icut - new iphone app

The Grabarchuk family keeps churning out interesting puzzles. icut is the latest. Download it NOW, while it's free.

http://grabarchukpuzzles.com/

Martin Gardner has died

Martin Gardner was a great puzzler. He wrote a column for Scientific American for many years about recreational mathematics. This Mechanical Puzzle Correspondent spent many hours on the following problem:

Five sailors are shipwrecked on a desert island. They quickly determine
that the only other inhabitant of the island is a monkey and that the only
food is coconuts. They set about collecting as many coconuts as they can
and put them all in a pile. By nightfall they are too tired to divide the
harvest; so they agree to go to sleep and divvy up the coconuts the next
morning.
During the night one sailor awakens, suspicious that the others might try
to cheat him, and desides to take his portion then and there and not wait
until morning. He divides the coconuts into five piles and finds there is
one coconut left over, which he gives to the monkey. He hides one of the
five piles, then puts the rest of the nuts together and returns to sleep.
About an hour later a second sailor awakens with the same suspicions and
does the same thing: He divides the coconuts into five piles, leaving one
extra, which he gives to the monkey. Then he hides what he thinks is his
share and goes back to sleep.
One after another the rest of the sailors do the same: they each take one
fifth of the coconuts in the pile (after giving the extra one to the monkey)
and then return to sleep.
When the sailors awaren the next morning they all notice the coconut pile
is much smaller than it was the night before, but since each man is as guilty
as the others, no one says anything. They divide the coconuts (for the sixth
time) and again there is one left for the monkey.

The question is: How many coconuts were in the original pile?

LOST final prediction

Locke must die! Who will kill him? Logically, it should be Jack. Recall: Jack pulled the trigger on him after Locke killed Naomi. But the gun had no bullets.

But our inside sources reveal.......it will be Walt who will kill Locke. Recall: everybody was playing golf. Walt wanders off & sees Locke throwing knives into a tree. Walt asks 'Can you teach me that?'

Axis - Iphone puzzle app

Dan Norcott is the brains behind Axis. Hard to describe. It's brand new. This Mechanical Puzzle Correspondent played the 1st 8 levels. They get hard!

Games Magazine current issue

Read this Mechanical Puzzle Correspondent's article Stupid Toys....Compelling Fun in the August issue. Mysteriously - on sale now. Page 65

Lab Mice App

480 people have downloaded Lab Mice puzzles.

Lab Mice Puzzles - iphone/ipod app!

Please download the free version and give it an honest rating. Written responses will help make improvements for future versions. Thanks!

Search 'Lab Mice' to find it.

Twisted Mind Puzzler

Finally got my copy of this great sliding tile puzzle. The knob in the back lifts the 4 corner pieces and rotates them in place. Solved in about 30 minutes - but do not fully grasp the nuances of this puzzle. Designed by Dave Nesis
http://www.elogiq.com/

LOST Apollo Candy Bar

Throughout the series, we see various characters eat an Apollo Candy Bar.

In the hatch, we see Kate, Hurley & Locke all eat them. Ben is offered one when he was young. Jacob gave one to Jack - after his got stuck in the machine. In the most recent episode, Jack offers one to Claire - she declines.

Theory: those who eat the candy bar will have the same fate - and opposite fate as those who did not eat it.

Sidenote: Toys R Us sells Wonka Bars. Maybe we'll be able to be a Lostie & indulge.

Sidenote: Reggie Bars were named after Reggie Jackson and were given away at Yankee stadium.

Mindware - great puzzle company

So many people have emailed me about puzzle companies. Yes, ThinkFun & Bits and Pieces are terrific. But don't forget Mindware! Seriously good products that are fun!

Logix Arrows Iphone App puzzle

Object: click on each star and turn them into arrows. Each arrow can point either up/down left/right or diagonally. If a cell has #5, that means 5 arrows must point to it. Suppose you're in the middle of the game and that cell is now a 2. That means that 3 arrows are pointing at it & it needs 2 more arrows.

If a cell has a -1, that means that one too many arrows are pointing at it. When all the cells are 0, you have solved the puzzle.

EXCELLENT JOB by Robert Carver of Wilaman Puzzles

LOST thoughts on Shannon & Ben & Jacob

Shannon's father died suddenly - this set her on a course to travel the world. Theory: Jacob, is an evil SOB. He killed Shannon's father.

Recall: Jacob prevented Sayid from getting hit by a bus, but it was okay for the wife to get run over by the speeding bus.

Jack was furious when his wife left him for another man. The other man was Jacob!!!!

Ben brought Locke to the cabin to meet Jacob. Locke heard 'help me.' Theory: the voice belonged to the smoke monster. Which implies that maybe Ben was communing with the smoke monster all along instead of Jacob. Or maybe Ben had no idea that the smoke monster resided there.

LOST thoughts on Hugo & the smoke monster

We've seen Ben lie many times. But Hugo? In the episode of Richard's origin, we see Hugo being a medium at the end of the show to Richard's wife. He tells Richard that she says to prevent the man in black from leaving the island - when in fact - she says nothing of the kind. Implication: Jacob did control her.


Older episode: Ben takes John to the cabin to meet Jacob. Ben does not see/hear anybody but pretends to have a conversation w/ Jacob. Then John hears 'help me'. Theory: that was not Jacob! It was the smoke monster. Proof: when Ilana brings her crew to the island - they burn the cabin down. And she is on the island to protect Jacob.

Kugellager puzzle

This puzzle is similar to Tower of Hanoi, The Brain etc. The object is to slide the balls to the opposite end by shifting right and left the dark wooden piece. 1250 moves! Moreover, it's easy to lose track and accidentally reverse the direction and move back to the starting position. Intellectually stimulating? No, since there's no thinking involved. Nevertheless, it's an intellectual achievement and belongs in the collection of serious puzzlers. Produced by Jean Claude Constantin.

Fadi Cube update

Scroll down a bit to see photos of the Fadi Cube. This Mechanical Puzzle Correspondent scrambled it - bravely. So far - unsolved. Corners - trivial. Edges - easy algorithm. 4 centers on each face - daunting!

Fear not, puzzle blog followers! This Mechanical Puzzle Correspondent will sacrifice his occupation & social responsibilities to determine a workable, repeatable solution. When I'm done, don't forget to applaud.

Fun Math Problem

Arlene is a serious runner. Every morning she runs one loop of her route. She runs downhill at 6 mph. She runs uphill at 2 mph. If Amy runs her route clockwise, it takes her 1 hour to complete 1 loop. If she runs the route counter-clockwise, it takes her 2 hours to complete 1 loop. Find the distance of 1 loop.

Puzzle Blog in Canada

Our puzzle friends of the north now can tune in to the puzzle scene with a homegrown puzzler: Nancey Vanstone! Follow her & stay apprised of future puzzle parties in the Toronto area.

Viva La France!!

The Great Nation of France is definitely on the rise. First, the President had the good sense to marry the lovely Italian Carla Bruni.

And now, LAB MICE PUZZLES will soon be available in France. C'est magnifique pour tout le monde!

St8ts - new iphone puzzle app

Jeff Widderich has created an interesting version of sudoku here.

Buttonia - iphone puzzle app

Buttonia is a Lights-Out puzzle game. In a normal Lights-Out game, pressing one button changes the status of all the surrounding orthogonal buttons. In Buttonia, the individual jewels have different properties. Diamonds that point up and down - change only the neighboring up/down buttons. The square button changes all the neighboring buttons including the diagonals. Tres interessant!

Neville Attard and Sven Neumann did the work! 99 cents gets you 170 puzzles.

Fadi Cube

The Fadi Cube from Oskar van Deventer has an interesting turning mechanism. Observe the photos. This may be the only 'twisty' puzzle that can have 1 corner be incorrect - see image. $435 may seem like a lot of money for a single puzzle, but there are only a few of these in existence.

Solving: this Mechanical Puzzle Correspondent has figured out how to handle the edges and corners. The 4 center pieces on each face.....daunting!

LOST - Kate & ,Mikhail

Season 2: Kate, Locke & Sayid find the crazy Russian mercenary named Mikhail - he with the patch over his right eye. They fight, his house explodes, they take him as a prisoner.

Mikhail tries to explain something to Kate then says: "never mind you're not on the list." Current season: Kate is a candidate. Hmmmmm.

Mikhail explains that he was the last of the Dharma initiative. Why was he not killed by Ben & the Hostiles? Theory: Jacob touched him - making him immortal.

Then, Mikhail leads the party to the electric pylons outside the grounds/barracks around the Others. Locke throws him into the electrical force field - killing him. As he's being electrified, he says 'thank you.' Of course, Mikhail comes back later to kill Charlie.

LOST - Prediction

In the last episode, we are given a surprise - Desmond is back - seemingly without Penny. I have no idea why.

However! We have not seen the last of WALT. He's not only going to come back, he's going to kill John Locke by throwing a knife into his chest 'before he can speak a word'. And then Walt will become Jacob's successor - even though he's not a 'candidate'.

Evidence: season 1 - everybody's playing golf. Except for Locke who's throwing knives at a tree. Walt ambles over and asks 'Can you teach me that?'

Sorry for spoiling the show's conclusion.

Lock Nested Cube

Bram Cohen is quickly designing a slew of interesting puzzles. 3 identical pieces. 8 moves to assemble. Made with yellow heart, blood wood, and mahogany. Expertly crafted by Tom Lensch.

Bram's Cube

This Mechanical Puzzle Correspondent is the proud owner of Bram's Cube - $440. The top and bottom resemble a normal 2x2x2 Rubik's Cube. Sandwiched in between are colored discs that rotate when you spin the top or bottom. Look closely and you'll see the internal gears. There are many twisty cube variations - this is the only one that has this strange disc alignment. Solving time: so far about 1 hour and still in the exploring stage.

Magnetic Tower of Hanoi

This Mechanical Puzzle Correspondent is at the Gathering 4 Gardner Convention. Uri Levy from Israel has created a new version of the timeless classic Tower of Hanoi. There are several versions. Interestingly, although the traditional TOH has a binary solution, Magnetic TOH has a ternary solution. Bravo Uri!

http://www.numerit.com/maghanoi/The%20Magnetic%20Tower%20of%20Hanoi.pdf

LOST -Inconsistency

Season 2 Jack is performing surgery on Ben. As soon as Ben is knocked out with anesthesia, Danny (one of the Others who is guarding Sawyer & Kate) says "Shephard wasn't even on Jacob's list."

Current season - Jack is on Jacob's list.

Hmmmmmm.

Akari - iphone puzzle app

As iphone puzzle games go, this one costs a bit more: $2.99 for just 50 levels. Nevertheless, when viewed in the context of playing time - it's good for 2-3 hours - less than the price of a film.

Rocky Chiaro

Rocky Chiaro has been making exquisite brass puzzles for about 20 years. Besides being clever & fun, they look great in a display case. The photo above is Eggcite. Go to his website and check out his key puzzles. Boston Key Party and Helsinkey are his gems. Jack is BIG and HEAVY. The nut and bolt puzzles all have different solutions. Did I mention that Rocky's a heckuva nice guy?

http://brasspuzzlesbyrocky.com/destinations.htm

Rubik's Wood Cube

It's been 30 years. Back to the future. The Rubik empire has produced a wooden version. Except for the stickers - it's wood inside & out. A must have for, well, people like me & you.

$30.00 http://winning-moves.com/

More about LOST

In the most recent episode, John Locke announces that he's leaving the island (with others). Is he going to Los Angeles to meet up with our never-became-castaways?

Season 2 or 3:
When Jack divorces his wife Sara, they meet at her lawyer's office. Jack says: what's his name? You can have the cars, the house, everything, what's his name? Sara refuses, Jack storms out.

Jack then starts going through her cell phone records to find the name.

Theory: the other man was Jacob! Evil S.O.B.

We still don't know how Jack got his elaborate, mysteriously smbolic tatoo. When/where? Does the 'alternate universe' Jack have the tatoo? Probably not.

Planet of the Apes? Remember when Sawyer, Jack & Kate are first captured by the others? Carl helps Sawyer escape and Juliet promptly shoots a dart into him. The 60 second scene contains very similar music to Planet of the Apes when Charlton Heston is running through the corn field being captured.

Spin Doctor iphone puzzle app

Seth Lipkin has created this admirable puzzle app. The object is to get the swinging white wand to a certain location and avoiding swinging red wands. There is a logical maze element by having to open/close doors. This puzzle app may not appeal to puzzle purists who don't want to deal with a timing mechanism. Reflexes are required! You may solve the puzzle mentally and have difficulty implementing the correct thumb action.

We applaud Seth for a fun game!

Blockhouse iphone puzzle app

Kory Heath has done an admirable job creating 100 tilt maze puzzles. Tilt mazes: the object moves all the way until it hits a wall. 99 cents for 100 puzzles that will last about 3-5 hours entertainment - BARGAIN.

Good for spatial reasoning. More important - it's fun.

http://www.koryheath.com/category/blockhouse/

Puzzles for the bathroom

Many people read in the bathroom. Some do crossword puzzles. It is never recommended that one do mechanical puzzles in the bathroom - for obvious reasons.

Nevertheless, we feel compelled to highlight this puzzle. Ideal for when you're having a cocktail party.

http://www.taylorgifts.com/item/dont_p_me_off_toilet_paper_holder/29524

Math Puzzles

Ed Pegg's site: mathpuzzle.com is superb on so many levels. Bookmark it & enjoy!

Fling! - Iphone puzzle

I've written before about Fling! There are 25 levels. Having just completed level 18, the message says:

By making it this far, you are now officially in the top 0.001% of the millions of Fling players worldwide, congratulations!

Slime Lumia - iphone puzzle

Slime Lumia is identical to the Nintendo DS puzzle game Prism. The object is to illuminate the funky aliens with the correct colored light. Things to manipulate: the light beam, mirrors, splitters, prisms that create red, blue & yellow rays from a white ray.

Prism will cost about $15 but has better graphics.

New LOST theory.....

In the most recept episode: we discover that if the plane had never crashed....Jack has a teenage son & Hurley is the luckiest man alive.

In the alternate reality, where the plane does crash, Jack is childless & Hurley has terrible luck.

Theory: Jacob caused misfortunes for both of them to eventually lead them to the island. In the case of Jack, he was the 'other man' his wife was involved with.

Proof that Jacob is evil: In season 2 or maybe 3, Carl is being punished. He is strapped to a chair & is exposed to extremely loud music with crazy images on a screen. One of the images says: God loves you like he did Jacob. Is Jacob really Lucifer?

Atsumari iphone puzzle

Terrific puzzle game

New York Puzzle Party Symposium Summary

Thousands of puzzlers across the globe have inquired about attending the NYPPS.

A brief summary: there were 5 presentations/lectures about completely different puzzle topics. 45 puzzlers convened to talk puzzles, try puzzles, and trade puzzles. Most importantly, it was an opportunity for puzzlers to mingle with like-minded people.

The next event: the International Puzzle Party - a week long event!

Tucker Jones Tavern Puzzles

A big issue with puzzle collectors: how does one display them? The Tucker Jones group is offering a good deal on a handsome puzzle stand.

http://www.tavernpuzzle.com/

New York Puzzle Party Symposium

The New York Puzzle Party Symposium has been an annual event since 2002. It will happen this Saturday 2/13 9:30 – 4:30


Scheduled talks

Instant Insanity Puzzle Family – In 1968, Instant Insanity was the country’s biggest game/puzzle of the year.


The Apartment Puzzle – Last year the NY Times reported on an apartment that was renovated with intricate puzzles in the cabinets, walls etc. One of the architects will be presenting a slide show.


The Puzzle King – Betsy Carter, author of The Puzzle King, will talk about her relative who created the first die-cut jigsaw puzzle out of cardboard. Time magazine dubbed him The Puzzle King in the 30’s.


Puzzle Apps for the iphone Some people buy the ipod touch or the iphone for music or the internet. Millions of others (okay, just me) buy it just to download puzzle games.


Show and tell of Trick Knives These puzzles consist of either trick opening or trick closing mechanisms. No rumble is planned.

Flying Karamazov Brothers - a juggling troupe will be performing at 8:00 in the village.

Valentine's Day

A classice Simpsons episode: Homer gives Marge a bowling ball for her birthday. Being so thoughtful, Homer decides to even have his name or initials painted on it.

Now's your opportunity to do something similar. Get your loved one a Tucker-Jones tavern heart puzzle. She'll think you're sweet and then give it to you.

http://tavernpuzzles.stores.yahoo.net/pz-irht.html

New York Puzzle Party Symposium

The big event is fast approaching. People interested in attending - contact me for further details.

Mystical Colors

http://loveyao.info/mysticalcolors

The object of the puzzle is to move mirrors anywhere in the grid to illuminate the stars. Purple stars need lights from red & blue. The free version has 12 levels & we're stuck on 8 - temporarily.

We've seen similar puzzles. Prism comes to mind. It's available only for the Nintendo DS.

Rubk's TouchCube

Look for the April 2010 issue of Games Magazine for my 2 page article called: Rubik Goes Electronic. It will be on the newsstands in a few days. Barnes & Noble carries it.

LOST Theory

It appears that Jacob has inhabited the body of Sayid. So now the battle will pit Locke against Sayid.

New Hanayama Puzzle

We have not gotten our hands on this yet. It appears to be similar to a 4 piece puzzle produced by Thinkfun.

http://www.mrpuzzle.com.au/prod104.htm

New LOST theory.....

The final season of LOST starts tomorrow.

Jacob & the Smoke Monster - have been around for centuries. The Island does not let women bear children - the babies & the mothers die. Jacob & the Smoke Monster are somehow feeding off them.

Related: Aaron & Walt are coming back to the island. Jacob & the Smoke Monster need their bodies to continue on.

Richard Alpert - has not aged in at least 100 years. Was he carried to the island on the Black Rock slave ship?

National Puzzle Day

Help celebrate this National Holiday by teaching somebody about your favorite puzzle.

While we're at it: post a comment about your all-time favorite puzzle. Mine's Rubik's Cube.