Wil's First Box

This is another review of one of Wil Strijbos' sequential discovery puzzles, like the Lotus Puzzle that I reviewed not so long ago.

It is called the First Box, which obviously means it's the first box puzzle Wil designed: 

"I designed this puzzle around 1984 and it was my first puzzle box. At that time I produced only six of them (for Jerry Slocum, Nob Yoshigahara, Dick Hess, Edward Hordern and James Dalgety). Now I have reproduced this design in an improved metal version (previously it had been made of Formica or a similar material)." - Wil

Wil's First Box

This redesign is made completely out of Aluminium and is anodised in Wil's trademark blue with his signature in one corner. The box itself is quite weighty (in fact it weighs about 745g!!), which kindly suggests there isn't a lot of space inside. Shaking it, you can hear a few things rattling but it's difficult to tell exactly how many. There is a rounded nut on the top, one hole in the left side and a hole in the bottom. Because of this, one of my mates expertly resembled it to a "Fat Tardis"!! Through the hole in the bottom you can see a smiley face (sad face actually!!) that you've helpfully been told that you have to remove. Other than that, there is nothing else to this puzzle ....  EASY, right!?!

As is with all of Wil's puzzles, no magnets, no banging, no external tools (or power tools!!) and no force in any way, is needed to open this box!!

The only concern he had with the first version of the first box (first first box!?!) was that it came with a separate tool. Since the redesign, he's found a nice little solution to overcome that.

Wil Strijbos' Lotus Puzzle

Yen Puzzle (Image Courtesy of Wil Strijbos)

This is a review on Wil Strijbos' latest creation, based on a prototype he circulated at one of the Midlands Puzzle Parties (MPP) last year.

This first iteration was called the Yen Puzzle, as it was simply a One Yen coin held by a nail in a block of wood. The aim of course was to relieve the One Yen from its captor, the nail.

Since then Wil has revised this idea and added more tricks to it, thus inventing the aptly named Lotus Puzzle, which he released just before Christmas.

Lotus Puzzle (Image courtesy of Wil Stribos)

As you can see, the Lotus is a lot more refined than it's predecessor. It appears to be milled from a single block of Aluminium and which has been anodised in Wil's trademark blue, complete with his initials and the puzzle name 'Lotus'. Wil has replaced the One Yen coin with a simple Aluminium disc and the nail with an Aluminium rod. Another noticeable difference is the puzzle is now composed of two pieces, joined by another one of Wil's specialities, a dovetail joint.