Tag: karakuri puzzle

A Puzzle with a View

Posted on by fivesinatras in Puzzled Wolf, Sequential Discovery

Ansel

PuzzledWolf, Walnut

The Silver Age of Puzzling is surely upon us; perhaps Puzzle Renaissance is more accurate. The Golden Age would be that time a decade or two in the past when mechanical puzzles began showing up more and more, with amazing makers making amazing puzzles, almost all of which are now unicorns. However, the puzzle world was perhaps more limited: fewer makers, fewer collectors, fewer puzzles, fewer dollars……

With YouTubers encouraging a growing awareness of mechanical puzzles, an increasing number of people are being drawn into the puzzling world – the initial interest fostered by the growing presence on Reddit and (of course) Discord (go team!). This has brought more makers out of the woodwork (sorry) as the demand for new and unique puzzles grows:

Cue PuzzledWolf, busting out with Ansel: The List (LIST!!!) was born in May with shipping and public sale soon starting in June (2020). (There are plans for additional releases at the time of this writing, with a likely hiatus to allow for the development of future puzzles)

Ansel itself is a wooden rectangle with a relatively slight depth, its appearance a line-drawing take on a classic camera (and we can now understand its name). The puzzle’s goal is extremely unique: the camera’s view-finder is stuck and we need to open it. This makes classifying it a bit tricky: its thematic journey has the feel of an SD take-apart but really the goal is the most puzzle-y of puzzle goals: move this bit of wood here to just a little bit over there! (A Puzzler can most definitely appreciate the joy of figuring out how to move a piece of wood a couple inches and doing so here is extremely satisfying)

I would be remiss if I did not reflect momentarily upon the puzzle’s presentation: PW pulled out all the stops, branded by an eye-catching color and distinct wolf mark adorning a custom box intentionally made with Ansel in mind.

Pretty much everyone I’ve heard speak of Ansel got stuck right off the bat, taking some time to find what is one of my favorite first steps in a while: I thought it was one thing or another and it turned out to be a totally different thing and even though I generally like being able to make a little bit of progress before getting stuck, the sneakiness of it makes me smile. The early struggle satisfyingly resolved, one can move on to a bit of study: patient observation mixed with trial and error as you work your way through the puzzle, which still has some surprises up its lens.

Resetting Ansel is relatively straightforward (following the obligatory photo of a pet or puzzle through its now-open viewfinder). I found myself fidgeting with it after solving it and have picked it up several times since to enjoy one moment in particular.

Ansel is quite original, very well-made, and offers really good puzzling at a great price point. It’s thematic and has an aesthetic that is readily recognizable as a puzzle while also being totally different from pretty much anything I’ve seen before. I look forward to PuzzledWolf’s (hopefully relatively imminent) follow-up to Ansel – a Washing Machine puzzle currently in development, which seems to maintain some aesthetic consistency with Ansel while also appearing totally unique, which is itself pretty cool (perhaps to be called the Alva after none other than Alva Fisher, the man sometimes considered to be the inventor of the electric washing machine, apparently unjustly but it sounds cool as a name and is quite wonderfully alliterative….. and yes, I had to look that up).

Originality and Presentation: Five Sinatras

Difficulty: Four Sinatras

Midcentury American Photography Signification: One Adams

No, I Don’t Think He is Dead

Posted on by fivesinatras in Uncategorized

He Can Not Get the Ball!

Yoh Kakuda and Yasuaki Kikuchi

He Can Not Get the Ball! is a winner of the 11th Annual Karakuri Idea Contest. This box was built by Yoh Kakuda and Yasuaki Kikuchi out of oak and cherry, based on an original idea by Masaki Ohnishi,

The puzzle depicts a moment in which most people have found themselves on at least one occasion – arm stretched out under a dresser, cheek pressed to the floor, face turned so you can get as far in as possible, fingers just brushing the elusive item, still just a bit too far out of reach. Fortunately, the artisans have left us an unattached baseball bat and broom to help us in our quest.

Perhaps the best detail in this puzzle is the tiny baseball that can be seen deep under the dresser – but only if you get your eyes level with the bottom of the dresser. This “hidden” feature really makes this puzzle for me, as it puts the puzzler in the place of the child.

You will notice that the child’s eyes are X’ed out. I am not sure why this is, except perhaps to imply that this poor child died while struggling to regain his lost ball. A tragic end to a common situation. But while we may be too late to save this tiny wooden person, we can at least get his ball! Well, no, actually we can’t…… but we can open his dresser! This is, after all, a puzzle box, albeit a rather simple one.

As with many Karakuri (but certainly not all), the solution is rather straightforward, fitting thematically into the concept of the puzzle, easily deduced from the situation being depicted. However, this collector’s piece is exquisitely made and is surprisingly fun to solve.

The video features the solution following a short spoiler break. As with my last post, this may not be a puzzle that will appeal to a pure solver, but it is one that looks wonderful in my collection – if you are a collector, I definitely recommend getting one of these, if you have the chance.

The Tail of the Uroboros Puzzle Box

Posted on by fivesinatras in Uncategorized

Uroboros

Shiro Tajima

Check out the Uroboros box from Shiro Tajima of the Karakuri Creation Group, made in 2012. This is my first video that includes me solving the puzzle.

It is not an overly difficult box, but it has a couple tricky-ish steps that utilize some cool movements. As with many Karakuri boxes, the beauty of the piece itself is as important as the mechanisms, and this box does not disappoint.

The video includes a spoiler break halfway through, so if you do not want to see me solve it, make sure to close it out at the break.

I went back and forth on whether I should post videos of my solving puzzles – I generally do not watch solves unless it is a box I have already solved. Early on, I watched some videos of puzzles I thought I might never get, only to find myself with the opportunity to get it or to solve it. However, if you are purely a Solver focused on puzzling time per $ spent, then this may not be something that will appeal to you.

For collectors out there, on the other hand, this is a really nice box, and a welcome addition to my own collection.

The Uroboros is a snake that is forever eating its own tail – it is a symbol of regeneration and renewal that dates back to Ancient Egypt and was adopted by the Ancient Greeks and, eventually, the Gnostics and alchemists. Tajima made this when he was doing a series of puzzles to reflect the Chinese Zodiac – this was made ahead of 2013, the Year of the Snake, following up on his Dragon Wing box.

Hope you enjoy the video!