Pavel's Puzzle Blog

The Buttonhole Puzzle is truly one of the greatest designs of all time: it's just a stick and some string, but I'll bet it gives you fits to take it off once it's attached! By far my most popular design, I've already sold hundreds of copies of this devilish delight since introducing it at the farmer's market this summer.

The classic dissection puzzle ‘T’ Party has been stumping people for many decades: can you assemble the four simple pieces into a perfect block letter ‘T’? Preying on a psychological ‘blind spot’, you'll swear this puzzle can't be solved, just before it finally clicks together for you!

Finally, The Four T's Puzzle is a deceptively simple and very elegant 2D packing puzzle: it's easy to fit all four pieces into the one-star tray, but that two-star tray is another matter entirely!

Did you notice that the Four T's Puzzle above is packaged in a CD ‘jewel case’? You can't tell from the picture, but so is ‘T’ Party, and we also have new CD jewel-case editions of three of our best-selling earlier designs! These convenient and economical editions are ideal for travel, for family fun nights, and (dare I say it) for stocking stuffers! Be sure to check out these new versions of Square Dance, Easy Eight / Hard Eight and Sleazier.

This year, I expanded into the category of sequential-movement puzzles with Marble March, a classic, tricky marble-jumping puzzle, and Marble March 2, my own original (and surprisingly more difficult) variant of that design. These handsome, solid puzzles will look great on any desk or coffee table, and your guests won't be able to resist trying “just one more time” to solve them.

I also broke into the category of disentanglement puzzles this summer. In addition to the Buttonhole puzzle above, I've added five other such designs, all made from shiny brass chain and PVC plumbing parts!

Star-Crossed is my version of an old classic design, now with a romantic twist. These two young lovers (represented here by the two smallest parts) have been cruelly separated, each on their own loop of chain. Can you reunite the lovers, bringing them together onto the same loop?

Several years ago, German designer Bernhard Wiezorke produced his wonderfully nasty Hemispheres puzzle, and shortly thereafter American Gary Foshee created his variant design, Holey Bolt. Neither puzzle is widely available, though, and that's been a real shame, because it's a doozy!

Now, I've stepped into the breach with my own version, The Bickering Couple. You can think of it as a sequel to Star-Crossed, a little bit later in the lovers' relationship. Now, the couple have had a falling out, turning their backs on one another. Your job, of course, is to reconcile these troubled lovers, getting them back face-to-face. (What they do after that is none of our concern, ...)

Rounding out the new disentanglement puzzles are a set of three versions of The Plumber's Candelabrum. This puzzle comes in three-, four-, and five-stick variants, with the difficulty going up exponentially with the size. Your goal is to completely remove the rubber O-ring from the candelabrum, somehow moving it along from chain to chain.

Naturally, all of our earlier puzzle designs are still available as well. My holiday discount puzzle is a perfect way to satisfy (or frustrate) that puzzling person on your gift list (or perhaps yourself!) while saving a little cash at the same time.