Some things are can be hard to categorize, like a blog about puzzle boxes and cocktails. Puzzling creations that blur the lines between categories, include aspects of multiple genres, or even better, that blend genres in new and novel ways, are particularly special to me, as proprietor of an unusual hybrid myself.
Located a few miles northeast of Hollywood and known as the “media capital of the world”, the Los Angeles adjacent city of Burbank, California, is occasionally confused with a puzzle.
When Eric Fuller decided to team up with Frederic Boucher and modify one of his devilishly fun designs, he knew he could create something even more outrageous, complex, challenging, unusual and fun.
The Norman invasion of England brought with it an architectural fortification system known as motte-and-bailey, which was fairly simple to construct even for unskilled laborers, while at the same time being militarily effective.
“The North American word schlock”, according to Vocabulary.com, “comes from the Yiddish word shlak, … "junk," or from the German Schlacke, "dregs," "slag," or "refuse."” It’s crap.
An index case, also referred to as “patient zero”, is the first documented patient in a disease epidemic within a population, or the first documented patient included in an epidemiological study.
The vortex theory [of the atom] is only a dream. Itself unproven, it can prove nothing, and any speculations founded upon it are mere dreams about dreams. - Lord Kelvin
Burr Bot is a hybrid puzzle box and burr puzzle which also incorporates sequential discovery elements. For a non-burr puzzle enthusiast, it’s also an approachable and addictive introduction to the genre that manages to be both seriously challenging and incredibly fun.
How do you fit all the “Gauls, Celtiberians, Gallaecians, Galatians, Britons, Gaels and their offshoots” (Wikipedia) into a little box? That stunt would take some gall, I imagine.
Goodbye, Piccadilly, Farewell, Leicester Square! It's a long long way to Tipperary, But my heart's right there. – Jack Judge and Harry Williams, 1912
As if having a unique and beautiful burr set made by Eric Fuller were not enough, the box that contains the set is also rather special.
This story arguably starts back in 1892, in a German satire magazine called Fliegende Blätter (flying leaves / loose sheets), where the first published illustration of these ambiguous animals appeared with the caption “Rabbit and Duck”. Was it a rabbit, or a duck?
Those who follow the works of Robert Yarger, the brilliant puzzle maker behind the Stickman Puzzle Box Company, know that he likes to create new puzzles and explore different genres. He rarely revisits an idea, and when he applies his focus to a new project it becomes extraordinary.
Benno de Grote has been tinkering with his puzzling ideas since he was a little boy, and despite limited access to materials and tools, has been able to produce quite a number of puzzle boxes which many will recognize.
“There is a certain part of all of us that lives outside of time. Perhaps we become aware of our age only at exceptional moments and most of the time we are ageless.” ― Milan Kundera
“Come Fairies, take me out of this dull world, for I would ride with you upon the wind and dance upon the mountains like a flame!” - William Butler Yeats
Bill makes beautiful furniture in the Scandinavian and Shaker influenced style, ascribing to the moto that form follows function. He also likes puzzles, and has a successful puzzle shop called Black Dog Puzzle Works where he offers his hand-made challenges in elegant hardwoods.
Behold the infamous tale of Ned Kelley, the notorious Australian bushranger and outlaw wanted for a series of police murders in the late 1800s. Kelley and his gang’s evasion of police capture for over two years ended in a famous gun battle in which the outlaws wore makeshift iron suits and helmets which have become iconic.
Fancy going on an African safari, anyone? The allure of the classic game hunt is the stuff of novels by the likes of Isak Dinesen in my book, and the only shooting I’d be interested in is with my camera.
This is a tale of a puzzle box, however, one that references an ancient lost race of craftspeople who built the most incredible and complex objects.
Perhaps it is no surprise then that a puzzle box can serve as a biography of a life as well. It seems perfectly fitting that someone who has spent a lifetime with puzzles should write their own autobiography into the wood.
Once opened, as a wonderful reward there is another entirely independent puzzle box, perfectly nestled inside the internal compartment of B-Box. Tip this out and you are holding the “Reactor Box”, a tiny puzzle box which packs a huge headache designed and created by Eric Fuller
Close your eyes and make a wish. The world could use some good wishes right now, so this pairing seems timely. The “Wish Cube” is the product of two friends, two continents and some time to let the wish grow.
A beautiful hybrid puzzle, created by Kagen Sound (a man whose very name is a lovely hybrid), is the Cocobolo Maze Burr. This stunning piece of puzzle art is made with cocobolo, ebony and holly woods, and is an evolved version of his award winning "Maze Burr" puzzle, which was the “puzzle of the year”, winning both the people’s choice and jury grand prize awards in the 2006 NobYoshigahara Puzzle Design Competition.
Mule. Prius. Broccolini. Live-Zoom. What do these random things have in common?