Tricklock T14

I was lucky to get hold of a copy of Rainer’s latest creation from my usual source back in October last year… and until last weekend, it had me thoroughly beaten.

This thing is a beast – not just because it weighs 1.7kg(!) – in puzzling terms, it’s an absolute brute – it will make you sweat for every little step of progress. And I sweated a lot…

Rainer’s a playful soul – sometime his locks come without keys, sometimes they come with keys, as this one does, only there’s no keyhole… which is an interesting way to start!

I spent several sessions across many days of poking and prodding at various features with literally nothing to show for it by way of progress – sure there is stuff you can fiddle with – and it’s quite a satisfying little fiddle – it just doesn’t seem to actually bring about any sort of change in state…

…so I persisted until I chanced upon something that actually did bring some change – I’d hesitate to call it progress at this stage – but a bit more experimentation provides some definite progress – to the point that I have more pieces than I started with – that’s got to be progress, right?! [Well, it might be, or I’ve managed to break something… but this is from Rainer, so I know it ain’t broke!]

From there progress is slow and anything but steady… a number of times I make literally zero progress for weeks on end – one particular stage of the solve (you’ll know “the one”) provides plenty of mirth from my mates on my weekly puzzle call  when I’m forced to report nil progress for about six week on the trot… and not because I haven’t tried – I’m pretty sure that I know what I’m trying to achieve, I just can’t make the magic happen…

…but oh boy, when it finally does, it is awesome – every bit of frustration instantly forgotten – I’m smitten! 

But still there’s more – it might feel like you’ve conquered Everest, but somehow Rainer’s given you yet another peak to climb – thankfully this one doesn’t take me nearly as long… and I can send a pic of my freed shackle to my mates and thank them for their encouragement along the way.

Rainer’s craftsmanship is second to none – the tolerances are phenomenal – there are several surprises along the way that you don’t see coming because those secrets are so beautifully hidden. If a lesser mortal had attempted something as audacious as this, they wouldn’t have a hope in heck of pulling it off – Rainer grins and says “Hold my beer.”

T14 will surprise the most jaded of puzzlers out there – definitely not a simple solve, but one that will leave you with a huge sense of satisfaction!