Stickman Lighthouse Puzzlebox

Finally! I bagged the last unicorn!

Slowly but surely over the past few years I’ve been closing in on completing my collection of the numbered Stickman Puzzleboxes. Last year I managed to find a copy of the Gordian Knot, leaving just one little unicorn left to find - The Lighthouse.

This year a mate of mine asked me if I’d like to acquire his copy, a remarkably short discussion ensued and some time later a little money changed hands and I bagged my final unicorn.

And I am delighted!

Not just because I’d been trying to complete that little part of the collection (again, I’m not addicted, I could stop any time I choose, but I’m not a quitter!) for a good few years now, but because it is an exceptional puzzle!

This puzzlebox is a serious piece of art, in fact I’ve known non-puzzlers to develop a particular fondness for this puzzle,  for this to be the one puzzle they hold on to when the rest of a collection is being sold... it is that beautiful!

Rob has spent a lot of time and love making the base look every bit the rocky outcrop that it’s supposed to represent... the lighthouse itself has some lovely detailing which really isn’t necessary at all, but sets it apart beautifully.

...and I haven’t even mentioned the turning work on there - some of it’s overt, and some of it’s a bit disguised and you only really spot it when you’re part-way through solving the puzzle.

This puzzle entertains throughout the solution, at first disguising the way in and later on with a wonderful little piece of theatrics if you treat it just right - the sight of a pair of secret compartments yielding their very existence is almost synchronized ballet.

It really is special, and a wonderful puzzle with which to complete my current mission.

I feel the need to close out this post with a family portrait - something I suspect that fewer than a handful of people around the world could do...