Loopy L Cube #3

Here comes the third version of Loopy L Cube.

Loopy L Cube #3 has through holes and their shape is a simple cylinder. This feature increases more possible combinations of the pieces and makes the puzzle trickier. I have been playing this puzzle for sometime, yet I have not solved it. Same as the previous Loopy L Cube #1 and #2, #3 looks like a child's toy block and looks easy, but it is not. If I compare the difficulty level of each of them, the bigger the number, the harder it is. Which means #3 is the most difficult one in Loopy L Cube at this time.

The wooden dowels were made by ourselves using a special jig. Common wooden dowels or rods that we can purchase at Australian hardware stores are made from Tasmanian Oak or Pine which are whitish colours. When it comes to need a darker colour dowel, there is only one option, making it by hand.
After many trials and errors, Juno finally invented an efficient way of making wooden dowels. The dowels he makes are a more accurate cylindrical shape than the dowels that are sold. As you see, the dowels that are used to Loopy L Cube #3 are dark brown. This is Jarrah.

Each L-shape piece is made of Silky Oak. Look at those textures, it doesn't look like they were made from the same timber, but they are all Silky Oak. Some have a dark colour, some have a light colour, some have leopard like spots, and some have fine line patterns.
Juno has chosen using Koto for the tray that is a bright color opposite to the pieces.

If you think Loopy L Cube #3 seems easy to solve, just try it!

Yukari

New SD and Burr puzzle, 15th Auction Results

We have started selling the new puzzles on 26th December at 07:00 Brisbane time.

Ring Case is a sequential discovery puzzle that contains a finger ring inside. The goal of this puzzle is taking out the ring from the case.

Unbalanced 6 Board Burr looks somehow a bit odd and unbalanced because it has pieces of different thickness.
The burr has a level 16 unique solution that the ordinary 6 board burrs cannot achieve.

These puzzles are the last puzzles we produced in 2019. We will continue to make fun, original puzzles so please look forward to our next year's work!

We held an eBay auction and it ended on 23rd December.
This time, we had put 2 kinds of puzzles for 3 puzzles;
2nd grade of "Ring Case", also 2nd grade of "Unbalanced 6 Board Burr" and miniature "Unbalanced 6 Board Burr."
The sales results are as follows:

Ring Case: AUD $212.50
Unbalanced 6 Board Burr: AUD $67.00
Miniature Unbalanced 6 Board Burr: AUD $66.00

The total sales amount was AUD $345.50 and as we promised, we have donated half of the total sales amount. It was AUD $172.75, so we rounded it up and donated AUD $173.00 to AWLQ on Monday. Here is the receipt.

Our little pleasure is seeing fluffy friends at AWLQ after the donation, but there were only four cats. In a sense it is good that not many cats are waiting for a foster family.

Warm wishes for the glorious coming year!

Yukari

15th puzzle auction and next puzzle release

We have put three puzzles, Ring Case (2nd grade), miniature version and 2nd grade Unbalanced 6 Board Burr up for auction on eBay! A half of the sales of the puzzle will be donated to the AWLQ (Animal Welfare League Queensland) to save stray and surrendered pets.

We initially planned to release Ring Case in early December because its production had been almost completed. Why we have changed our mind is that if we release our puzzle product in this season before Christmas, often delivery takes a lot longer than usual and occasionally the parcel can go missing. Those parcels are usually found at a customs office or your neighbor's door, though. We don't want to have such problems and issues especially when we release puzzle products that can attract many puzzle enthusiasts.

Yes, one of our new products is a sequential discovery puzzle box that is intended to hold a finger ring inside. We will release product versions of Ring Case and Unbalanced 6 Board Burr on the morning of 26th December at 07:00 Brisbane time. Then we can dispatch the majority of the parcels on Friday 27th and Monday 30th. The parcels will definitely be delivered to you before Valentine's day and you can use Ring Case as a gift to your beloved person. We don't mind if you keep the container by just offering its contents.

Unbalanced 6 Board Burr is a level 16 burr that has unique features thanks to the two different combined thickness pieces. The contrast of the color of our original plywood is nice as well.

The total packaging weight of the two new puzzles fits in a 500 g bracket and since we always give an AU $5.00 discount per parcel for international shipments, the shipping cost would be reasonably cheap. (There is usually a big jump in shipping costs between 500 g and 1 kg and two 500 g parcels can be cheaper than one 1 kg parcel depending on the destination country and region.)

We hope you enjoy our last puzzle products of 2019.
May this wonderful time of Christmas and New Year fill your life with happiness and puzzles.