Last week I received the pleasant surprise of a review of my first puzzle box. The oh so excellent Boxes and Booze Blog is now an owner of one of these puzzle boxes and wrote a wonderful review. On top of having a host of puzzle boxes, Steven also is a creator of fine mixed drinks. His blog is as interesting for the drinks and their history as for the puzzle boxes. I, for one, plan to expand my supply of spirits in order to make a few of the drinks.
Many thanks to Boxes and Booze Blog for the review!
Seeing puzzle boxes combined with drinks also got me to thinking about how I might also combine these two concepts. The Tantalus immediately came to mind, being that it is already a locked box designed to hold decanters of spirits and glasses. Could I find a way to add my own brand of logic puzzles and secrets into such a style of box? That will remain to be seen, but there are some ideas rattling around in my head that I will have to put on paper. I can only hope, that since the alcohol would sit safely in the box that the puzzler would start off sober to solve it, otherwise a more destructive solution may be employed.
What I do know is that I have more than enough lumber for a wide variety of projects. The new shed is now fully loaded and I finally have easily accessible lumber. It was a project most definitely worth doing. There is still straightening up work to do in the shed as I have several stacks of small bits on the floor. For now, I am sealed safe against the bad weather and the rodents. Plus, I can quickly grab whatever I need. I really need to add some batter powered LED lights though since it is getting dark so early in the evening.
Work is progressing on other projects, too. Below is a set of 5 puzzle boxes that I have started constructing the carcasses of. I've even settled on a name for these, which I'll reveal later. Needless to say, I've realized I need better names for the boxes. My lofty goal is to finish these 5 (one of which I hope stays with me!) boxes in late November (Thanksgiving, for the US folks) so there is time to sell for Christmas. I have the feeling there will be a few late nights coming up. Not only will this set of boxes let me get into new puzzle territory, but the job will also let me continue to hone and refine my skills at larger scale manufacturing (to me, large scale means more than 1!)
So far, so good. Lower carcasses cut and all the miters look good. Drawer openings done. Time to work on the bottoms (where some mechanics will go) and the drawers. Then it's onto the top section which will have the puzzles. Stay tuned, I'm certainly going to make this one interesting.
Puzzle On!