Robert Yarger announced the latest little Stickman masterpiece
in an email in mid-November last year… Rob’s puzzles are SO popular that he’s
forced to offer them on a lottery-basis (you can sign-up on his website) or he’d
risk upsetting a number of collectors who consider his creations
super-collectible! Having had the
email with the offer to buy a copy of the latest Stickman puzzle, I spent a
little while weighing up the pros and cons, debating things internally and then
sent him the money approximately 12 milliseconds later…
Rob duly popped it in the post and it rocked up at Puzzling
Times HQ a couple of weeks later (after a little detour to HMRC for the
traditional ransom demand) … unfortunately for me, Gill has developed a bit of
a Christmas tradition: any packages addressed to me arriving at chez Walker in December are
automatically confiscated, wrapped and placed under the Christmas tree…
So I had to wait until Christmas morning before I was
allowed to open the package and play with the newest toy in my Stickman
collection…
I had a wonderful Christmas morning, let me tell you!
This little box is easily one of the cutest looking puzzles
you’re going to come across – designed to resemble a matchbox, Rob’s gone to
huge lengths make it look thoroughly matchbox-like – and simply gorgeous! The
label on the box is picked out in yellowheart and detailed with the Stickman
branded logo and there’s a bunch of beautiful inlaid maple veneer just to
provide additional detailing and features on the box… and it wouldn’t be a
proper matchbox without striking surfaces down the sides – in wenge … and they’re
purposefully not flat with the sides of the box, they stick out just a bit like
they would on a real matchbox… just so that it looks right – no other reason! Push
the drawer open a bit and there are a bunch of large matches inside – purple-headed,
white-tipped matches … all handmade by Rob…
Right, so it looks great – what about the puzzle?
Well, Rob described it as “somewhat simple in operation” … “when
compared to past Stickman designs” – and the clue is on the comparator – given just
how complex some of the previous designs have been, that’s a fair comment, but
the first part on its own would certainly not be a fair description of the
puzzle at all!
Push the drawer and it will come out a little bit – more than
enough to admire the lovely matches inside there, but clearly there’s more to
this than just a drawer that opens about a quarter of an inch… spend some time
exploring things a little and soon enough you’ll find some other bits move a
bit – and you might even find yourself being able to do something you hadn’t
previously been able to do – progress!
Find how to combine those discoveries together and you’ll be
able to work through the roughly 10-steps needed to open the box fully and find
the secret compartment…
Amazing skills in a beautiful little puzzle…
Really small cute and beautiful!
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