would actually entail – but there were
enough interesting looking features in the drawing to know that it wouldn’t be
a let-down.
Over the course of many, many months that sketch was turned
into a 3D CAD drawing by his manufacturer and they began the long slow process
of producing a working prototype. I suspect that there were a few incarnations
before Wil was happy because it took quite a while before it eventually arrived
in one of his usual emails offering a new puzzle for sale… by return of email I’d
paid and asked for a copy and it arrived literally days later… just in time for
my trip to the Gower peninsula… so along it went, along with a rucksack full of
puzzles.
I’d been looking forward to it for ages, so rather predictably,
on the first evening there, it came out of its lovely protective box and I
began to play…
First impressions – it’s BIG! When I’d seen the sketches and
indeed the pictures, I ‘d assumed this was a standard little padlock – it’s not
– it’s actually a rather large padlock… and as a result the rest of it is also
pretty large and pretty weighty!
Initial inspections show the machining on the back that
probably contributed to the new name – along with three interesting looking
little holes, which seem to have something behind them. There’s a green anodised
plated beneath the lock that will presumably slide somewhere at some point, but
for now it’s pretty well locked in place. The lock itself if cradled by a pair
of pillars, one on either side and the shackle is attached by a strange pin to
a brass pillar at the top of the puzzle… sitting on that pin is a plastic tube
with the word LOCK on it – although someone has rather carelessly put it on
upside-down, rather spoiling the aesthetics – pity! Or not… turns out your goal
is to turn that plastic tube over and replace everything as you found it…
So we start fiddling and manage to work out how to get the
first piece to move a bit – my inherent puzzling nature (or perhaps it’s my
fundamental distrust!) makes me spend a little while understanding why it
sometimes moves and sometimes doesn’t, and after a bit, I’m comfortable that I
think I know what’s going on – and I’ve found my first tool! :-)
Use the tool to do the obvious and you’re rewarded with some
more progress – in fact you might possibly even be seduced into thinking that
it was all rather trivial… at this point you really should take a little time
to appreciate the lovely picture of (no doubt!) a puzzler holding up a sign
with the words “I hate Strijbos!!” scribbled on it – along with the letter ‘C’
in a blue circle – which is rather odd.
[At this point I’m going to take a bit of a commercial
break:
It’s a good puzzle – get one!
Especially if you enjoy Wil’s sense of
humour!
He’s a naughty man! In a very, very good way…]
Returning from the commercial break we find the puzzle has
been analysed, solved and indeed returned to its start position (you probably
read the commercial break far too quickly for that to have happened in real
time!).
So what can we say… well, there is definitely pleasure in
the puzzle – there are some wonderful A-Ha! moments… unfortunately, there may
also be more than a couple of moments of sheer anguish when you realise that
you have done something you almost immediately wish you hadn’t – and therein
lies the pain… possibly quite a lot of it – indeed, possibly so much of it that
your best bet is to get hold of the designer and purveyor and seek solace –
which he seems to provide for a small fee… quite right!
Having spoken to a few puzzlers, it seems to be a bit of a
Marmite puzzle – I absolutely love it, even if I didn’t get the “full experience”
– and some folks who did, aren’t that wild about it. It has been rather amusing
to see just how many hardened puzzlers have needed help on this one…
Read Kevin's thoughts over here.
Stickman Puzzlebox #10 is better known as the Autumn Box – a
quick look at the colours in the woods should explain that! The Padauk and
Leopardwood have some glorious autumn colours to offset the rich Wenge in
between them. 
It definitely looks straight-forward and some will dismiss
it as such, but it does need a little bit of respect if you aren’t going to
rely on blind luck to open it every time… it makes me think of Animal Farm a
little – not all of the animals were as equal as the others.
