A self-aligning Boggle board
Wed 25 October 2023
Earlier this year Charlie challenged me to make a Boggle board that always leaves
the letters upright, and this week I have succeeded. Read more
Prime Combination: Solution
Sat 11 February 2023
One solution to the Prime Combination puzzle is
00001 ->
00002 ->
00003 ->
00013 ->
09013 ->
99013 ->
99023 ->
99923 ->
99823 ->
99833 ->
09833 ->
09733 ->
00733 ->
10733 ->
10723. Read more
Prime Combination
Sun 5 February 2023
You come across a 5-digit combination padlock. The combination is 10723. The padlock is currently showing 00001.
If the combination is ever set to a number that is not prime, it resets to 00001 immediately, so every intermediate state from 00001 to 10723 also must be prime.
How do you input the combination? Read more
Alternative revolutions
Mon 3 October 2022
You can use the profile of an object that has rotational symmetry,
but revolve it around a different axis, to produce a different object that
has the same profile. It feels like there's a puzzle idea in there somewhere, but
I can't work out the best way to turn it into
an actual puzzle, so if you have any ideas please let me know. Read more
Using the weird rotary axis
Thu 24 March 2022
I've been playing with my weird rotary axis for a couple of weeks now.
It's a rotary axis mounted on the gantry, with the rotation of the chuck geared
off a toothed rack on the table.
I've had a few questions about the practicalities of using it, so this is some of
what I've learnt. Read more
Packing puzzle: Six Fit
Thu 17 March 2022
I've designed a new 2d packing puzzle. It's called "Six Fit" and you have to fit 6 pentominoes into a rectangular tray. Read more
Party Puzzling: themed puzzle sets for special occasions
Thu 24 February 2022
Emma and I are now selling themed puzzle sets for use as entertaining party favours
for events like weddings, and stag and hen parties. The idea is that you'd
buy enough to give one to every attendee, and people who want to can try
to solve it, and regardless they can take it home afterwards. There's also a competitive
element: each puzzle has a QR code inside which the successful player can scan to add their
name, and solve time, to the event's private online leaderboard. Read more
Bubble packing puzzle
Tue 23 November 2021
I designed a new puzzle this morning, it's a relatively simple packing puzzle where you have to fit
21 circle-ish pieces into a case. Read more
All the gears, no ideas: an escape room puzzle
Fri 18 December 2020
I designed a puzzle for an escape room. The company ended up not wanting to pay for it, but I thought the puzzle was interesting
enough to be worth making for myself anyway. Read more
First steps into CNC machining
Mon 5 October 2020
I have bought a "6040" CNC router, and have been getting to grips with how to use it.
This journey started with converting the machine to Grbl because I'm not interested in running
proprietary software. Once Grbl was all working correctly, I clamped a small piece of plywood to the bed, fitted a 2mm end mill and made my first cuts, manually
"jogging" the tool position using the buttons in the UGS interface. Read more
Secrets of the Hanayama Cast Marble
Wed 8 July 2020
Cast Marble is a mechanical puzzle sold by Hanayama.
It was invented by Bram Cohen (who you may recognise as the
inventor of BitTorrent) and Oskar
van Deventer, who has an interesting YouTube channel where he regularly posts
new puzzle designs. Read more
Puzzle Drawers
Sun 17 March 2019
For the last ~3 weeks I've been working on a chest of drawers. This is no ordinary chest of drawers, they are puzzle drawers.
The idea is that the puzzler is presented with one of the drawers already open, and the goal is to manipulate the chest into
a configuration where all of the drawers are closed. With a typical chest of drawers, this would be easy: just close the
drawer that is open. In the puzzle drawers, there are 3d-printed internal mechanisms linking the drawers together. Read more
A 4x4 chess puzzle
Tue 28 August 2018
Playing Isopath a lot recently led to a broader interest
in board games, which led to me playing a lot of go,
and particularly chess (you can add me on lichess, but I'm not very
good). I had a look at some single-player
variants of chess and played "Hippodrome" a few times but found it very easy, however it gave me an
idea for another possibility. Read more
I designed a trick chess piece with hidden compartments
Sun 4 February 2018
It's quite easy to model a traditional chess piece (apart from a knight) using CAD software. You basically just have to draw a sketch of the outline and revolve
it around its centre. I modelled, and 3d printed, a Queen that includes some hidden compartments for storing small bits of paper, e.g. containing passwords or Bitcoin
keys. Read more
Magnetic cubes puzzle: In practice
Mon 22 January 2018
I've put together a physical version of the magnetic cubes puzzle and
have spent a good few hours playing with it. (You don't need to have read that post in order for this one to
make sense, but it might help, and it's certainly worth having a look at the table that labels the different cube configurations).
I haven't yet managed to solve it without consulting a computer. Read more
Magnetic cubes puzzle: In theory
Sat 20 January 2018
I had an idea for a puzzle. Imagine 27 small cubes. Put a magnet on each face of each cube, with variation as to whether North or South is facing outwards.
Now try to assemble the cubes into a 3x3x3 "cube of cubes". Read more
Solving the Matchsticks Game
Wed 20 September 2017
I was on holiday in Iceland last week, and while we were away, Charlie
introduced me to the "Matchsticks" game. We played
a few rounds and it got me thinking about how to solve it. I couldn't find any information about the game online so I'm sharing what I've learnt... Read more
I made a puzzle game
Sun 1 November 2015
This evening I had an idea for a small puzzle game and implemented it. Read more