Nationals, Design Notes & Discounted Puzzles

Nationals

Trying to encapsulate the National Speed Puzzle competition in Atlanta in March is hard. If I had to sum it up in one word, I think it would be “connections.” We chatted with so many fun puzzlers, puzzle businesses and puzzle artists. Expect an interview with one of those, Zak of Zakco Puzzleboards, next month.

We had a drawing for 3 hand painted, laser cut puzzles for people who signed up for this newsletter. Welcome to all of you and thank you for signing up. The winners were Chelsea, Lindsay (who is also a beginning puzzle cutter) and SGA864.

Design Notes

One of the questions that came up repeatedly at Nationals was how I design the puzzles, particularly the Double Puzzles. When first considering Hare Among the Plants by Hans Hoffman, the butterflies throughout the image captured my attention. Butterflies remind me of my grandmother (who called them “flutterbys”). She not only enjoyed watching them but also described how there were no butterflies in their mountain valley the year I was born because of DDT. [If you’re curious about DDT and its effects, I recommend Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring.]

The process of actually designing a Double Puzzle for a laser (as they are very hard to hand cut) requires many steps and tests. I start by drawing out a multi-piece figure on the computer. I separate it into individual pieces, and Han runs this as a test cut so that we can make sure the pieces will fit together cleanly. Of course, we often must make adjustments to the design and run additional tests until we are satisfied. Once the multi-piece figure works well, I place the separated pieces in the puzzle in places that make sense in terms of color within the selected image. Next, I design the rest of the pieces around the Double Puzzle pieces, and we are back to doing test cuts, making adjustments, and more test cuts until the full puzzle, the Double Puzzle, and the image all work together to make a challenging and fun puzzle.

Available Puzzles

All of the laser designs are currently in stock and available on the website. You now have a ‘surprise me’ option for the pocket puzzles. You can order based on cut design (Love, Luck, Squirrel or Tea) and be surprised what the image is. ‘Surprise me’ means it will not be one of the images shown. If you need X number of pocket puzzles for an event and want them to have the same cut but different images, send me a message before ordering.

There are 4 seconds available on a first come, first serve basis and only for newsletter readers. They are half price (which is listed in the description) plus $10 for shipping. In February, I had a few more and they all sold within 30 minutes. Message me at [email protected] if you are interested.

Subscriptions

Open for Spring quarter. I will determine if I continue doing subscriptions later this quarter. It primarily depends on whether I can get caught up on current orders. Hand-cut puzzles (other than subscriptions) are still closed until I can catch up.

Community News

PuzzleQuake is a free 2 day wooden puzzle event in San Francisco May 8-9. Information and sign up here.

Puzzle Jam Inc. is open for new members now. Click here for more information. A new traveling puzzle list will be available for members April 12-19, so watch your email.

Puzzle Parley registration is open now, too. Event is scheduled for July 17-19 in Minneapolis. Information and tickets here. I’m planning to be there.