Saturday 24 November 2012

Quintet in ‘F’ by Stewart Coffin



Quintet in ‘F’ is number Stewart Coffin’s design #253 ... two hundred and fifty three! 

And some of them didn’t get numbers! 

And he’s still going!

OK, back to the puzzle in hand - Coffin #253 served as Rosemary Howbrigg’s Exchange Puzzle at IPP31 in Berlin and as you might expect from the name it employs five ‘f’-shaped pentominoes in the tray packing puzzle. 

Mercifully this time (unlike Lean 2) the tray is symmetrical, in fact it’s a rhombus so it’s very symmetrical ... however the pieces aren’t – and there are five of them, which makes building a shape that’s symmetrical a little tricky... 

My copy came from Puzzle Paradise where John Devost has recently picked up his woodworking tools after a couple of successful restorations. I tend to keep an eye on Paradise just in case anything interesting turns up... John’s pretty good about warning folks when he’s put a bunch of new things up for sale on Paradise, but every now and then one or two new things will sneak on before he’s had a chance to wing an email around to warn anyone... 

So  one day I happened to spot this particular puzzle appear out of the blue – just a single copy available with a zebrawood tray and spalted myrtle pieces and I thought it looked terrific so I snagged it. It arrived less than a week later in perfect condition having made the journey across from Canada in a padded envelope.

 
John’s done a super job on this puzzle – the tray has a floating zebrawood base , the corners are finished off with wenge slipfeathers (one of his trademark features) and he’s signed and dated the back of the tray. 

It’s an excellent little puzzle and the combination of an odd number of non-symmetrical pieces being fitted into a perfectly symmetrical tray provides plenty of blind allies to be explored. I got fairly lucky and managed to stumble upon a solution quite quickly, but I’ve heard of some pretty mean puzzlers being stumped for quite a while ... but then it IS a Stewart Coffin design, and you wouldn’t expect any less ... would you?

30 comments:

  1. I'm not a pretty mean puzzler! And I just can't solve it! I've been at it for months!

    My copy also came from John - Padauk tray with double Wenge slip feathers and the same spalted Myrtle pieces. Looks beautiful and, having found an unintended solution, I can at least store it flat!! I'm just hopeless at packing puzzles - even blowing on it hasn't helped at all!

    Kevin
    Puzzlemad

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  2. Did he add the little poem with it? That was a big help!

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    1. ...not sure I've seen a poem for Quintet in 'f' ... saw the one for Octet in 'f' though...(?) - allard

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  3. Sandro Aliverti6 May 2015 at 12:30

    Good day to you and compliments for this wonderful blog.
    I wonder if you could be so kind to send me or to point me to the solution of this puzzle (quintet in f)
    I thank you in advance, best regards

    Sandro Aliverti
    alivertis (at) tin.it

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  4. Replies
    1. I'm sure I could dig it out and send it to you, but unfortunately you didn't leave an email adress and the blogger stub doesn't seem to have one on it either... ah well...

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    2. just post a link to imgur :)

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    3. I don't like posting pictures of solutions, anywhere... :-)

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  5. Can anyone help in the solution? Even a hint would help. Thanks. 3609 Kingman, Des Moines IA 50311

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    1. ...sometimes on Stew's puzzles the pieces don't sit flush against the edge...

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  6. Hi, it seems to be impossible to solve it. Anyone can help me with the solution?

    Thanks

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    1. I'm sure I have a picture of the solution somewhere - let me have your email and I can probably wing you a copy.

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    2. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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    3. Sent, and email deleted :-)

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  7. Replies
    1. Hi to both of you! Could you send me de pic of the solution? I think I solved but I had to put a little extra strenght for it to fit in the square so Im not sure :/. cristianromero7387@gmail.com... thank you in advance!

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  8. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    Replies
    1. Good news Skyslider - it does have a solution! :-)


      [...and I've sent you a copy.]

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    2. Please, please, would send it to me ?

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    3. I alrerady have... you commented anonymously so I sent it to a random person in the interweb - you're welcome! :-)

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  9. Any chance you would send the solution to me? I've spend way too many hours on this puzzle

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  10. Hola me podrían enviar una imagen de la solución? Correo: jipofortnite@gmail.com

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  11. Hi! My husband and I have been trying to solve this for days now and I might have come up with a solution, but we're not sure it's the right one as it's a really tight fit. Could you send us the solution via email as well, if possible? Alfredospaghettirocks@gmail.com Thanks so much!

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