Triple Play

3P Box

It’s always exciting to welcome new designers here, and it’s high time for another such introduction. Kyle Chester from Potentially Perplexing Puzzles burst on the scene at the start of the year with his debut puzzle box, Dual Dial, which rapidly received rave reviews. He has quickly followed up with another design, which he is planning for full release a bit later this year in two wood options, Zebrano and Padauk, and Walnut and Oak. The new creation, a cubic wooden box with a knob on top, is a precisely packed production that is positively perspiration producing.

3P by Kyle Chester

Kyle explains the objective and the wonderful family story behind his creations. “”3P Box is a Multi-step trick opening puzzle, with your goal being to find the hidden 3P! My name is Kyle Chester-Marsden, I'm based in the UK and I am a Refrigeration Engineer by trade, and currently work for a tool manufacturer as the Technical Training Engineer.” His first design, the Dual Dial, came about as a challenge to himself during an international end of year gift exchange event. He “had an ambition to make something for the person receiving my gift. It was challenging as I started the design process in July, and the puzzle had to be finalized for the end of November.” Despite the time pressure and stress his efforts were highly successful. The event has led to a number of incredible designs in the past.

For the follow up, “I've had this idea in my head from last year, but could never come up with a way how to make it feasible. Until earlier this year when I prototyped a design change and we had a working puzzle.” We? “So for full disclosure, Potentially Perplexing Puzzles (I'm going to abbreviate this as PPP from now on) is made up by myself, Kyle, and my grandfather, Steven. I design the entirety of the puzzle in terms of mechanisms and framework, and Steven does all of the woodworking. The hardest challenge is getting someone else to realize your design, lots of drawings and demonstrations have to be performed so that you know you're both on the same page. It's immensely rewarding when it 'clicks' for both of you.”

prominent perky protuberance

3P follows the formula of the Simple Lock, which set out to create something fiendishly tricky inside what appears to be a simple presentation. “The inspiration comes from making an object that appears simple, but is a tough nut to crack. My debut puzzle is a Sequential Discovery puzzle, and I'm very proud of it. I wanted to push myself to making a 'Trick Opening' puzzle but with multiple steps. I've definitely achieved that with the 3P Box!” Kyle is not being modest – 3P is no one trick pony (it’s a pony, a penguin and a pachyderm) and it’s not easy to solve. “I gave it to a few work colleagues to solve (none of them are enthusiasts) and no-body could solve it. I think most of them thought I'd given them an impossible to open object. The puzzle was then tested by two fantastic puzzle enthusiasts and designers in the UK that put my mind at rest knowing that it could definitely be solved, if a little tricky!” Even the name was a challenge. “This is a tricky one - Dual Dial was an easy naming convention, that name was with me from that start. However, the temptation to call this new puzzle Solo Dial was very, very tempting (given it has a single dial atop the box) but 3P felt more natural given our designer name, Potentially Perplexing Puzzles.”

pensive padauk posterior

I’ve noticed that puzzle designers who are part of the international enthusiast community, and have experienced many great designs from a “solvers” perspective, want their own creations to be top notch and satisfying. Kyle relates this same feeling and process for his 3P, noting “after first testing I decided the puzzle didn't feel rewarding enough, so an addition in design was needed, I don't want to make a puzzle that doesn't reward the solver.” As is also often the case, having so many ideas often requires making choices. He had to leave a few ideas out of 3P “mainly because of the space available within the puzzle. The puzzle box is a 10cm cube essentially, and all of the parts are hand made without any computers - no CAD work or CNC machine for us! This is mainly due to the space available in the workshop. So when designing our puzzles, I have to ensure everything is achievable without the need for intricate parts that can only be achieved by a CNC router.” But the silver lining with making hard choices is saving some ideas for the next creation. “Definitely at least one mechanism [was left out] which will be put into a future puzzle. That'll likely be somewhere in 2024.”

pretty pesky polyhedron

Kyle’s grandfather, who worked for a yacht manufacturing company and learned his skills through observation, makes these the old fashioned way. Dual Dial, their first puzzle box, was also the first puzzle he ever made. “Using traditional woodworking methods, our set up consists of a table saw, a bench drill, a belt sander and a band saw. We used some exotic woods on this new puzzle, and learned that whilst Zebrano is a wonderful looking wood, it's an absolute pain to finish to a point where it is nice to handle. We got there in the end, and we now have a better understanding that a bit more patience is required versus other traditional woods.” The pair are quite pleased with their pair of pleasing products. “3P Box and Dual Dial sit perfectly aside each-other as two quite different puzzles. However, I have started thinking about my next design that will follow Dual Dial in 2024. It'll be fun!” How wonderful to share such a positive paternal project with one another, for the population of praising puzzlers! “It’s perfect - without him I wouldn’t be able to bring my visions to life. He’s very patient and hardworking, and we have a great relationship which makes it easy to work with each other.”

Triple P

Here's a bespoke toast to the 3P Box from Perpetually Perplexing Puzzles, with a pleasingly palatable potion. I took a few cues from a master mixologist, the late Dick Bradsell who invented a tasty tipple called the Triple A. In that A plus potion, he combined apple, almond and absinthe with a little lemon juice to create an incredible and surprising drink. I recently featured it to energize another award winning puzzle box that Sound’s incredible.

this Triple is a homerun

I borrowed Dick’s template for the Triple P, this time combing the Peruvian brandy based spirit pisco with pineapple and pomegranate. Pisco can be a bit of a bully in a cocktail, similar to how absinthe can overwhelm the other flavors, so it seemed a decent base spirit to keep things, well, in the spirit of the original. Following Dick’s template and ratios, however, worked perfectly to bring things into balance. The pineapple and pomegranate syrup (more commonly known as grenadine) are a great compliment to the funky brandy, and lime juice ties it nicely together. Pucker up, parched people – cheers!

two P’s in a pod

Triple P

1 ½ oz pisco

¾ oz pineapple

½ oz pomegranate syrup

¼ oz lime

Shake ingredients with ice and strain into a favorite glass. Lemon twist.

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