A spirited journey through the world of collectible artisan puzzles
Pairing craft cocktails with crafty puzzles
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The Devil’s Advocate
There’s a chill in the air and the dark creeps in a little sooner, a little longer, stretching the shadows and turning all things spooky.
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Animal Cruelty
The story begins in 1975, when the Japanese amusement ride company TOGO released Mogura Taij (Mole Buster), a franticly fun mole smashing game invented by Kazuo Yamada.
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Heart of the Matter
The Golem is a pervasive mythical guardian which appears time and again in various fantasy lore, originating with Jewish myth and mysticism.
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It’s About Time
It’s that time of year again, when we all get to reminisce about a year gone by, and contemplate what’s next on the horizon, if we are lucky and fortunate to still be here.
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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.
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Domino Box (Stickman 16)
From the Latin dominus, “master of the house”, we have the English word for an ancient game of tiles that was invented in China sometime in the twelfth century.
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Perpetual Hinge
The first law of thermodynamics states that energy can not be created or destroyed, only transformed from one form to another. The second law relates to entropy, stating that any system will move toward a state of disorder. These two laws should suggest that the mythical “perpetual motion machine”, a device that works via its own contained mechanics, forever, is an impossibility.
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One Hand Box
Those who follow the works of Robert Yarger, the brilliant puzzle maker behind the Stickman Puzzle Box Company, know that he likes to create new puzzles and explore different genres. He rarely revisits an idea, and when he applies his focus to a new project it becomes extraordinary.
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Late for Tea
“There was nothing so very remarkable in that; nor did Alice think it so very much out of the way to hear the Rabbit say to itself, “Oh dear! Oh dear! I shall be late!” (when she thought it over afterwards, it occurred to her that she ought to have wondered at this, but at the time it all seemed quite natural); but when the Rabbit actually took a watch out of its waistcoat-pocket, and looked at it, and then hurried on, Alice started to her feet”
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Sphere Box (Stickman 18)
Last week I reached a milestone on the blog, five years of weekly boxes and booze pairings. It seemed like a good place to pause for a bit, maybe take a break and turn attentions elsewhere. So of course here I am, rolling right along anyway.
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Milestone Book (Stickman 25)
To celebrate the occasion I’d like to present a rather auspicious creation from someone whose work I have featured here more than any other, my friend Robert Yarger.
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Celestial Box
All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them. – Galileo Galilei
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55-Move Box (Stickman No. 2)
The first Stickman box, the Oak Wood Slide Box, was not truly “No. 1” in the series until there was a second, naturally. I wrote about that one, another favorite, a few years ago as a nice year end tribute, so let’s focus on No. 2 now, a box that launched an empire.
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Little Game Hunter
Fancy going on an African safari, anyone? The allure of the classic game hunt is the stuff of novels by the likes of Isak Dinesen in my book, and the only shooting I’d be interested in is with my camera.
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Dwemer Construct (Stickman 34)
This is a tale of a puzzle box, however, one that references an ancient lost race of craftspeople who built the most incredible and complex objects.
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Checkmate Box
This is no ordinary chess themed box. The Stickman No. 14 Puzzle Box, aka the Checkmate Box, represents the evolutionary development of a modern day renaissance artist in his chosen medium.
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Traditional Box (Stickman No 32)
When it comes to traditional puzzle boxes, the history books direct us to the Hakone mountain region south of Tokyo in Japan. The thousand year old wood marquetry technique known as yosegi-zaiku is the region’s greatest claim to fame.