Greg Puzzles Blog

Happy Cube: flat foam tiles with tabs, beside a completed hollow cube

Happy Cube: Six Flat Pieces, One Cube

Flat foam that folds into a cube with no glue and no frame. The grid behind the shapes is the reason it holds together at all.

Happy Cube: Six Flat Pieces, One Cube

Flat foam that folds into a cube with no glue and no frame. The grid behind the shapes is the reason it holds together at all.

An Altekruse puzzle split into two halves slid apart in opposite directions

The Altekruse: Twelve Identical Pieces

A man whose surname means old cross patented a cross-shaped puzzle in 1890. Experienced burr solvers routinely lose their first half hour to it.

The Altekruse: Twelve Identical Pieces

A man whose surname means old cross patented a cross-shaped puzzle in 1890. Experienced burr solvers routinely lose their first half hour to it.

A Square-1 turned out of cube shape, showing kite and triangle pieces

Square-1: The Twisty Puzzle That Stops Being a ...

Every other twisty puzzle stays the shape it started. This one turns into something unrecognisable on the second move, and that is the design working.

Square-1: The Twisty Puzzle That Stops Being a ...

Every other twisty puzzle stays the shape it started. This one turns into something unrecognisable on the second move, and that is the design working.

A Mirror Cube: all one gold colour with blocks of different sizes

The Mirror Cube: Same Colour, Different Sizes

One colour, nine different sizes, and a surface that goes lumpy the moment you scramble it. The algorithms are the same ones you already know.

The Mirror Cube: Same Colour, Different Sizes

One colour, nine different sizes, and a surface that goes lumpy the moment you scramble it. The algorithms are the same ones you already know.

A Gear Cube: a twisty puzzle whose edges are meshing gears

The Gear Cube: Only Half Turns Allowed

A twisty puzzle whose first production name was a warning about getting your fingers caught. It turns in half-turns only, and that is the whole design.

The Gear Cube: Only Half Turns Allowed

A twisty puzzle whose first production name was a warning about getting your fingers caught. It turns in half-turns only, and that is the whole design.

A brass puzzle padlock with a hidden sliding stud in its body

Trick Locks: Padlocks With No Keyhole Worth Using

A lock whose keyhole is a decoy. The honest ones are two thousand years old, and the marketing around them is frequently nonsense.

Trick Locks: Padlocks With No Keyhole Worth Using

A lock whose keyhole is a decoy. The honest ones are two thousand years old, and the marketing around them is frequently nonsense.