Metagrobolizers of Wire

Many people love the challenge of solving a good puzzle. In fact, those who
like puzzles generally like to solve just about any problem. Be it a paradox,
a mathematical problem, magic, or a puzzle, the search for answers drives
many of us on. Unlike magic or illusions with misdirection and hidden
mechanisms, mechanical puzzles are an open book, with everything visible,
all parts exposed ready for minute examination and scrutiny. In spite of
this, the solutions can elude even the sharpest and quickest minds of every
discipline.
Puzzles can go beyond an understanding of the problem and its solution,
and here is where the separation between the common puzzler and (to
borrow a phrase from Nob Yoshigahara) a “certifiable puzzle crazy” lies.
The majority of mechanical puzzle solvers take the puzzle apart through a
series of random moves with no thought given to the fact that this way they
have only half-solved the problem. The random-move method will suffice
for easy to medium puzzles but will do little or no good for solving the
more difficult ones. A “puzzle crazy,” on the other hand, will analyze the
problem with logic and stratagem, then reason out the solution to include
returning the parts to their original starting position. Regardless of one’s
ability to solve them, puzzles entertain, mystify and educate, and the search
for puzzling challenges will undoubtedly continue.
My own interest in puzzles began in early childhood, with the small
packaged and manufactured wire puzzles available at the local 5 & 10-cents
store. Although entertaining, they were never quite enough of a challenge
to satisfy my hunger. Somewhere in the back of my mind I knew I could
come up with better puzzles than were currently and commercially available.
About twenty years after my introduction to those first little wire teasers, a
back injury from an auto accident and lots of encouragement from puzzle
collectors brought the following and many other puzzle ideas to fruition.
Wire disentanglement puzzles are topological in nature and can vary
widely in both difficulty and complexity of design. Wire lends itself very
easily to topological problems because of its inherent nature to be readily
and easily formed into whatever permanent shapes may be necessary to
present a concept.
I am frequently asked to explain the thought process involved in coming
up with a new puzzle. Unfortunately, I really can’t answer. I neither know
or understand the process of any creativity than to say that it just happens. It
is my suspicion that the subconscious mind is constantly at work attempting
to fit pieces of countless puzzles together; sometimes it succeeds! If you
devote your mind to something, either you become good at it or you are
devoting your mind to the wrong thing. A couple of examples of ideas
that have “popped” out of my mind at various times are explained and
illustrated below.
Many thanks must go to Martin Gardner as an inspiration to the millions
enlightened by his myriad works. Thanks also to Tom Rodgers for his
support of my work, for asking me to participate in “Puzzles: Beyond the
Borders of the Mind,” and for presenting me with the opportunity to meet
Martin Gardner.
The Bermuda Triangle Puzzle
Knowing the fascination that many people have with the somewhat mysterious
and as-yet-unexplained disappearances of various airplanes and ships
in the area known as the Bermuda Triangle and the Devil’s Triangle made
naming this puzzle relatively easy. Often it is easier to come up with and
develop a new puzzle idea than to give it a good and catchy name. This
puzzle idea came to me as I was driving to San Francisco to sell my puzzles
at Fisherman’s Wharf, in 1971 or 1972.
The Bermuda Triangle Puzzle
METAGROBOLIZERS OF WIRE 133
The object of the Bermuda Triangle is to save the UFO that is trapped
in the puzzle, the UFO being a ring with an abstract shape mated to it.
The puzzle is generally set up with the ring around the Bermuda Triangle,
which is a triangular piece. The triangle can be moved over the entirety
of the larger configuration, taking the UFO with it as it moves. There are
several places where the UFO may be separated from the triangle but only
one place where the separation will allow the solution to be executed. Most
of the large configuration to which the triangle is attached is there simply to
bewilder the would-be solver. The solutions to many puzzles can be elusive
until the puzzle has been manipulated many times; although moderately
difficult for the average puzzler to solve initially, this one is relatively easy to
remember once the solution has been seen. The Bermuda Triangle rates
about a medium level of difficulty.
The Nightmare Puzzle
The Nightmare Puzzle
The Nightmare puzzle was conceived as Johnny Carson was delivering his
monologue during the Tonight Show one night in 1984. As with most of my
puzzle ideas, this one came to me fully formed and complete. I keep tools
and wire handy for just such events having learned that three-dimensional
ideas are difficult to decipher and duplicate from two-dimensional scribbling
on a piece of paper. After making the prototype, as I sat playing with it,
my wife joined me in critiquing my latest design. Sometime later one of
us stated that we probably would have nightmares about it that night. We
didn’t have any nightmares about it, but the name stuck. The Nightmare
134 R. IRBY
has more than lived up to its name with a convoluted three-dimensional
shape that exacts extreme effort and concentration from all who attempt it.
The Nightmare puzzle is made from one continuous strand of wire.
There are two outer and two inner loops, with the wire ends making small
rings that are wrapped around the wire in such a manner as to eliminate
any usable ends. A cord encircles the two inner loops of the puzzle, and
the object is to remove the cord completely from the puzzle. In addition
to the difficulty in conceptualizing the convoluted shape of the puzzle, the
flexibility of the cord allows one to make mistakes not possible with rigid
pieces. Any wrong moves, not promptly corrected, quickly compound into
a tangled mass of knots soon precluding any progression toward the solution.
On a scale of 1 to 10, I rate the Nightmare an 8. The difficulty may be
increased by, after the cord is removed, adding a ring to the cord that will
not pass through either of the small end rings then attempting to replace
the cord.
Article "Metagrobolizers of Wire" - By Rick Irby
From The Book:
The Mathemagician And Pied Puzzler
a 1999 book edited by Elwyn Berlekamp and Tom Rodgers
a collection in tribute to Martin Gardner,
AK Peters, Ltd. Publisher
THE PUZZLES MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE, AND MANY MORE, MAY BE VIEWED ON MY SLIDE SHOW.