A spirited journey through the world of collectible artisan puzzles
Pairing craft cocktails with crafty puzzles
Closed Circle
Dee Dixon's latest foray into the circular format, which began with the Bad Moon rising, and came full circle with the uplifting Uplift, has got some dizzying antics sure to give you Vertigo.
Happy Hour
Puzzle historians will be well familiar with the works of Angelo John Lewis, an English lawyer and avid magician, who catalogued a compendium of puzzles of the Victorian era.
On the Record
Franz Rudolph Wurlitzer was a German immigrant to the United States who started a music company in 1853 based out of Cincinnati, Ohio.
Party Pooper
Whilemina the Wombat is an adorable marsupial made from rare Queensland Walnut, an indigenous Australian wood which is no longer commercially available. Produced in 2008, the puzzle combines elements of a high-level interlocking burr type puzzle with hidden mechanism sequential discovery tools.
Matters of the Heart
They say you never forget your first love, and it’s likely true with puzzle boxes too. I’d argue that with a Mowen’s puzzle box, on the other hand, you might try not to forget, but try as you might, you’ll get lost every time – and probably love every moment all over again.
Rival Arrival
Lex Luther, Dr. Doom, Magneto, Joker – arch enemies are easy to identify in hero centric fiction, and always seem to be the evil characters. I’m particularly fond of Moriarty, if we’re picking favorites.
You’ve Got Mail
There’s something thrilling about receiving mail. Perhaps the excitement of getting a physical letter from someone wears off as we get older, likely tempered by all the bills and junk mail, but even now in my jaded days it’s still nice when that happens. And if getting a special letter is a nice surprise, well I don’t need to tell you what it’s like to receive an eagerly awaited puzzle box.
Coastal Living
There was a time, once upon a time in the not too distant past, when becoming a metagrobolotegestolomixologist was merely a speculative thought experiment meant as clever wordplay.
Critic’s Pick
If mechanical puzzles came with a soundtrack, this one would elicit fine chords of acoustic guitar to placate you every time you picked it up, soothing your frustration in failing to solve its secrets. And if you found yourself with a selection of well made, compact, clever, multistep, elegant and entertaining sequential discovery puzzles to choose from this year, you would surely heed the call of this one, to Pick Me.
Making Waves
In ancient Greek lore, the Titan Cronus was overthrown by his children, the gods Zeus, Hades and Poseidon, who divided the skies, the seas and the underworld amongst themselves.
Whale of a Tale
Call me Ishmael … no, that doesn’t sound right. You can’t start anything good with a line like that. Hmmm … Call me Idan.
Stream of Consciousness
This holiday episode of Stream of Consciousness is brought to you by our sponsor, Doog Menzies of Doogaloo Games.
Wardrobe Malfunction
Enter a winter wonderland that is just in time for the holidays courtesy of Dee Dixon, master storyteller at DED Wood Crafts, who presents his most whimsical puzzle adventure yet in the form of a magically mysterious wardrobe.
The Adventure in the Cardboard Box
Listen closely, or you may well find your ears roughly severed and mailed to your next of kin, packed in salt in a cardboard box. The game is afoot again in Scotland Yard …
Stream of Consciousness
We are celebrating our collective love of the TV with a limited series on the B&B Network. Tune in!
Pearls of Wisdom
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.
Beauty Mark
Here at Boxes and Booze, we love books. Someday, when I need to give up drinking entirely (is that possible?), I might change the theme here to Boxes and Books, in fact. It has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?
Does Not Compute
We are returning to the French Alps to brush up on some basic arithmetic this week, where our host Doug “Doog” Menzies has written a puzzling equation to ponder.
Feeling Dizzy
I continue to be impressed and inspired by the big ideas from QuizBrix, and thrilled with their wonderfully fun creations which are made completely out of Lego bricks.