He Also Reminds Me Not To Solve On A Sofa
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Vertigo from DEDwood Crafts |
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Instructions are quite clear |
Apart from the beauty, the first thing to notice is that very little moves
when it arrives. The central disk can spin freely and that's about it. The is
a hint of potential movement in a panel and the circular centre of the bottom
face. I fiddled with that for at least 6 weeks before I found the next move.
It's a bit disheartening to be completely unable to find even one non-obvious
move for such a long time. I had to put it aside and solve or at least attempt
other toys. If I only work on one puzzle at a time then you will only get a
blog post every 6 months or less frequently 😱.
It was almost an accident that I worked out the first move - I just happened
to be holding and twirling at the same time. After that move, the next one is
screamingly obvious - HOORAY! And then I got stuck again... I was able to spin
something else round and around and around and nothing was visible or changed
whilst doing it. Sigh. Another few weeks of doing the same thing over and over
again (from this you would wonder whether I should be trusted to administer
potent drugs, all of which can prove quite fatal within a minute or two! I
certainly should not be allowed to use a screwdriver on a mains circuit 🤣.
As often happens to me, I inadvertently did the same thing in a different way
and there was a change - yessss! Unfortunately, whilst something had changed,
it didn't seem to lead me anywhere and I spent more time searching for the
next move. I couldn't find anything at all. I knew that something inside had
changed but it didn't help me. Another month went by and I had a thought©
which is odd because they are few and far between. Having thunk for a bit I
tried something new and after a struggle it worked revealing the interior of
the puzzle and a tool. At last, I was making progress - it had only taken me 6
months or so.
There are several places where the tool fits but only one placement actually
does something. I didn't know what it was doing but definitely something. Time
to fiddle again and turning the puzzle over for the 4th time I had a piece of
puzzle come off in my hand. I couldn't see why at all but progress had been
made. I was beginning to suspect why this puzzle was named Vertigo - it wasn't
because of any height related issues. The design of this puzzle was such that
the damned thing needed to be manipulated and flipped over and over from side
to side to allow progression of the solution.
With the next piece in my hand, it didn't look like it could be used as
another tool but there was a hole visible. Flipping it over again and using
the tool I had in the opposite side suddenly dropped something in my hand -
another tool - a smaller one. It took a bit of play before I realised where it
had come from. Looking at what I had, it was obvious that 2 tools combined
into one and could be used elsewhere. There were several options and
none of them worked - more think©ing required. Suddenly I had a random
epiphany and what had not been possible initially was suddenly possible. I was
using the combined tool and nothing was happening. Maybe I was using it wrong?
I spent another unhappy afternoon searching every orifice and place to
use my tool - unsuccessfully.
Having been frustrated about the lack of progress for a while, I had to give
up when summoned by the present wife to cook dinner. On standing up, I heard
something and realised that another rather tiny item had fallen out of the
puzzle onto my lap and I had not realised it. It was only by sheer luck that I
was working in the conservatory which had very light tiles on the floor and I
heard and could see the small piece on the floor. It could very easily have
fallen into a fold in clothing or down the gaps between cushions of the sofa I
was sitting on and I would still be attempting a solve with a missing piece
years later!
I now had a teeny weeny item and an obvious place to put it. It seemed to
engage with something inside but that alone wasn't terribly helpful. At least,
after this amount of time, I had gotten used to having to turn the puzzle over
and over and try things in multiple positions. There was one more hole to play
with and this time I was ready for it. I didn't lose the next bit that came
out. Another pretty small item and despite having middle aged eyes, I noticed
that there was something on the surface of it.
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The DEDwood logo at last! |
This is a cracking puzzle! At the 2024 EPP, it was mentioned by a couple of people as one of the best puzzles of the year and at last I can now agree with them. It is no longer available but if you ever see one come up at auction then just buy it, you won't regret it. It is beautiful, smells nice and is a fantastic challenge. I am sure that you will manage to solve it MUCH faster than I did!
Thank you Dee, I am still working on quite a few others that I have bought from you and always on the lookout for more.
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