Can an Idiot Solve...?

So. Many. Holes.  Holes can be wonderful in puzzles. You can stick tools, fingers or no-don't-do-that   in them, you can catch tantalising glimpses of whatever's inside, they almost always signify something, even if that something is unknown. It's hard to think of an SD puzzle that doesn't use some kind of hole somewhere in its solve.  The sheer amount of holes in this lego-built box from Josiah1221 (which may or may not be his full legal name) is, at first, intimidating. They can't all do something, can they? With so may options, so many possibilities, the obvious starting point is to try all of them and then be annoyed when that doesn't work.  Can an idiot solve Holey Box?  Probably, yeah.  There's a particular move early on that had me stumped for a while, and I did solve it with my brain, but it could conceivably be overcome by some lucky or exhaustive poking. It doesn't mean much to say that this is the best Lego puzzle I've ever done, as I'...

 Kleeshay is the prolific Dee Dixon's (AKA Dedwood Crafts) newest puzzle box. Unusually, for this box he sold far more 'Scratch & Dent' versions then regular, pristine-perfection ones. Dee is one heck of a woodworker so I can only assume there's something about the black walnut or the lacewood that unavoidably leads to more scratches and dents. My own copy does have a couple of noticeable chips and dings, but nothing worth caring about. Can an idiot solve Kleeshay Box?  Possibly, if you're lucky  The first step is a doozy, which is going to need equal parts thinking, exploration and luck. There is a lot of noise coming from inside, but not much of it is very helpful. This idiot had to take a hint and it turned out that I had tried the right thing, just hadn't quite executed it correctly. Once I knew exactly what I had to do, it still took a couple of tries to get it right.  Once that first step is out the way, it's a clear run to the finish line, or the ...

 Every once in a while, nice people send me stuff. There are quite a lot of nice people in the puzzling world. I don't quite know why, but it's very rare to meet a not-nice puzzler. The generosity sometimes gets intimidating, I'm heavily in puzzle-debt to several people with no easy way to repay it (maybe because I'm just not that nice)  Tyler Hudson is one of the nice ones, and he also has a knack for design. His puzzles generally have a beautiful appearance coupled with elegant, simple (but not easy) solutions. I've been a fan ever since Pelikan released Kuchenstuck, with all its slidey, cakey goodness. Enlaced was a wonderful brain-melter that took me aaaages to solve. I missed out on Commotion and Sierpinski's Burr due to financial impairment, but hope to add both to the collection one day.  We've exchanged gifts a couple of times in recent years and this particular puzzle arrived alongside another that must be kept hush-hush for now (but it's excell...

 Just look at that face.  Anyone who knows me knows I love my Karakuri. Sure, maybe they're not the hardest puzzles around, but it's always important to remember that I'm an idiot. I like an easy win once in a while and, again, just look at that face. How could you not love that face?  He is extremely yellow. I believe the wood used is Japanese Torreya, which is... yellow, I guess. It was made by Yasuaki Kikuchi, who can be a bit hit & miss in my (often wrong) opinion. I adore his last couple of Christmas presents but Otter and Shrine were a little iffy.  Can an idiot solve Yellow Box Fish?  Yes In fact, it might actually be easier for idiots than for smart people. I solved it by messing around, I didn't expect what I was doing to open the compartment, I just thought it would be fun to do, and it was.

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