A spirited journey through the world of collectible artisan puzzles
Pairing craft cocktails with crafty puzzles
White Castle
Fans of Tolkien’s (and Jackson’s) Lord of the Rings saga will be well familiar with the many regal palaces encountered within Middle Earth, from the ethereal vistas of the elven kingdoms to the depths of the dwarven mines.
Paleolithic Puzzling
The Paleolithic era Tuc d'Audoubert cave is located in the south of France. The masterpieces of this cave are two clay bisons, the best preserved examples of clay modellings in the whole of European cave art. They are 15,000 years old, and have become iconic.
Bank Account
Located a few miles northeast of Hollywood and known as the “media capital of the world”, the Los Angeles adjacent city of Burbank, California, is occasionally confused with a puzzle.
Index Case
An index case, also referred to as “patient zero”, is the first documented patient in a disease epidemic within a population, or the first documented patient included in an epidemiological study.
The Tippenary Mystery Tour
Goodbye, Piccadilly, Farewell, Leicester Square! It's a long long way to Tipperary, But my heart's right there. – Jack Judge and Harry Williams, 1912
Penultimate Burr Box Set
As if having a unique and beautiful burr set made by Eric Fuller were not enough, the box that contains the set is also rather special.
Caged Block Box
Bill makes beautiful furniture in the Scandinavian and Shaker influenced style, ascribing to the moto that form follows function. He also likes puzzles, and has a successful puzzle shop called Black Dog Puzzle Works where he offers his hand-made challenges in elegant hardwoods.
Brass Monkey
The burr, for the uninitiated, is an ancient mechanical puzzle likely dating back centuries. There is correlation with the classic six piece interlocked burr, a fusion of six sticks with internal notches that fit together in a specific way, and Chinese joinery techniques from the fourth century B.C.E.