I’ve been working on this puzzle on and off for a few weeks now and it sure is proving to be a stubborn one. I’ve found a path forward and am now about 19 moves in, but the puzzle just hits a dead end. In fact this puzzle has many, many dead ends. I know that once I get that first piece out, it will be trivial from that point forward, but I just can’t figure out where to go from here. I’ve been mapping out my progress, testing every path forward, diagramming every dead end, backtracking, trying new paths and still, no luck.
I’m at the point where I may have to backtrack 10 or so moves to find a different path forward, but the logical side of my brain says that there’s no way this puzzle has such an elaborate and misleading path forward. Surely, there can’t be a 19 move trick solution leading only to a dead end… right?
Welcome to Bouquet designed by Christoph Lohe and expertly crafted by Brian Menold over at Wood Wonders. This gorgeous puzzle has been a thorn in my side since I purchased it last month. Despite the rigors, this puzzle is great. The moves have been fun and the burr sticks are of a very unique and misleading shape. The ends of the burr sticks are offset, which has been wreaking havoc on my ability to visualize what is happening. The puzzle is beautiful and aptly named as it does look like a Bouquet. I chose the Wenge Frame with Maple and Paduak pieces and am very happy with it. There are still some available here – so if it sounds enticing to you, go ahead and pick one up before they are gone.
Round and round I go in an endless loop. I’ve got the moves and positions memorized and I’m desperately hoping that there is just one little hidden move that will open up a new path forward. But, my hopes are dimmed because I’ve already spent too long in this cycle. I need to bite the bullet and backtrack, or maybe even start over. It’s funny how this is the obvious way forward, and still, I’m consciously avoiding it.
Ok, so I worked my way back to the beginning again and then forward again, searching for any hidden paths along the way. And unfortunately, I didn’t find any. I ended up right back where I was before. About 12 moves in there is a many pronged fork in the road. And it is here that I’ve been stuck doing the endless loop. The furtherst path forward was about 7 more moves, but then hit another dead end. So I started to explore and document every possible combination.
But this time something different happened. One of those paths forward looked and felt like I was simply backtracking, but I noticed that this wasn’t quite the case. It was close to backtracking, but there was a slight variation along the way that made all the difference. I soon found a new configuration and new I was on the right track and to my delight, the first Burr stick was released! Wow! What a feeling! This is one tricky puzzle!
So, now I have one piece out, let’s see how it goes from here. As expected, the remaining pieces were relatively easy to remove. Piece number 2 came right out and then there was some manipulation required to release the 3rd. After that, they all came out easily.
Woo Hoo! I’m super happy about this one. What a clever little puzzle this was! I think the biggest roadblock for me was that I had my mind made up as to which piece was going to be released first and thus kept trying to work moves that would accomplish that when in reality, I was misleading myself. Also, add in the tricky spot that felt like backtracking, but really wasn’t and this puzzle is definitely a fun and challenging one.
The shape of the frame and the unique burr sticks all add up to make this an unforgettable experience for me. It’s been a while since I’ve really focused all my energy on solving a tricky puzzle and today was a great day because that determination finally paid off! What a cool puzzle! I took some pictures on disassembly and will surely be needing them to put this one back together again!