My latest reviews for Sloyd's puzzles led me to the conclusion that this store is the ultimate one-stop shop for the most difficult puzzles you will ever encounter. My latest fiend is Vesa Timonen's High H. In fact, this has little to do with "latest", as I got this puzzle almost a year now, and I've been saving it all this time, waiting to be able to solve it, to write its review.

High H is like your typical puzzle, where you're given a set amount of pieces and you have to build a simple and recognizable shape from all of them. In this case, the shape you're asked to build is the capital H (not so simple as the one in the picture above) and to do so you have at your disposal only 5 pieces. Two of these pieces are identical and the rest have different lengths and shapes. The most intriguing is the T-shaped piece, and definitely the most deceiving, for obvious reasons.

There's no fancy design or anything like that. Just pure puzzle genius... Or madness, depending on your level of patience after (if) you solve it. The material is Sloyd's characteristic Finnish birch wood, and in terms of dimensions the lengthiest pieces measure 8.6 x 1.7cm (about 3.4" x 0.7").

So, what makes this puzzle so damn difficult? - It's hard to explain, but my theory is, what the designer makes you think to take you away as far from the real solution as possible... And there's some evidence that points to that conclusion: The vague explanation - "Make the letter H from the five pieces"; The T-shaped piece itself. All of this to make your task one hell of a challenge.

Another question you may be asking is "how did you solve the puzzle"? - First, this may be the biggest "a-ha moment" I have ever experienced with a puzzle. Second, I solved it almost by accident by leaving a couple of pieces, apparently in the right position, for a while and when I returned I looked at the puzzle in a different angle. I placed the rest of the pieces and to my surprise I had the exact shape seen in the package. Obviously, I won't reveal much of the solution, because this is one of those puzzles you want to discover it for yourself.

Closing Comments:

Vesa is a master of illusion and the High H, in my opinion, may be one of his masterpieces. This is coming from someone who has reviewed several of his designs, but this one is borderline genius. You must experience this puzzle.

Availability: Sloyd.fi in Finland is the place to get this amazing puzzle. For just €7.06, this is great value for money, as you probably won't solved it right away.