Game Magazine article

http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~rh5k-isn/Puzzle/

The February issue of Games Magazine is now on the newsstands. This Senior Mechanical Puzzle Correspondent has reported on the Mother Lode of Puzzle Designs.

Chess Puzzles

The Huffington Post has expanded their menu. Yes it is pro-democrat & anti-republican.

More importantly, Ariana is educating/entertaining readers with these chess puzzles.
Click here.

Puzzling way to mulitiply & divide

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/16/ancient-egypt-math-computer_n_797806.html

Rave Review of Lab Mice Puzzles

http://www.parentsconnect.com/product-review/toys/lab-mice.html

Blockoban: iphone puzzle app

Blockoban is an outstanding puzzle app that belongs on every serious puzzler's iphone/ipod/ipad. The object is to move the colored squares or open circles onto their matching targets. Think of it as a combination of Sokoban and Lunar Lockout.

But there's so much more. On some puzzles, squares will have a notch in the upper left hand corner. This means that they travel together. If one of them gets moved, they all move in the same direction.

Like Lunar Lockout, moved objects will travel until they hit a wall or another object. However, some puzzles have sticky squares.

If a square hits another square, it will stop in that position. However, if a square hits a circle, the square will stop normally, but the circle will absorb the momentum and keep traveling until it hits a wall.

Jean-Philipe Sarda is the brain child. You can create your own levels and then send them in.

720 easy levels
880 medium levels
420 hard levels
160 big map levels.
$2.99
One of the best bargains in town.

Dedalo: iphone puzzle app

Mama Mia! The Dedalo iphone app is red-hot in Italy right now. And the reviews are steller!

Dedalo is the Italian version of Lab Mice Puzzles

Try Cube Iphone Puzzle App

http://dexetra.com/apps.php?id=42

Try Cube is a cross between MonoSpace (another great puzzle app) and Rubik's Cube.
Object: turn the layers to line up the blue cubes to match the pattern on the right.

96 levels in all

NY Times Science Section

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/07/science/07memory.html?_r=1&ref=science

The entire section of the NY Times Science section is devoted to puzzles. This story could come from the pages of an Oliver Sachs book. Dr. Sachs is a neurobiologist and has written about his unusual patients. Do read The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat! There's an incredible story about twin autistic savants with a penchant for prime numbers.

Stone Flood Iphone Puzzle App

Andreas Katzian has produced a nice, fun series of puzzles. 54 levels. The object is to make all the stones 1 color. The bottom left corner stone represents the starting stone. If the adjacent stone is blue, tap blue and your the stone becomes blue and it absorbs the neighboring stone. Like the Borg of Star Trek. 10 seconds to learn. Stone Flood is almost identical to Flood It - another iphone app.

Good Puzzle Collector's Web Page

Gisela Wittingen, from the Netherlands, has a nice section in her puzzle web page of photographs. Check 'em out!

http://wittingen-puzzels.jimdo.com/puzzels/schuifpuzzels/

Rubik's Slide: iphone puzzle app

Last month I met with the publicity staff of Rubik's Slide. They reported: while on QVC, they sold 40,000 copies in the first 10 minutes.

You have a choice: buy the actual electronic gadget puzzle for $15 or buy the iphone app for $2.99. Both?

Michelle Nataniel Yugie, Rubik’s Cube Champ

Seems like 99% of the time, Rubik's Cube Fanatics are male. This young lady is an inspiration!

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/myjakarta/my-jakarta-michelle-nataniel-yugie-rubiks-cube-champ/406345

Hex Slide 10,000 Iphone puzzle App

This Mechanical Puzzle Correspondent completed all 625 Expert levels of Rush Hour. Relieved and sad that there were no more challenges.

And now, Michael Katz & Nick Hodapp have created 10,000 levels of a new version which they name: Hex Slide 10,000. Of these, 4000 are at the Advanced Level.

.99 C'mon, don't be a cheapskate. Buy it! This is the perfect bargain for people serving long sentences.

Puzzle for Pets?

Oskar van Deventer found this Stewart Coffin puzzle sold in his local pet food store. If your dog, cat or rabbit can't dismantle it and restore it - they can chew on it!

Monospace - Iphone Puzzle app

Daniel Lutz created Colorbind - one of the top 10 intelligent puzzle apps. Monospace is his encore. 60 levels. Impossible to describe. Just download it & watch the demonstration. This Mechanical Puzzle Correspondent has solved 59 levels and hopes to one day complete that last level.

Puzzle Friend in the News: Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/06/AR2010110604245.html

In the puzzle world, Bill Ritchie is best known for his company ThinkFun (formerly Binary Arts). In his neighborhood, he's better known as the guy with the Texaco sign outside his home. "You can trust your car to the man who wears the star."

Up! Iphone puzzle App

Csaba Tamas has created 20 levels of this interesting maze puzzle set. Each level consists of 3 or 4 puzzles.

Object: move your man from the bottom, to the door. As you move, your square will swap places with the new square.

Fast, fun series of puzzles. Maybe too easy. This Mechanical Puzzle Correspondent did the entire set in 36 minutes. 99 cents is a fair price.

Lab Mice Puzzles - Mindware Game

Because the Lab Mice Puzzle books have sold so well, Mindware has adopted the genre and created 100 new puzzles ranging from easy to hard.

The puzzles are printed on laminated cards. The set contains dry erase markers.

Since the holidays are just around the corner.....why not buy multiple sets for everybody you know!

http://www.mindware.com/p/Lab-Mice-Puzzles/48147

Lab Mice Puzzle - book review in French Women's Magazine

This summer, a dear friend was en vacance in France. She was thumbing through her favorite magazine: Femme Actuelle. She saw my name, then turned the page and of course said to herself - wait a minute! Or maybe she said Sacre Bleu!

My 2 books, Lab Mice Puzzles Volumes 1 & 2 are now being sold in France. And the wise editors of Femme Actuelle have heartily endorsed them.

Rush Hour: The Iphone App

About 10 years ago Binary Arts, now known as ThinkFun, released Rush Hour. Its 40 challenge puzzles swept the world. 3 more versions were released, each with 40 new challenges. If you bought them all, the 160 challenges cost about $30.

Recently ThinkFun released Rush Hour as an iphone app. The app has 2500 puzzles: 625 easy, 625 medium, 625 hard and 625 expert. I did all of the expert puzzles. It took a long time. Since the app costs $2.99 I definitely got my money's worth and then some!

New Puzzle Article

http://gamesmagazine-online.com/

The November issue features my article Tower of Hanoi and Similar Puzzles. It's not on the newsstands yet, but subscribers are receiving it.

Fermat's Room (2007)

This foreign film about mathematics is terrific. Reminds me of The Cube.

Can you name 5 films that feature mathematicians as the main characters?

Office Max

Office Max is running a 'Back to School' ad on TV. The ad shows a Rubik's Cube being solved. And yet, if you go the Office Max website and search for Rubik's Cube.....they don't sell them.

Subway Shuffle iphone puzzle app

Is there a better set of puzzles for the iphone than Subway Shuffle? Last night I finally conquered level 97.

Tappi Adventure - iphone puzzle app for kids!

The Grabarchuk family has a long history of producing interesting, innovative puzzles. Tappi Adventure is perfect for kids! Tap on 2 of the images at the same time and they swap places. Cool graphics!

Attention puzzlers: download this for FREE. Then have some kids try it. Spread the seeds of puzzling, watch them grow.

http://www.grabarchukpuzzles.com/tappi/

The New York Puzzle Party Symposium

Plan ahead! The Next NYPPS will be Saturday February 12, 2011. This is the day before the Toy Fair commences. If you are interested in attending, shoot me a note.

3 Musketeers Puzzle

All Four One & One Four All is the real title.


The puzzle is to stack the three Musketeers, Athos, Porthos & Aramis, joined by d'Artagnan so they are self supporting in the frame; ie: no loose parts. You must be able to pickup the frame without touching the Musketeers, so that the Musketeers do not fall out.

The puzzle was designed in 2010 by Acady Dyskin & Pantazis Houlis, both University lecturers with Engineering backgrounds from Western Australia.



http://www.mrpuzzle.com.au/prod139.htm

Puzzle Furniture

http://www.hannahavery.co.uk/

Hannah Avery informed us of her Burr puzzle stand for her tables. Nice!

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!
.

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!