MAKE » Tag: Puzzles

3D-Printed Advent Calendar

Adam Flaherty — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 02:30:31 +0000

The first printed Advent calendar was produced in Hamburg between 1902-1903. Close to 110 years later, a maker from Minnesota, Peter Leppik, has updated this traditional seasonal register and brought it into the 21st century. His 3D printed Advent calendar is available on Thingiverse for all to download, print, and […]

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Math Monday: Acrylic Frabjous Kit

Gareth Branwyn — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 19:00:19 +0000

By George Hart for the Museum of Mathematics Frabjous is a sculpture that consists of thirty identical parts which are assembled into a geometric star with twelve spiral vortices. A few years ago, a MAKE post showed how to make a cardboard version that requires many hours of hobby knife […]

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Math Monday: Truchet Tiles

Gareth Branwyn — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 20:00:23 +0000

Here is a set of laser-cut Truchet tiles with circular arcs, designed to be rearranged in a frame.

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I Have a (Puzzling) Dream

Gareth Branwyn — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 04:30:10 +0000

MAKE Sales Manager Brigitte Kunde shared this amazing build with us, spotted online by a friend of hers. Pete Fecteau used over 4,000 Rubik’s Cubes to create this 18′ 6″ x 9′ 8″ mosaic of Dr. Martin Luther King. Apparently Rubik’s-based artwork is a “thing.” There’s Rubik’s Einstein, Lincoln, Sitting […]

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How-To: "Diamond Lock" Puzzle Journal

Sean Michael Ragan — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 13:35:44 +0000

Here's another beautiful bit of wooden puzzle design and craftsmanship from Denver metagrobologist Kagen Schaefer. The locking mechanism was recently reverse-engineered by Instructables user dombeef, who has made a working paper version.

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Lego sliding block "15" puzzle

Sean Michael Ragan — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 22:47:58 +0000

Spotted in the MAKE Flickr pool, this elegant version of the classic sliding-tile puzzle executed in Lego elements by Peer Kreuger. The assembled puzzle has no visible studs.

How-To: Build Nob Yoshigahara's "Dualock" cross puzzle

Sean Michael Ragan — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 01:32:15 +0000

I built one of these years ago from plans I saw in Slocum and Botterman's New Book of Puzzles, and still delight in playing with it, so I was pleased as--geez, I can't say "pleased as punch" and still respect myself in the morning, so I'll just leave it at "really pleased"--to see this new tutorial from Instructables user Phil B about how it's done. From the outside, the puzzle is deceptively simple: You can guess from Phil's description that you've got to spin it, to win it, but there's a devious twist. The book I saw it in had a picture of a clear plastic version that showed off how the mechanism worked, but that makes it rather too easy to figure out; the best way to appreciate Yoshigahara's design is to build one for yourself, then give it to somebody else to puzzle over.

Lego interlocking solid puzzles

Sean Michael Ragan — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 19:19:18 +0000

Apart from the fact that the bricks and plates are open at their bottoms, and so the pieces always have one side that can't be "smooth," Lego is a pretty handy way to prototype interlocking solid puzzles. Many of these are based on cubic units, and can be built in Lego at a scale of 1 cube = 2 studs x 2 studs x 5 plates. Eric Harshbarger, whose Lego hijinks we've featured a couple times before, has produced some lovely models based on this principle. Shown above are his 6-piece burr, checkered solid pentominoes, Soma cube, and deluxe polycube set. The awesomeness continues at Eric's site.

Burr puzzle cutlery

Sean Michael Ragan — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 03:00:31 +0000

I like this concept design from German product designer Konstantin Slawinski that integrates the pieces of the classic three-piece "wooden knot" puzzle into a knife, a fork, and a spoon to make an interlocking set of cutlery. I don't think there's a deliberate nod to Bill Cutler (WOTD: "metagrobologist") going on here, but I kinda wish there were. He calls it "Join." [via Core77]

Twisting puzzles designed, built by my 15-year-old neighbor

Sean Michael Ragan — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 16:29:15 +0000

Bumped into one of my new neighbors at the mailbox last week, and when I mentioned that I work for MAKE, she mentioned that her teenage son builds puzzles. Mechanical puzzles. Complicated ones. Turns out, he doesn't just build them--he designs original configurations and sells them online. He's got a following.