Minima 8 is likely the trickiest of the bunch. There’s a particular move that stumped me for a while since it is new and isn’t seen in the previous 7.
The box has 7 openings – 5 of which are standard square openings and 2 of which are smaller half windows that are clearly there for rotations since nothing will fit through the hole.
There are 4 pieces that must fit inside filling the entire box with no voids. Simple right? nope.
One of the pieces is 3 voxels long, so it is obvious from the start that it can only go in one of two places. It was also obvious to me that this piece would have to go in last. With that information, all that is left is to figure out where the configuration of the 3 “L” shaped, where they go and how to get them there. Really there are only a few options here for configuration. Either all 3 are in the same configuration or 2 of them fit at a right angle to each other.
I played around with the possibilities for a long time. I was stumped. I just couldn’t get it to work. Clearly I was missing something. Like the good puzzler I am, I tried the same thing repeatedly and continued to fail.
I’m not sure how I eventually figured it out, but there was an a-ha moment when I discovered a unique move that allowed a configuration that was new, and that was the “turning” point for me. It’s certainly a tricky move and requires a bit more dexterity and fiddling than is usual for these puzzles – though I must say that all of the minima series requires dexterity and fiddling. Especially if you have large fingers.
All said and done, this is a fantastic puzzle – definitely one of the best of the series.
