Tag: mr puzzle

Apuzzle 13: Houston we had a problem here by Brian Young

Posted on by fivesinatras in Brian Young, Houston we had a problem here, Mr. Puzzle, Puzzle Box, Sequential Discovery

Houston we had a problem here

Brian Young, 6″ x 3.25″ x 2.25″

Having (finally) made it to my first IPP this summer (after several years of hoping and waiting, I was overwhelmed by the wealth and general awesomeness of the puzzles showcased (as well as the puzzlers present). On the day of the party itself, I heard tell of a new Brian Young puzzle, possibly his last considering his announced retirement, and zipped on over, snagging one of the last copies of “Houston we had a problem here” from the legend himself (a welcoming and hilarious man).

Houston is a very cool concept – Brian took the rather cheap, not so great “Long Life” puzzle box mass produced in China (I believe) by MiToys and modded it, turning it into an SD puzzle box! Yay! Needless to say, “WANT” was pounding in my head when I got to his table and picked up a copy. Houston takes the original puzzle and adds some engraving: the puzzle’s new name and some maze-like etchings are added to the original. The most obvious change is at the center of the box: an acrylic maze, at the center of which sits a ball bearing, stuck in place beneath an engraved “A 13” in honor of the infamous Apollo 13 mission from which the puzzle gets its name. The wood medallion on the bottom of the box rotates a few mm in either direction but does nothing helpful.

It did not take me long to find the first step but the next would elude me for far longer than I’d care to admit. Eventually, I realized I had not tried something and aha! more was revealed. This led to a few sequential discoveries of interacting parts that allowed me to access the centerpiece of the puzzle, where I would spend considerable time wandering around cluelessly, ideas being tried and discarded as I found none did what I had thought they might do.

Backing up, I thought about what had been discovered and amassed and wondered what else could be possible: lo and behold a couple somethings do some things that I had not yet realized: but why? and whatfor? Time to take stock and a closer look at things, leading me to see where (I think) I need to get and what I need to do when I get there. Getting there didn’t take me too long but the puzzle really threw me when I tried to do what I thought needed to be done; being a puzzle by Brian Young I should not think it would be easy. Finally accomplishing this task opened up new possibilities and allowed me to eventually get where I needed to be to solve the puzzle – Huzzah!

Houston is a novel concept with an excellent execution, turning something meh into something mexcellent. I would love to see someone else take up the mantle and mod others in the original series of puzzle boxes – even more, I would love to see Brian continue to make puzzles for us to enjoy! Whatever happens, I am grateful for the wealth of beautiful puzzles Brian has gifted us with and will continue to lust after and seek out those I have yet to solve or collect.

For more Brian Young action, check out my posts on Brian’s Big Baffling Bolt, Abraham’s Well, and Three Wise Bolts.

Three Little Bolts from School are We…

Posted on by fivesinatras in Brian Young, Sequential Discovery, Take-Apart

Three Wise Bolts

Mr. Puzzle, 5″ x 1.5″ x 1.25″, 330 copies made (2018)

There is nothing better than a super-timely puzzle post about something available or coming up soon….. this is not that.

I have been wanting to write about Three Wise Bolts for some time; after re-solving it recently, I remembered what a fun and original puzzle it is and the puzzling muse once again struck:

Three Wise Bolts is a 2018 release from Brian Young at Mr. Puzzle. At the time, my collection was somewhat subdued – I didn’t have much of a budget for puzzles nor did I know as much about what was out there. But something about this puzzle struck a chord with me and I jumped on it. With 330 copies made, it is much more common than many limited releases; the fact that they are not seen being sold at auction as often as many other puzzles released in much smaller quantities should tell you something.

Three Wise Bolts is a take-apart puzzle; most decidedly not a box as there is no internal space to be accessed. The purpose is quite simply to remove the three bolts spaced evenly along a horizontal block, thee Mr. Puzzle logo etched into its front. It also falls quite comfortably into the sequential discovery sub-category, as the puzzle experience has you discovering tools as you journey towards finally removing all three bolts and taking apart the frame that splits into two pieces.

You can see from the bottom that the bolts are different sizes; their complexity also differs considerably, with the puzzle bringing you along a linear journey to its eventual solution. They all spin freely (until they don’t) and small holes are found low on either side of the frame. The tops of two bolts also have a small cavity etched into its side. As with many Mr. Puzzle creations, you must think really creatively about what might be usable and how it might be used. It starts out fairly easily, winning you an early success by removing the first bolt, as you learn a bit about how the puzzle works and what is going on inside. Then the difficulty begins to scale up, with the third bolt being particularly tricky, forcing you to think hard on what might be possible using the tools at your disposal; trial and error may not get you all the way there, and you may need to step back and try that whole thinking thing.

Resetting is just a matter of reversing the steps until you are back at the start. Having first solved this puzzle some time ago, re-solving was almost a new experience; I had forgotten enough about what needed to be done that the a-ha moment, while a bit subdued, was nonetheless still quite satisfying.

Mr. Puzzle offers many great puzzles in addition to Brian’s personal creations and is the only place to get his releases without resorting to auctions or fellow puzzlers. He has a new puzzle coming up that is said to be sequential discovery in the spirit of Big Ben or the Louvre, two pieces with excellent reputations (neither of which I have had the pleasure of solving). And, in a welcome and rare twist, they have said that this will not be as limited a release, in the hopes of ensuring that everyone who wants one will be able to get one – so no setting alarms and hoping the puzzle doesn’t disappear from your cart while you are checking out. Apparently, he is now in the prototype phase and we shouldn’t expect it to become available until mid-2021. So, if you haven’t already, be sure to sign up for their blog – they won’t bombard your inbox and you will be sure to know more about it as we get closer to release.

Originality: 5 Sinatras

Difficulty: Four Sinatras