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What happens when you put Ola Jansson, Oskar van Deventer and Uwe Meffert in a room? The Jade Chopsticks happen, a beautiful and different kind of Twisty puzzle.
The final product is a combination of ideas, first the 1x2x5 designed by Ola, which was later followed by Oskar's extreme version, the 1x2x13. The Chopsticks version is scaled down to 1x2x9 - and my guess here is to just make it more stable - and with Meffert's magic touch in the final design, we see an elegant design without the need for stickers or any other special colors.
Instead of stickers, the patterns featured on the puzzle are made by two sets of lines, curved on one side and straight on the other. On the left and right sides we can see the words 'Jade Club' written in a "semi-ambigram" - that's because the letters are rearranged to form another word instead of simply flipping it over like a true ambigram. Each letter can still function as a double letter depending on how you're seeing it.
(Click to Enlarge) - Both types of lines
Much like any other Twisty puzzle, the goal is to mix it up and try to put it back in its the original pattern. In this case, when scrambled, the puzzle will have a mixture of both types of lines and the left and right sides will have the two words jumbled up. It's not very easy to turn the puzzle though, especially along its horizontal axis, since you're trying to align nine segments at the same time. However, the individual segments do turn nicely and smooth.
So, how hard, or easy, is the Chopsticks to solve? - Well, that pretty much depends on your skills with Twisty puzzles. Since I'm not that good, it took me about 10 minutes or so. Even after I've successfully solved the two sets of lines I still had to rearranged the words, which was the hardest part. Overall, and compared to other Twisty puzzles I still think this is an easy puzzle, and proving that is PuzzlerMaster's rating of 6/10, where 5 is the lowest on the scale.
(Click to Enlarge) - Top View and Scrambled
Closing Comments:
Made with the Jade Club in mind, the Jade Chopsticks is a stunning puzzle with an original design. While it's not remotely challenging for experienced puzzlers, this is a perfect collector's puzzle worth having in your collection. The Chopsticks come in a milky white color, but I know there's a gold version for Jade Club members, although I'm not certain it's still available at this point. If you can get your hands on one, do it quickly, since these puzzles tend to run out of stock fast.
Availability: The Jade Chopsticks are available at PuzzleMaster for $20 CAD.
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I have he 1x2x13 in my collection. Should I get this too?
ReplyDeleteHi Tom, If you liked the 1x2x13, sure. Plus, the chopsticks look really cool, and since they're solved in a different way, by patterns instead of colors, it's totally worth it.
ReplyDeleteLooks like a good puzzle, but to pass for chopsticks the puzzle needs to go on a diet!
ReplyDeleteHaha, you do have a point George. They should be called Chopchubbys ;-)
ReplyDelete