Mushkila 3 - Packing puzzle by Yavuz Demirhan

Last crawled date: 4 years, 3 months ago

Mushkila 3 - Packing puzzle by Yavuz Demirhan
Pack six pieces into a rectangular box with an obstructed opening, in such a way that only the lighter piece color is visible. When the puzzle is properly solved, the pieces will fit entirely within the box and will not protrude through the opening, and the darker piece color will be entirely hidden. This is a clever design that will appeal to both novice and experienced puzzlers.
Demirhan's related puzzles Mushkila 2 and Mushkila 4 use the exact same box design, so if you print either of them in addition to this one, you can print the box just once and use it interchangeably with different sets of pieces.
Printing Instructions
There are four STL files; print one copy of each. The pieces-color-1.stl and pieces-color-2.stl files must be printed in different colors. Use the lighter color for pieces-color-1.stl.
This print uses "snap joints" so that it can be printed in multiple colors. After you print it, first connect all the joints before attempting to solve the puzzle. Snap each male connector into a corresponding female connector (for example, the male connector labeled "A" should connect to the female connector with a matching "A" label on the interior).
The joints are designed to be tight, and depending on the printer and filament used, you may need to hammer them into place. If they come out too loose, a drop of superglue will make them more solid (in most cases this shouldn't be necessary, but unfortunately tolerances vary across printers and filaments). The snap joint concept is discussed further in this blog post: Adventures in 3D Puzzle Printing.
The cap and box are modeled separately so that the puzzle can be printed without supports. After printing, first attach the cap to the box before attempting to solve the puzzle. To attach the cap, put a drop of glue into each of the four guide holes on the cap, and fit the four raised cylinders on the box into them. (Ordinary superglue works great with PLA filament.) Once the glue is dry, you're ready to go!
The puzzle is modeled using puzzlecad, and I have included the .scad file in case you want to remix it.
About the Designer
Yavuz Demirhan is one of the most prolific active designers of interlocking mechanical puzzles, with over five hundred published designs, ranging from simple and bite-sized to highly complex. His designs have featured prominently at the International Puzzle Party and have been realized by some of the world's top puzzle craftsmen. Demirhan is also an accomplished woodcrafter, selling finely crafted copies of his and other designers' puzzles through his etsy shop, Cubozone.
Happy puzzling!