Safe

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Pio2001
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Joined: August 10th, 2011, 9:22 pm
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Safe

Post by Pio2001 » August 2nd, 2012, 12:23 pm

600px-Safe.jpg
600px-Safe.jpg (145.44 KiB) Viewed 7360 times
Type : labyrinth
Estimated solving time :
Beginner : 30 minutes
Casual puzzlist : 10 minutes
Expert puzzlist : 5 minutes

The + : Very nice, intersting, not too difficult
The - : Shipped in a soft package, it may be damaged before being delivered. The persistent bacon smell of laser-cut wood contaminates any box it may be stored in.

My rating : 4/5

Before ordering Safe in Puzzle Paradise, I never had got any laser-cut puzzle. I looked at different models before choosing this one, that is quite inexpensive (25 euros) and looks very nice. I was hoping that the challenge would not be too easy.

When the puzzle arrived, I worried about the package, that was just a soft wrapping around the puzzle. And indeed, the acrylic layer was cracked in two places ! Difficult to see, but quite obvious when the layer is turned, because pushing the knob in one direction opens the crack.
I figured myself that it would be easy to solve with a bit of glue. I stupidly inserted two sheets of paper between the layers so that the glue goesn't leak and glue the layers together. I opened the crack and put a drop of cyanoacrilate glue inside.

As you guessed, the two sheets of paper were immediately and permanently glued inside the puzzle... but as you may not have guessed, the cyanoacrylate glue went slightly into the acrylic and litterally embedded the paper inside a solidified slime made of paper, acrylic and glue !

Fortunately, the puzzle is easy to open. I unscrewed the bolts, and separated the parts. I spent some time removing the glued paper, gluing again the cracks properly, then sanding and polishing the acrylic. I am happy with the result. It now looks as it was new !


The puzzle is a two-layered, two-bolts labyrinth. It is nor one of these N-ary puzzles where the number of moves explodes exponentially with the addition of a marble or a turn in the path. It is just a honest labyrinth.
The goal is to remove the coin. For this purpose, we must find a way to turn the acrylic layer until the round opening comes below the coin. Then, we must find the way to align the round opening of the acrylic layer with the one of the wooden layer. And last, we must turn the wooden layer until the coin is aligned with the round opening on the back of the puzzle, which frees the coin.

The movement of the layers is constrained by the two bolts located on the left and the right side of the puzzle. All these obstacles allow to fit a fair challenge inside a puzzle that looks surprisingly small. It is not very difficult. The way to follow can be seen any time with a bit of attention. There are some dead ends, but they are quite short.
There is no way to really mess up this puzzle.

After the coin is back in the puzzle, the graduations and the arrows that are printed around it allow to mess up the layers a bit more. A nice touch in my opinion. Many puzzles, like Cast Enigma, or Cast Seabream, for example, neglect to clearly define the start position. Here, as far as I can see, the arrows must be on top and bottom of the puzzle in order to propose a good challenge.

The manufacturing quality is good. The fit of the puzzle is a bit loose. The printing of the word "Safe" is a bit faded. But this is nonetheless a very nice puzzle. The 1 euro coin is included. It was an ordinary worn-out german coin. Of course, I replaced it with a shiny brand new one.

In conclusion, the challenge proposed in the puzzle is not one of the most exciting that I have seen, but it is well designed : not too simple, not too long, not too boring, just right for a puzzle in the category "easy". And I like the interaction between the bolts and the two layers, which makes an interesting kind of labyrinth.

I like it.
I rate it 4 out of 5.

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