Aug 4, 2010

Double Squared


(Click to Enlarge)

Double Squared is another great invention from the Finnish puzzle designers Tomas Lindén/Vesa Timonen (Sloyd Puzzles) and also entered in this year's 30th IPP Design Competition by the name of Black or White. For more reviews and information, refer to this post.

This is one of the most difficult challenges in the Sloyd Puzzle series. Don't be fooled by it's simple presentation and, most importantly, don't underestimate its difficulty.

Six pieces, with a light and a dark side, three of each orientation, make this very simple and yet, clever design. The goal is trivial: make a square with either side of pieces, but only one of the two sides must be used to do this. If you use the dark side of a piece, all of the others have to be placed with the dark side as well. This is where it gets complicated, because you can make the square easily, with one of the pieces showing the opposite side of the others in place. But that's not the case, as the designers wanted you to make the square with a specific orientation for the pieces. That's why they made every piece with two colors, forcing you to use just one of its sides, no matter which one, at a time. 

Without the possibility of flipping a piece, in order to change its orientation, it gets extremely difficult to work out a solution within minutes. You will for sure, spend a few hours (or days) studying the puzzle and trying to understand how to make an ordinary square out of those pieces.

As with the other Sloyd Puzzles, I will not reveal the solution, as it would spoil all the fun it takes to solve a hard challenge. And I couldn't, even if I wanted, because I'm still trying to solve it (3 days and counting...). 

I will, almost certainly edit the post once/if I solve it. Not to tell the solution, but with the necessary insight to share a few tips to guide you in the right direction.

Bottom line, if you want a seriously hard challenge at a very fair price, this is a highly recommended one. I can promise you hours of entertainment, frustration, cursing and also a few headaches...

Extra Challenges:

If you're tired of trying to solve the main challenge without success, there's at least two more challenges that you can make with the puzzles' pieces.

One is to make a light or dark square with a single piece. Easy, right?
You can use a pocketbook as a table for this.

The other one is to make a cube with the six pieces. There's two ways to achieve this, though you have to figure them out for yourself.

See which one of the three challenges you can solve first...



(Click to Enlarge)

23 comments:

  1. Please give me some tips...
    Is this a 2D puzzle? Or is the depth important??
    The fact that you can make a square with a single piece is making me crazy!!

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  2. Hi Matteo,
    I wish I could help you, but I'm yet to solve this. What you can do is send an e-mail to Sloyd Puzzles and ask for a solution.
    Puzzle Regards

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    Replies
    1. Depth is important and you can use it to make a square but I won't spoil it

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  3. I don't want the solution, it's not funny... but some tips!
    I made by myself the puzzle so I want to be sure the size of the pieces is not fundamental (the shape is identical to the photo).
    Thank you anyway!

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  4. Hi Gabriel! Could you please give me some tips to solve this puzzle?? Thank you!

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  5. Hi Anna, after all this time, I still don't have the solution for this. I kinda gave up on it. I figured it has to be just a fancy trick and not your average assembly puzzle. I know you want just tips and not the solution, but you can still mail Tomas at the puzzle's website and ask for a few tips. Sorry I can't be of any more help :(
    Puzzle Regards

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  6. Thank you anyway Gabriel!

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  7. Hi Gabriel, I'm back here just to tell you that I finally did it!

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  8. Hi Anna. Wow, that's great! Congratulations!
    Now I just have to give it a new try and see if I can finally solve it too :P

    Happy New Year!
    Gabriel

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  9. I'm struggling with this too. Extremely difficult. I have even thought of different kind of tricks because I'm sure this has to involve one, but that's lead me nowhere.

    I'm not ready for a solution, not yet, maybe not never. Good to hear there's others who are also at the cul-de-sac.

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  10. Hi Teemu. It's been almost three years since I received this puzzle from Tomas Lindén, and I'm yet to solve it. I also have resisted all this time to ask for a solution, because I want to try again sometime. This one may never be solved for me, unfortunately.

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    Replies
    1. Hello Gabriel. I'm not sure if you were ever able to solve it. But just an idea. You cannot have both sides fully completed at the same time. You create the square out of a single color, not both.

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  11. Hello everyone. Just to let you know - this is not a silhouette puzzle that is if you find a solve that looks like a stupid trick then that's not the actual solution. So if you do, don't look at the solution. I had the impression from a comment on the web that it might be the right solve and I regret looking at the solution since it has little replay value. So, not a silhouette puzzle! Enjoy.

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  12. Hi, I got the solution later. Didn't like it, to be honest. It felt like a dishonest trick more than a puzzle. I would never have come up with the solution on my own.

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  13. What's the solution, been trying and if it's like a dishonest trick, would rather stop.

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  14. Send me an e-mail and I'll tell you.

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  15. Make a square using the simplest solution possible
    3x sides one way, 3x sides the other way in the same direction but inverted
    Grab one set of colors and LIFT it up until the other color lines up and makes a square
    When you stand up the puzzle to line up the middle square, one side will have the other color pop out

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  16. Please confirm is a square sort of squashed between the other colour in a way

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  17. No, not squashed. A couple replies above, someone described the solution.

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  18. Bonjour , je ne sais pas si vous parlez français. J'aime beaucoup votre blog. Ce casse-tête nous rend fou , c'est tellement difficile.

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  19. Bonjour. Oui, je parle un peu français. Merci pour vos gentils compliments. Effectivement, ce casse-tête était trop difficile pour moi aussi. Il fallait que je trouve la solution, après tout...

    Happy Puzzling ;)

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  20. Aha... Corners with 45 degrees pieces.

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