Hales’ Turn the Plug

This one first showed up at an MPP quite a while ago and it amused many puzzlers that day… unfortunately one of them behaved in a totally inappropriate manner(!) and discovered a cooked solution that pretty much by-passed all of the cleverness… so Shane took it away and came up with an improved version, and duly presented me with a copy to add to my collection… Thanks!

Turn the Plug falls into Shane’s category of “Interval Puzzles” (like the “Wire cutter”) – which by his own description aren’t big and complicated enough to be included in his main puzzle series and are typically used to experiment with a particular idea or feature – although in my humble opinion (and that of several other puzzlers I know!) they’re plenty good enough as stand-alone puzzles!

Ostensibly Turn the Plug is a door lock mounted on a big old chunk of wood with a handy base so it stand upright. On the right hand side there’s a handy key … or at least it would have been handy if “someone” hadn’t screwed it firmly into said chunk of wood – and not provided any visible means of unscrewing it!

The rear of the puzzle reveals the aim, with a little indicator dial currently pointing to “Locked” with the puzzler being goaded into getting it to somehow point to “Open”.

Now it might not look like it, and Shane’s insistence on calling it an “interval” puzzle might lead you to believe otherwise, but this is a great little sequential discovery puzzle with a delightful discovery element to be, err, discovered.

Having discovered said thingy, finding how to use it effectively is 90% of the puzzle – let’s just say that Shane’s experience at locksmith mastery hasn’t gone to waste.

I love the fact that it all looks so simple and honest… when it’s anything but!

Nice job that man!