Lab Mice Puzzles - now in Finland!!

It started in America, then crossed the Atlantic to Italy. And now, Lab Mice Puzzles are all the rave in Finland. From one of the local newspapers: When one of the Laap reindeer breeders discovered how much fun Lab Mice Puzzles are, he lost track of time and lost his herd. (Santa was NOT happy.)

http://www.sloyd.fi/product_info.php?cPath=53&products_id=355&osCsid=2217c6afa3683e25ddf7a6d3f7a8e890

Custom Extended Rubik's Cube Ebay

This 4x6x7 works almost like the 3x4x5. You must turn the top and bottom layers before you can start mixing completely! This adds to the uniqueness, complexity, and how much fun you can have with the 4x6x7!

$450 on ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/RARE-CUSTOM-RUBIKS-4x6x7_W0QQitemZ190354012540QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item2c51fbb97c

Oskar's Cube Now an iphone app

Oskar's Cube (http://www.bitsandpieces.com/product.asp?pn=42745) can also be played on iPhone now. The design and programming was done by Albert Leung and Mikheal Kruk. They present the app at http://www.whifflebird.com/cubemaze/. It can be bought at
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/amazing-cube-maze/id343941176?mt=8 (requires iTunes download).

Strimko

People who say "I'm bored" are boring. The Grabarchuk Family has consistently produced challenging, fun, online puzzles. Strimko is a nice variation on sudoku.

http://www.strimko.com/play.htm

Reflex Game

Block Dodge http://www.aggrix.com/games/blockdodge

Takes 2 seconds to learn and 30 seconds to play. My high score: 44. Beat that!!

Games Magazine current issue

The February 2010 issue is on the newsstands. Look for this Mechanical Puzzle Correspondent's article about laser-cut jigsaw companies.

http://www.libertypuzzles.com/
http://www.artifactpuzzles.com/

Ternary Burr !!!!!

Years ago, this Mechanical Puzzle Correspondent had the opportunity to buy the Binary Burr from Bill Cutler and passed!

I spoke with Goh Pit Khiam about 6 months ago about this project after I bought his Ternary Key Puzzle. Brian Young made 30 copies of this puzzle.....and it's sold out!

http://www.mrpuzzle.com.au/prod292.htm

Micro-Conundrum X3

GarE Maxton has quietly been producing some very interesting heavy metal puzzles. Expensive, but cool. This Mechanical Puzzle Correspondent will dig further.

http://www.maxton.com/maxtongallerypage.shtml

Rubik's TouchCube

The original price was $150 - a bit steep for the average consumer.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Rubik%27s%2B-%2BRubik%27s%2BTouchCube/9492863.p;jsessionid=C8704FBF618A59A7999FBC9B2E4F3A36.bbolsp-app06-22?id=1218123789980&skuId=9492863&st=touchcube&cp=1&lp=1

17x17x17 Cube

http://www.shapeways.com/model/64058/over_the_top___17x17x17____3500.html

For years, it was 'proven' that no cube could be made higher than a 5x5x5. Fortunately, Panayotis Verdes of Greece never read that paper when he designed his 6x6, 7x7, 8x8, 9x9, 10x10 and 11x11. Of those, only 2 are in production: the 6x6 and 7x7.

Now along comes Oskar van Deventer with a 17x17x17 cube. No copy has been made yet. But if you're willing to be a sponsor, it can be yours for only $3500.

Gravity Puzzles

Mr. Pantazis Constantine Houlis is fanatical about sequential movement puzzles. In the past 2 years he's created a series of 'gravity puzzles.' The diagram above shows 5 squares whose edges should match neighboring squares' edges. Note that each piece is extended into the center. Change the orientation and position by rotating the sphere. Difficult & fun. This Mechanical Puzzle Correspondent is reminded of various rolling cube puzzles. Bravo Pantazis!

Oskar's Floppy Cube

Oskar van Deventer keeps churning out fantastic, magical, twisty, rotational puzzles that this Mechanical Puzzle Correspondent simply must have. Of course the expense: $ 171.93

http://www.shapeways.com/model/56082/Floppy%202x3x3.html

Puzzle News - Across the Pond

Laurie Brokenshire just informed me that the Daily Mail wrote up this story in March of this year. In 2007, Laurie was a featured speaker at our very own New York Puzzle Party. He delivered a stimulated talk about Puzzle Vessels.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1162943/Q-What-puzzle-fanatic-collection-10-000-brainteasers-A-Spend-30-000-house-new-extension.html

National Enquirer Puzzle Gossip

The November 30 issue has a story of my British puzzle friend Laurie Brokenshire and his 10,000 puzzle collection. He built an addition to his house in order to properly store his treasures in a museum-like setting.

We applaud the National Enquirer and wonder when the 'mainstream media' will climb on board and report important puzzle stories. Rest assured puzzlers, this Mechanical Puzzle Correspondent will always fight for the truth! Death threats will never deter us! (On the other hand, getting free puzzles may always influence us.)