Dec 20, 2011

Glass Puzzle - Rice Crackers


Share
(Click to Enlarge)

The Japanese Toyo Glass Company has many interesting packing puzzles, where you have to fill a glass with a particular number of pieces. Usually the theme is related to various types of foods.

The one I have for review today is the 'Rice Crackers', which is part of a collection re-issued by Beverly Enterprises. Although the package is almost entirely in Japanese, you can see a logo saying "NOB collection", indicating that they were designed by the late Nob Yoshigahara.

As the name suggests, you have seven rice crackers, all with different and irregular thicknesses. The goal is to pack them tightly, so that they fill perfectly the glass edge's height.

The puzzle looks really well made. The cup is made of actual glass, not transparent plastic and the crackers look life-like, although these ones are made from plastic. Had they been the real thing, I think the only part of the puzzle left would be the glass...

Regarding difficulty, the 'Rice Crackers' isn't that hard. Puzzlemaster rates it as a 7/10, but I think it's a lot easier than that, because I was able to solve it in about 5 minutes or so. Given the fact that you only have seven pieces, the puzzle is pretty straightforward. From those pieces, two of them have a side that's almost flat, compared to the other irregular ones, so it's just a case of trial and error with the remaining ones until you find the correct fit. Some of them will appear to fit in more than one occasion, but this'll be as tough as it can get.


(Click to Enlarge)

Closing Comments:

Although it's an easy puzzle, I like its originality for using a material you don't usually see in mechanical puzzles. I'll definitely be looking forward to get some more of the others, from the same collection.

4 comments:

  1. Roxanne MillerDecember 21, 2011 at 4:34 AM

    Wow. This is disappearing posts week for me. Toyo glass also made an orange packing and asparagus in the foods. They made a Java tea, packed in Tokyo, a house puzzle and a Bill Cutler as well. The orange has also been remade by Beverly, and they have also done a set of plastic puzzles: sushi, a hamburger, cheese, and a rice roll.

    ReplyDelete
  2. GabrielDecember 21, 2011 at 9:38 AM

    Thanks for the info, Rox. Added a link to Rob's page, where you can see the other puzzles from Toyo Glass.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Patrícia KawashimaSeptember 29, 2017 at 3:04 PM

    I live in Brazil and I am trying to contact Toyo Glass company to purchase 2 puzzles to celebrate the Children's Day on 12.Oct.17 with my nephew and niece. However, I have got no answer from them so far and I am very frustrated. Do these puzzles still exist? Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  4. GabrielSeptember 29, 2017 at 3:52 PM

    Hi. Yes, you can still get these puzzles from PuzzleMaster. Just click on the puzzle name in the review.

    ReplyDelete