Happy Birthday to me.
(…I don’t think I need to include a copyright symbol in there any more…)
(…I don’t think I need to include a copyright symbol in there any more…)
This is a truly gorgeous Stickman Puzzlebox. Rob has clearly
spent a huge amount of effort on making this box look like a stunning, standard
sliding panel puzzle box. Of course it isn’t, Rob doesn’t do
standard-anythings!
This is a fiendish puzzle that seems to misbehave… normal
sliding panel puzzles behave in a simple, predictable way: move a panel and
something happens – every time… but on the 3-Lock Box when you move a
panel, something happens – but only sometimes! Sometimes it doesn’t…!
Rob’s description of this puzzle points out that he’s
implemented a rather ingenious set of three way switches on the panels, so
rather than being either this way or that, the internals will depend on how
many times they’ve been this way or that…!
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_yAUkWP8iQObZLtpfWbC4UosNicOGu14O0BMfYpBhYPudRWLgRh1D-KCcvovqLCNMDH_DLyoL_R_XVSCG9zd04eOxE1FxvkiQSVBXU96Yegqc8XIWBHZo1LmcrRDNqtBe9YmcOy5dWQJm/s320/AW_Puzz_Cat-0668_edited-1.jpg)
A few other folks managed to open it and I had a good go at
it a couple of days later, only to manage to break one of those ingenious
little devices allowing the top panel to come off entirely – of course I still
couldn’t get it fully open, even with the top panel removed! (That probably
tells you a lot about (a) my puzzle-solving skills and (b) Rob’s puzzle-making
skills!)
A quick email to Rob resulted in a detailed reply on how to
go about fixing and reassembling it… and a couple of weeks later I managed to
find some time to drill out the remains of a little dowel and replace it,
before reassembling it…
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitscjouB3qWTdbh2jf-9QgIU9oShdQmXTv3jdAGmqK3LVhBD26cMXleVZ9k7OPuTw7McD0XhhvC8KNTZi51veInmLgTRZUU2cCE4eA8azrW0fIe6Nqf_N657BAjG29oUV3OaZsUWOimXOa/s320/AW_Puzz_Cat-0671.jpg)
…now, a few weeks on, I can finally say that I get it – it’s
very sneaky… understanding that three-way switch is crucial, but there’s even
more to it than that… it is fantastic!
Very Nice Allard. I have one of these on my bench to complete for someone. Seeing the entire box "raw" without the outer panels really lets you appreciate the work that went into the design. Clever, simple and devious. All signs of a good puzzle.
ReplyDelete...indeed - those 3-way locks are damn clever! It makes a super puzzle...
DeleteHappy Birthday Allard even if late.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sandro!
Delete