A spirited journey through the world of collectible artisan puzzles
Pairing craft cocktails with crafty puzzles
Matters of the Heart
Valentine’s Day has been a productive holiday theme for Boxes and Booze over the years, inspiring many apropos pairings. There is certainly no shortage of charming puzzle boxes that are overtly or more subtly associated with love.
What’s in a Name?
I’m thrilled to welcome another designer to these pages, Phil Wigfield. He has recently dipped his toes into the world of trick boxes, with a phenomenal debut he promises is just the first of many.
Year of the Snache
Goodbye Year of the Dragon, hello Year of the Snake! It’s an opportune time to celebrate the uniquely puzzling and creative mind of master puzzle maker Kelly Snache.
Planetary Motion
Artificial Intelligence can be harnessed to create incredibly fantastical images that look eye catching but also look unreal, or at least, unrealistic. Then again, sometimes it falls to the individual to decide what is out of reach, and what can actually be realized.
Dragon Slayer
Luke Waier, a mechanical engineer from Houston, Texas, is the master storyteller behind the sensational new creation Fafnir’s Fortress.
Fly Me to the Moon
Austrian puzzle maker Stephan Baumegger is having a blast. His complex interlocking puzzle designs are celebrated by enthusiasts the world over.
Jailhouse Rock
Let’s start the new year off on a positive note and break someone out of jail!
Chestnuts Roasting
The story unfolds by a cozy fireplace and hearth, complete with a little chimney. The fireplace is empty, as is the mantle. Some preparations are clearly in order to set the scene properly and welcome the Christmas Spirit!
Snake Charmer
According to legend, a vast treasure in gold lies waiting to be discovered, hidden somewhere in the Superstition Mountains of Arizona.
Dying to Meet You
Bram’s Stoker’s classic horror story about the undead ghoul with a serious blood lust, published in 1897, was inspired by a history of Wallachia, a region in what is now modern day Transylvania, and one of its most famous rulers, Vlad the Impaler - better known as Dracula.
Velvet Underground
I’m sharing a wonderful gift with everyone this week, on the heels of the American holiday grounded on giving and gratefulness. The gift is the story of another wonderful puzzle box created by one of the world’s true masters of the art, Perry McDaniel.
Double Feature
Close friends of Doog Menzies, a ship builder, engineer and craftsman, among other things, know Double Trouble is the name of one of his best puzzle boxes.
Blind Faith
Dee Dixon did the puzzle world a favor when he decided to dedicate himself fully to designing and crafting his beautiful, delightful puzzles.
Pioneer Daze
The Pioneer spirit is alive and well in the debut puzzle from Dylan Christopher, a mechanical engineer with a flair for ingenious design.
Fuller Feelings
Eric Fuller was a master craftsman beloved for his meticulously curated, well made mechanical puzzles and puzzle boxes.
Play the Silver Ball
Matt Williams, a die cast machinist in England with a brilliant knack for creating outstanding mechanical puzzles, loves pinball, and has produced a remarkably puzzling object in Pinball Wizard.
Boxes and Boos
Spooky season is upon us again! I love a well themed offering for both the Boxes and the Booze so I’m getting in the scary spirit and breaking out the scary spirits.
Young at Heart
There’s always something abuzz at an International Puzzle Party (IPP), which often has to do with, no surprise, an interesting puzzle, perhaps spied passing hands here and there, and utterly unfamiliar.
Military Brass
Who Dares Wins is a British television show named after the SAS (Special Air Squadron) motto. It is also now a collaborative puzzle lock box from a bunch of brilliant Dare Devils....