Fred & Ginger
Well fellow Puzzle Nuts...I have been in hiding the past three weekends mainly because everything here is covered in yellow pollen...it is just too thick to venture outside! But I have taken advantage of this yearly Rite of Spring by choosing to stay inside and work on the most incredible puzzle i have ever had the pleasure of puzzling, Fred & Ginger!
As many of my friends know, the "Tile Puzzles" as I call them are amongst my favorite type of Stave Trick Puzzle ever invented. If you haven't tried one yet, start with something like Bonnie and Clyde - it will take you months to solve as will Central Park!
I was so excited when Fred & Ginger arrived last month I immediately opened the box and turned all of the puzzle pieces out on my dining room table and just admired the artwork on them. You could see an eye here and some scales over here and parts of a castle. It was too thrilling as I also love Dragon and Castle themed puzzles. Unfortunately work has been tremendously busy (and not in the good way...all bureaucracy in trying to get a catalogue published and organizing the logistics in shipping a lot or art to an upcoming Art Fair) so it has not left much time to puzzle. Needless to say being trapped indoors on the weekends due to an overabundance of pollen this year has allowed me to spend every waking minute on Fred & Ginger. I know Erik is going to ask me to write a review and I most certainly will but I need to get my laptop out and upload the reviews I have written already first!
But back to Fred & Ginger, I just wanted everybody to take a look at the puzzle on the web site as it is a deusy! I loved it so much that I spent 12 and 14 hours at a time (not even taking a break for food - a good thing since I put on so much weight this past winter) working on it and not even realizing so much time had elapsed. The puzzle is that engrossing!!! Unfortunately about 30 minutes ago I found the last solution ... I wish you could all see it as it is far from beautiful (it looks like a mess actually) but I love it just the same and have no intentions of taking it apart or clearing it from its spot in the middle of my dining room table anytime soon. I certainly hope there are more "Tile puzzles" in the catalogues Erik has uploaded as I'm afraid I own all of the ones I know about at this time and boy am I hungry for more!
As many of my friends know, the "Tile Puzzles" as I call them are amongst my favorite type of Stave Trick Puzzle ever invented. If you haven't tried one yet, start with something like Bonnie and Clyde - it will take you months to solve as will Central Park!
I was so excited when Fred & Ginger arrived last month I immediately opened the box and turned all of the puzzle pieces out on my dining room table and just admired the artwork on them. You could see an eye here and some scales over here and parts of a castle. It was too thrilling as I also love Dragon and Castle themed puzzles. Unfortunately work has been tremendously busy (and not in the good way...all bureaucracy in trying to get a catalogue published and organizing the logistics in shipping a lot or art to an upcoming Art Fair) so it has not left much time to puzzle. Needless to say being trapped indoors on the weekends due to an overabundance of pollen this year has allowed me to spend every waking minute on Fred & Ginger. I know Erik is going to ask me to write a review and I most certainly will but I need to get my laptop out and upload the reviews I have written already first!
But back to Fred & Ginger, I just wanted everybody to take a look at the puzzle on the web site as it is a deusy! I loved it so much that I spent 12 and 14 hours at a time (not even taking a break for food - a good thing since I put on so much weight this past winter) working on it and not even realizing so much time had elapsed. The puzzle is that engrossing!!! Unfortunately about 30 minutes ago I found the last solution ... I wish you could all see it as it is far from beautiful (it looks like a mess actually) but I love it just the same and have no intentions of taking it apart or clearing it from its spot in the middle of my dining room table anytime soon. I certainly hope there are more "Tile puzzles" in the catalogues Erik has uploaded as I'm afraid I own all of the ones I know about at this time and boy am I hungry for more!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Erik on -
thanks for the preview, hope to see some sneak peeks and the review when you come up for air
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Permalink Reply by Riccardo Stoeckicht on -
Bryan,
So....welcome to the club - of those who have chosen to endure the pain, and conquered Fred & Ginger. I am curious to know how long it took you to find all three solutions. It sounds like you took the highly concentrated, intense approach to the challenge. Your parenthetical comment intrigued me...could you expand on it? Anyhow...once again...congrats..I trust you found it to be all that it has been hyped to be...
Saludos....Riccardo
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Permalink Reply by Bryan on -
Happy to expand on my parenthetical comment...but which one are you referring? (In case you hadn't noticed...I use them a lot!) And yes, Fred And Ginger is my number one favorite puzzle and is so far ahead of my number two favorite it isn't even funny. My top five has quite a few "Tile" puzzles and I have really gravitated towards them as being my all around favorite type of Trick Puzzle.
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Permalink Reply by Riccardo Stoeckicht on
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Bryan...I was referring to your comment about the final solution looking like a mess. It was intriguing. A couple of weeks ago, I went back to all my polariods of the solutions, and fondly remembered some of the fiendish twists required to get to the final solution. I would agree with you, that after conquering the Everest of trick puzzling, even K2 seems small. Congrats once again...
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Permalink Reply by Steve Richardson on
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Congratulations, Bryan: WOW! You certainly hung tough... and did it. Fred and Ginger was one b-word to design and I did wonder if it was too much, but that's why it's a 5-bolter. In fact, we are thinking of going to a 7-bolt rating system and 'Fred and Ginger' will be a 7-bolter along with Olivia(probably). You made my day because very few have actually solved this puzzle. Cheers, Chief Tormentor. PS: I love designing 'tile' puzzles because they open the door to multiple challenges.
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Permalink Reply by Bryan on
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Hey CT! A 7-bolt rating is a most intriguing idea - I'm all for it! And yes, F&G and Olivia definitely need to be part of the 7-bolt Club. I will say after working so many puzzles, it is difficult to rate some based on having completed prior puzzles if that makes sense. Also, there are some puzzles like Champ, even though I have found the solution once before, putting it together again is just as difficult and was not any quicker the second time through. A puzzle like Spinning A Tail on the other hand is infinitely easier the second time around. But the puzzle took me four months to complete and I worked on it every single night for 4 months for about 10-15 minutes each night the first time around. I would have rated that higher, but then at the puzzle convention I was able to put Carlye's Cow together rather quickly and I can see some people never ever coming up with a solution for it so I would certainly recommend it to anyone who is wanting a good challenge and would probably rate it higher as well. Had I not had as much experience puzzling as I have at this point I could have seen myself packing the puzzle away without having found a solution (Something I did with What A Catch. Don't worry though, I will work on WAC again...I just need to take a breather from it for now; not certain why it is giving me such a run for my money but it is!) I will also add there are some puzzles that work as building blocks to helping solve future puzzles which is why I don't mind working more than one puzzle at a time. I never would have solved SAT had it not been for Take A Bough. Don't ask me why the trick in Take A Bough made sense to me but it did...that one just clicked with my brain!
Looking forward to more "Tile" puzzles and feel free to design another one as difficult as F&G as it has now earned the position as my number 1 favorite puzzle!
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Permalink Reply by Riccardo Stoeckicht on
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Sounds like you should be next in line to tackle Quest...Number 1 on my personal wish list...
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Permalink Reply by Ted Ruska on -
Congratulations Brian on reaching the summit! To help quench your thirst for tile (x-y axis) puzzles you might
want to consider Four Star Farmstand and Clown Caper. Both are 4 bolt monsters that will give you a run for your money.
Of the same variety Pier Group is also quite appealing but rated at 3 bolts.
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