Be advised that the following pics are those of puzzles meant only for the serious puzzler
Normal folk may tend to go stir-crazy !
'High-Level' means that there are multiple shifts involved before a single piece can be removed
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Clarissa Burr . . . . . a high-level rating of 11
Original design by Ronald Kint-Bruynseels . This is probably a difficulty rating of 7 on the Puzzle Difficulty Index from 1 to 10, in relation to others like it .
This unique gem is an awesome 6" cube ! An enormous handfull, to say the least .
If you feel like creating one, you can go here to view the pieces :
Clarissa Burr
Unfortunately, Ishino does not display the solution pages anymore due to memory storage constraints; but if you would like one, you could have him email one to you.
According to a statement regarding the solution on Ishino Keiichiro's page displaying the puzzle, "There are 170 solutions include apparent. 1 solution is constructable . 11 moves to remove the first piece . "
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Sheffield Steel 6BB
This is the first in a series of what I like to call 'tortuous burrs' . This humungous 6-pc specimen measures 7" (if it were in cube form) and weighs about 2 pounds . It is made of North American white pine -- at 8% kiln-dried humidity -- and given a two-toned application of MINWAX stain (combination of Red Oak and Natural), and then several coats of acrylic polyurethane on certain areas that will not be affected during the move shifts .
The man responsible for this wonderfully devilish design is Ronald Kint-Bruynseels, and one can view more of his -- and others' -- amazing high-level burrs here on Ishino Keiichiro's website .
According to a statement regarding the solution on Ishino Keiichiro's page displaying the puzzle, "There are 144 solutions include apparent. 1 solution is constructable . 17 moves to remove the first piece . 14 moves next ."
To not become unbearingly overwhelmed with the enormity of the number of shifts involved, I enlisted the aid of one awesome program called Puzzlesolver 3D created by André van Kammen at www.puzzle.cx/ .
According to André, "Puzzlesolver 3D is a program for solving 3D interlocking puzzles. It makes it possible to show the found solutions as an animation which can be viewed from every angle. It supports assembling and disassembling for puzzles which are built up using cubic blocks. For example, it solves most 6 piece burrs by the click of a button. It has an easy to use 3D interface for drawing the puzzle. "
You can view my very detailed version of the solution (by PuzzleSolver3D) here
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No Nukes! . . . . . the Titan Beast
This impressively, intimidating design, the forerunner to the Sheffield Steel 6BB above, is credited to Ronald Kint-Bruynseels, and demands a high degree of respect and awe, even from the most serious of puzzlers . The 'core' pieces are slightly similar to the Sheffield Steel 6BB . To assemble just the 'core' required only eight moves . Once the extensions were added, the number of shifts increased dramatically .
This is by far the most frustrating puzzle I have made, and have put together -- even with the 44 move solution, which was created -- as well as those high-level burrs above -- by PuzzleSolver3D .
The extensions are 10 1/4" by 1 7/16", acquired from 3/4" North American white pine finished 1x4 stock .
Weighing in at 2.02 pounds, it is extremely snug . After inserting the sixth piece, from then on to the finish, it was very difficult shifting the pieces, no matter which ones they were . Hard to get one's fingers in between the extensions to grab hold of the piece's core structure, and use both hands -- applying equal pressure -- to make the shifts .
Not only have I given the extensions a two-tone stain effect with four coats of acrylic polyurethane, but I have also created line cuts for added distinction aesthetics .
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. . . . . size comparison
This gives you a great perspective as to the mammoth scale of this gargantuan . . . a size akin to some of Vaclav Obsivac's puzzles from the Czech Republic .
You can view the pieces on Ishino Keiichiro's page .
There is a solution there, but with all due respect, a lot of the pictures are hard to follow: sometimes not knowing how many units of shifting travel (and with how many pieces involved in that move) there are .
However, I have meticulously created a solution page myself, with the aid of PuzzleSolver 3D . You can easily follow each step, as the pieces are all differently colored and numbered, and most of the steps (all enclosed within a frame) have two illustrations: the left one representing the puzzle having been turned in orientation from the last step previous, the right one showing the move .
You can view that page here
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Squarrel . . . . . a Squirrel's Dilemma
Another 'tortuous burr' modeled after Ronald Kint-Bruynseels' original, which can be seen here . According to Ishino Keiichiro's website, "There are 12 solutions include apparent. 1 solution is constructable. 10 moves to remove the first piece. "
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You are looking at the first 3 shifts out of 10
You can view my very detailed version of the solution (by PuzzleSolver3D) here
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Bill's Baffling Burr . . . . . a high-level rating of 4.2
A very tough burr which takes four slides to remove the first piece ( the actual removal being the 5th move ) . Another two slides to remove the second piece . A detailed source of information about this puzzle can be seen at John Rausch's website Puzzle World, with a special section given to renowned interlocking Ap-Art Puzzles craftsman/designer Stewart Coffin and his section titled The Puzzling World of Polyhedral Dissections
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. . . . . pieces
A very detailed version of the solution can be found here
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L Board Burr . . . . . a high-level rating of 22.3
L Board Burr is a design from the world famous puzzle designer Frans de Vreugd of The Netherlands. This puzzle is composed of 6 pieces that feature an "L" shape. 22 shifting moves are required to release the first piece, another 3 shifts for the second piece, and yet another 3 shifts for the third piece. This is an extremely tricky and very difficult burr .
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L Board Burr pieces
19 copies of this puzzle were crafted by Steve Strickland of Puzzlecraft, for the International Puzzle Design Competition in Chicago earlier this year. These were made with Maple, Bubinga and Brown Ebony. The plates are 3/8" thick and the assembled puzzle is 2.5" wide. This puzzle is one of these first edition copies.
17 puzzles were sold privately to collectors and only 2 copies remain, this being one of them . Another 14 copies were later made in Maple and Black Walnut that sold for $32 each.
Dovetail Burr . . . . . a high-level rating of 6
Designed by Frans de Vreugd (Netherlands) . According to the description from Puzzle World , "This puzzle is based on the Six-Board Burr by Junichi Yananose. The dovetails reduce the number of possible moves dramatically. The solution is a unique level six (six moves to remove the first piece)" .
The first 120 copies of the Doveltail burr from Frans de Vreugd were made by Bernhard Schweitzer -- a German puzzle collector/craftsman for more than ten years, with membership in the IPP (International Puzzle Party), a private, informal organization whose main objective is to promote and recognize innovative new designs of mechanical puzzles from around the world -- for his exchange puzzle ( made from Maple + Padauk wood) .
The model pictured above -- copied and fabricated from the original version by anonymous craftsmen -- was purchased from Bits & Pieces online catalog .
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Gordian's Knot . . . (a.k.a 'Extreme Torture') . . . a high-level rating of 28.21
This is a new product by the ThinkFun people (formerly Binary Arts - 1985) -- purchased from the good folks at PuzzleMeThis . It is taken from Frans de Vreugd's version called 'Extreme Torture' .
According to Ishino Keiichiro's page depicting this extremely frustrating computer-generated assault on the mind, "There are 10,752 solutions include apparent. 6 solutions are constructable. Max 28 moves to remove the first piece, 21 moves to remove the next piece."
\/ click for larger pic \/ One definitely needs to have the solution in view, and to follow it religiously until the end, or else near-total madness might rear its ugly head .
. . . . . first three moves in a grueling succession -- one does not want to be caught forgetting where one is throughout the solution : the experience of trying to find your way back can be every bit as harrowing as trying to continue forward .
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. . . . . pieces
The history to Extreme Torture can be viewed here
