The Oskar van Deventer Puzzle Fan Club

For many years, puzzle aficionados have had trouble keeping up with the numerous design inventions of Oskar van Deventer. Now you can keep abreast by joining his official fan club on Facebook.

Minoru Abe puzzle

Remove the center piece. Note the red piece on the left - it doesn't move. The object is to switch the animals. The tail of the green crocodile is wider than the other pieces.

This took me about 2 hours to solve. The first time. The second time: only 40 minutes.

Lexomino Puzzles - Custom made for your name!

My puzzle friend Eric Harshbarger has produced some very interesting packing puzzles. Check out his Lexomino puzzles!

http://www.ericharshbarger.org/puzzles/lexomino/

Minoru Abe Egg puzzle

http://www.puzzleworld.org/SlidingBlockPuzzles/abe.htm

Years ago I solved the Egg Puzzle online. At the IPP in Japan, I was fortunate to find somebody selling the real McCoy. Pay attention to the notches - some moves cannot be made with simple square pieces.

Back from the IPP

Katsuhiko Okamoto is the inventor of the Void Cube. A brilliant design. At the IPP in Osaka, Okamoto declared that his designs are being stolen by Chinese manufacturers. He has since closed his webpage. At the IPP, he brought some prototypes of a handful of fantastic designs. Fortunately, I was able to play with one of them for a solid 45 minutes. I would show a picture of it......but cannot do so.

Heading to the International Puzzle Party

This Mechanical Puzzle Correspondent is preparing for a long distance trip to the annual International Puzzle Party. Soon thereafter, we'll write up some knew physical puzzles! Some of our followers think we've spent too much time on the iphone puzzle apps. Perhaps.

Back in 2 weeks.

Bram's Cube - solved!

I put this puzzle down for the last 2 months. Decided to pick it up while watching a movie. 1 new idea....and the puzzle became simple! Solved in less than an hour.

Update: scrambled it again, situation is very different. Must figure out supplementary algorithms.

Dedalo: iphone puzzle app

My Italian publisher produced an iphone puzzle app for Lab Mice Puzzles. The user interface has a different feel to it. Please download Dedalo and review it on the App Store. Grazie!

http://www.mixelweb.it/dedalo.php Un labirinto, un rompicapo, una serie di numeri da combinare: Dedalo!

Un passatempo dove l’astuzia, la rapidità e la precisione saranno le uniche armi in nostro possesso.
Risolvi i livelli, sblocca i successivi, e completa i 50 scenari di gioco, solo allora potrai risolvere il rompicapo del labirinto.

Combina le coppie di numeri uguali tracciando linee precise ma fai attenzione! Le linee non potranno mai incrociarsi, solo una è la strada corretta.
Lo scorrere del tempo farà diminuire il tuo punteggio quindi allenati per diventare sempre più veloce e completa i labirinti con sempre meno mosse.

Infine condividi la tua vittoria, esaltando le tua abilità, pubblicando il tuo record su Facebook e Twitter.
La tua vittoria sarà visibile a tutti i tuoi amici!
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Colorbind: iphone puzzle app game

Colorbind is the brainchild of Daniel Lutz. The object: move and wrap the blue ribbon over the blue dots. Do the same with each color. There are a couple of other rules - better that you discover them yourself.

Spoiler: Some dots cannot be covered with 2 different colored ribbons while other dots can be covered. There's no way of knowing! So, you may discover a solution that's arbitrarily not valid. This Mechanical Puzzle Correspondent has solved 80/84 levels over a 2 week span.

$1.99 provides many hours of challenges & entertainment. Far less than the price of a movie or even a Starbucks coffee. Bravo to Daniel Lutz who created these very unique puzzles.

Gold Mine iphone puzzle app

Do you watch the news? CBS? CNN? FOX? MSNBC? I usually listen to the news while playing various puzzle apps on the iphone. Gold Mine is pretty darn good. The object is to swivel each piece around its fixed point and smuggle the gold nugget out. Some would consider this an advanced form of Rush Hour. 80 levels for $2.99 Well worth the price. I completed all levels in about 2 weeks. #68 took me the most time. Bravo to Alex Polonsky & Boaz Feldman for a great set of challenges!

Great Paradox

Many years ago, a Law teacher came across a student who was willing to learn but was unable to pay the fees.


The student struck a deal saying, "I will pay your fee the day I win my first case in the court".


Teacher agreed and proceeded with the law course. When the course was finished and teacher started pestering the student to pay up the fee, the student reminded him of the deal and pushed days.


Fed up with this, the teacher decided to sue the student in the court of law and both of them decided to argue for themselves.


The teacher put forward his argument saying: "If I win this case, as per the court of law, the student has to pay me as the case is about his non-payment of dues.


And if I lose the case, student will still pay me because he would have won his first case.

So either way I will have to get the money". Equally brilliant, the student argued back saying: "If I win the case, as per the court of law, I don't have to pay anything to the teacher as the case is about my non-payment of dues. And if I lose the case, I don't have to pay him because I haven't won my first case yet.


So either way, I am not going to pay the teacher anything".


This is one of the greatest paradoxe ' s ever recorded in history.

Everybody: join this site http://thisisquitegood.blogspot.com/

Spinin iphone puzzle app

http://www.klogia.com/spinin.html

My puzzle friend from Israel Boaz Feldman designed Spinin with Alex Polonsky. Even the easy levels are difficult! Get it!

Puzzles & Romance Department

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-9G7hCBHS8

We have long said that Oskar van Deventer is the smartest man on the planet. And now, Oskar shows his sentimentality....

Helicopter Cube

Spent a fun hour taking apart the Helcopter Cube by Adam Cowan. The image above shows the component pieces. The puzzle can be jumbled - meaning it can keep turning in various directions with the shape not being a cube. Without jumbling it - extremely difficult. I tested about 10 algorithms......no easy solution!

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!