Pearls of Wisdom

Brian’s Big Baffling Bolt

Brian’s Big Baffling Bolt by Brian Young

The weather is turning cooler, the days are getting shorter, the Old Fashioneds are getting sweeter, and it’s a time for reflection here at B&B. I’m grateful for so many things in life, and I try to actually remember that during these final weeks of each year. One thing I’m thankful for is the existence of so many incredible, clever and skilled craftspeople who make this incredible hobby of mine possible. With that in mind I’m dedicating this Thanksgiving offering to the original Mr Puzzle himself, Brian Young, and his wife Sue, who together have run their puzzling business in Australia for the past thirty years. The store is emptying the shelves and shutting down for their retirement, leaving behind a truly lasting legacy and a world full of happy puzzle enthusiasts.

it will give you a jolt

Fans of Brian Young know of his occasional “limited edition” puzzles, which he has released in small numbers since practically the start if his business. Many of these puzzles have been rather famous and award winning. They are all highly coveted and collectible, some especially more so than others, and they are all enjoyable. Brian likes to create his memorable designs around an interesting, tricky mechanism which may be at the core of the puzzle, but which he then surrounds with many more layers of tricks. He comes up with these ideas by reading obscure mechanical books or watching machining and tool videos, where he gets some outlandish ideas for turning these principles into puzzles. For his retirement (from shopkeeper, at any rate), he set about making a very special limited edition puzzle, to celebrate his thirty years of puzzle making in a uniquely Mr Puzzle thirtieth anniversary manner.

or make you feel like a dolt

Brian’s Big Baffling Bolt is the result, a hefty bolt made in house from solid brass hexagonal and round stock which sits atop a beautiful box made from Papua New Guinean Ebony. There is clearly a lot going on with this bolt and box, except that nothing is happening or opening. Anyone familiar with a “bolt” puzzle will know that the goal is typically to remove a washer or nut, basically take the thing apart, but there is some trick preventing that from occurring. Brain and Sue describe why the Big Bolt is a bit different: “Most bolt puzzles have just one or two moves but Brian wanted to make a full-blown sequential discovery puzzle out of a bolt. In the end, he had to hand-make the bolt too! To celebrate 30 years of puzzle making Brian included a few well-disguised hints of puzzles past. But don’t think that means you’ll solve this one easily. This approach is a little unusual, Brian normally would like to put something radically new into every puzzle that he releases. But this one is actually more like a greatest hits of a lot of his designs to celebrate the last 30 years. Even so, you might not easily recognise some of the moves.”

Like no bolt you have seen B4

Most people will not recognize any of the moves, since Brian has been making limited edition puzzle for almost thirty year, and many of those, as mentioned, were exceedingly scarce. Brian shared some thoughts about his Baffling achievement. “Having been a puzzle collector for nearly 60 years, I have amassed a large number of Puzzles and in that collection there are a reasonable quantity of bolt Puzzles; none of them have been extremely difficult so the intention was to make one that was very difficult. I did get some concepts from these puzzles that maybe not so much copy them, but use them as misdirection”

turning a bolt

courtesy of Brian Young

Brian had been developing the idea for his Big Bolt over the past three years or so. “Like most of my puzzles they evolve over a long period time. I never like to rush them too much. In this way you tend to work out a lot of the problems before your customer has to play with them. The first drawings in CAD would’ve been in 2020 before the Abrahams Well was even released. It is quite common for me to have at least two or three designs on the go while making a puzzle for release so yes you could say it evolved over a long time and knowing it was going to be the 30th anniversary and a lot of people don’t have some off my very early puzzles. I wanted to incorporate some of the older stuff so the greatest hits idea evolved, the first thing that gets turned on in the shed when entering is always the music.”

A greatest hits album for Brian Young would need to be a double LP, and he managed to squeeze an awful lot into the Bolt. Yet it is not called the Greatest Hits. I have not confirmed this but it seems to have been named after a personal attribute. Brian denies this: “The name sort of came about from an old Puzzle we did many years ago called Brian‘s Big Burr (BBB), so the bolt Puzzle was going to be Brian’s Big Bolt, but during testing, with emails going backwards and forwards, an extra B got put in. Brian‘s Big Brass Bolt had help from the Two Brass Monkeys and with them involved, it automatically becomes promiscuous.”

brass scraps

courtesy of Brian Young

 The brass protuberance (bump? lump? prominent projection? knob? tumescence?) has so many tricks up its sleeve Brian had to make the entire bolt from scratch himself. Of course this requirement may have been a crafty misdirection. “Did I need new machinery? Well, that’s the hardest part of this puzzle, sneaking a really big new metal lathe into the shed without Sue noticing.” Like many puzzle makers, Brian has mentioned it can be hard to know when to “stop”, when a design has enough layers and tricks, despite the possibility of even more. “In this case I just finish reading Peter Hajek‘s “Enter if you can” and took on board some ideas he talked about there. So I decided to make the puzzle easier by leaving something particular out, not going to mention it for spoilers. And added an extra hole to give a bit more information and feedback. The cost of the puzzle governs just how much you put into a parcel meaning labour so you do have to learn when to stop.”

turning a bolt on the new lathe

courtesy of Brian Young

 Brian has released a bunch of bolts into the world already, and plans to release a whole “bolt load” more in the new year for all to enjoy. Early on he sent an initial prototype “to Allard to test and left it up to him who to move it on to for testing next. It was amusing waiting to see who would email me over the coming months and months…. From Allard to Big Steve to Ali to Louis… Wil just emailed a couple of weeks ago to say in a big clean up after IPP he actually found it in his lounge room. Probably lost again now…. And its always entertaining listening to certain feedback from people who have solved the puzzle now and what they found easier or more difficult. Generally has something to do with whether they have seen the original version or not.”

Happy Anniversary!

There are so many tricks packed into this baffling bolt, it must be hard to pick a favorite. But Brian admits that “Surprisingly, I like the timber base part of the puzzle, not particularly difficult, but a little different than previous designs. I’ve always jokingly said that my latest Puzzle is the best, but that’s like asking which is your best child; first or last born – and I don’t even have any children. I still think Abraham’s Well was great. It is a really left-field design. Everything was pretty much laid out in front of the solver. All they had to do was put it together to remove the well. But it was a very hard puzzle. It caused so much controversy and talk. Good or bad? And I’ve always had a soft spot for Ned Kelly because that really started me on the SD path. But now I have to mention Whillemina, and Wally, and Katie, and…. And… and…” Brian, thanks for three decades of puzzles, your legend and legacy will live on for a long time. We wish you well on your retirement and hope you get bored very quickly, so you can get to work on the “2 or 3 designs ahead of production” you have in development limbo. Keep watching those wacky videos too.

Brian’s Big Blue Boulevardier

It’s time to raise a toast to this Baffling Big Brass Bolt with a tasty tipple to tickle the tonsils. B4 I needed something to celebrate a Bounteous Bolt with four letter Bs, I was a big fanBoy of Boulevardiers already. The Bourbon Brother of the Negroni simply swaps the gin in a Negroni for whiskey, which along with the usual sweet vermouth and Campari makes for an incredible cocktail. It seemed like the perfect Beverage for a Bolt.

a cure for the blues

I was also feeling a Bit Blue. It’s Bitter sweet, after all, to tell a toast at a retirement party. Thankfully nothing cheers people up like a Blue cocktail, especially if it’s a Big Blue Boulevardier (and this one’s for Brian). But adding a Bit of Blue to Campari, that Bitter Italian amaro dyed Bright red from Beetles (true story), would turn the drink purple, and it might end up looking like a Knightcap. To avoid this Blunder I swapped the Campari for an amaro which has been wiped Blank, the Luxardo Bitter Bianco. The curacao, in addition to Being Blue, Brings a touch of sweet orange to the Banquet, so using a dry vermouth adds Back Balance. Bottoms up Brian, Bravo!

big beautiful box and booze

Brian’s Big Blue Boulevardier

1 oz bourbon

1 oz dry vermouth

1 oz Bitter Bianco

¼ oz blue curacao

Stir ingredients with ice and strain into a favorite glass over a large cube. Massive bolt optional.

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