The first puzzle I didn't like

Well, I finally met a puzzle I didn't like.  Now I'm sure I'll offend the chap who had these for the exchange, but to be perfectly honest, I hate this thing. I'm not dumb, I've got an ok sense of solving, but this one....I'm doing good to get it down to only one piece to put back into the packaging.  There it is folks, my best attempt.  I brought this on a Sunday test session and wasted half the day on it.  By the 2:00 afternoon start I'd had enough and put it back into the plastic bag but this time with 2 pieces needing adding to the case.  Now by this time I'm feeling seriously like an idiot and decided to look through that green leaf that came with it.  the main problem it tells us is to put all 26V + P and one pentomino into the square 12x12.  ok.  that is add the bits and leave the IPP-31 uncovered.  I think to myself, if I can't pack the darned things in, how in heavens name can I do that????  Well then I turned that green bit over and read that "The solution of the main problem is unique (with a precision to rotations) and very difficult to be found without a computer, and the maximum number is not an even number!"  Whatever that means because I'm really not sure, but I did understand the bit about having to find the solution with a computer.  As I was feeling let down by this one and frustrated at the same time, I began to think about why I didn't like it.  True, I didn't attempt any but that first puzzle, but to read that the first one only had a solution that could be found with a computer-that just doesn't seem fair to me.  It isn't the kind of challenge I want in a puzzle.  I want to think a bit, but I don't want to know that I will never solve the thing.  It's bad enough that I have a death-bed book (Moby Dick for those that are really interested-"please God, I've really tried to get past the first chapter of this book and haven't made it, just let me live long enough to finish)  I don't want a death-bed puzzle.)  My fellow puzzle blogger Allard wrote up a nice little piece that I just found this morning on what makes a good puzzle (honest, I've been so busy I haven't even been reading Twisty Puzzles until yesterday)  Do go take a look, it is worth the read.

So now why is this little thing here?  Well the frustration of the above caused me to want something simple and mechanical to boost my ego once again.  This puzzle is from Nestle company, the back side has some cereal on it.  I picked it up on my favorite wholesale street for something like US$0.10.  Can't go wrong with a ten cent puzzle now can you?  And after that last one, I needed something like this!

grandfather

Today I have for you yet another packing puzzle I picked up at Ipp31.  This one  is made up of 5 different shaped pieces.  Now this puzzle I fiddled with for at least 10 break periods.  It was a tough bugger to say the least.  I can't show a solved state because, quite frankly I couldn't find one.  

I was able to fit in 4 pieces in 5 different configurations, but I never quite managed to get the fifth piece into place.  I'll not even show any of the groups of 4 that I found because that might help others solve what I couldn't and I'm just mean that way.

Was it fun?  Well, it was frustrating.  I'll be heading back to it on another testing day I'm sure, but not in the immediate future.  There are too many others I haven't gotten to yet.  

Long over due

Well this thing called life got in the way.  I had every intention of putting up 4 posts after last weekend but work and other stuffs managed to take up all my time.  Well, better late than never.  So here goes the next puzzle report....More to follow.

Every other weekend or so I do this examining thing and there is a lot of down time. On days when I am on for the full day there are 3 long breaks in there as well.  Since I examine in hotel rooms, there are just so many things one can do during those breaks:  I don't watch tv so that is out; Um the obvious hotel room stuff is unacceptable, and a girl can only take a bath for so long.  That all leaves me with puzzling.  And that is what I do.  I bring them along and I puzzle away.

The first in my line up is called the Round dozen.  It was this years exchange puzzle from James Dalgety.  A nice little packing puzzle that comes with a free coaster!  And not just any, it't the kind that lets the water drip through to your table.  (I really hate the kind where the condensation stays inside)  So what is the puzzle?  12 circle chips need to be placed in one circle.  Easy enough I would think.  But it is a bit tricky. I think this one took about 6 candidates worth of downtime to solve. (the breaks between candidates are between 5-8 minutes.  And don't forget to add in the brain recovery/getting back on track time)  There was a lot of trail and error for me with this one but I got there in the end.

I want to add that James very nicely put the numbers on there for  a second puzzle.  The first is just to fit them in.  The second is to fit them in with the number being the number of circle chips touching the piece in question.  Puzzle number two took the next 5 candidates down time and my lunch break.  That one is just a bit trickier.  On the packaging it also says there is yet another puzzle available if we contact the designer....I may just have to do that.

The photo of a solved puzzle here, is not solved!  I smashed those bits in there and you can see the shadows all over.  They are not flush with the table, but rather "bumped up".