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TOY STORE
Theannual ruzleparu
Everyone brings one present and takes away a bundle
by Anatoly Kalinin
N AUCUST 20, 1994, TIIE
city of Seattle, Washington,
will host an event unusual in
many respects. The most famotJs
"pttzzle people" from all over
the world will gather there at the
l4th International Puzzle Party. To
give you an idea of what happens at
these meetings, I'11 tell you about
the last one-the ISth Puzzle P afiy,
which took place in the Netherlands
last summer.
A year ago, on August 20, 1993,
the halls of a fashionable restaurant
outside Amsterdam were crowded
from early morning on. More than a
hundred people from the US, the
Netherlands, Italy, France, the
Czech Republic, Ireland, Malaysia,
Portugal, Russia, Ukraine, and New
Zealand had arrived there to hold
their "congress." The international
union of mechanicalptzzle lovers
arose many years ago/ but it became
really popular and well-organized in
the early 1980s, when the famous
Rubik's cube enthralled millions of
people of all ages all over the world.
Today, however, the Hungarian
Erno Rubik is no longer the most
famous personality in the puzzle
community. |ust as in the ancient
view the world rested on three giant
fishes, the modern world of clever
toys is shouldered by three of its
most famous puzzle-personalities:
|erry Slocum of the US, Edward
Hordern of England, and Nob
Yoshigahara of |apan. They possess
the biggest collections (tens of thousands
of puzzles in each), they've
published many books about
puzzles, and, of course/ they've invented
originai pazzles of their
own.
But let's retum to Amsterdam. By
tradition, everyone who comes to a
Ptzzle Party is obliged to bring a
copy of an original p:uzzle (most often
of his or her own devising) for
every participant, who receives it
free of charge. This multilateral
trading results in full suitcases of
new ptzzles heading to new homes
around the world. And for apuzzle
f.anattc,new ptzzles are more valuable
than Amsterdam's famous diamonds.
The conclave in and around
Amsterdam continued for two
days-a time filled with ptzzle trading,
attempts (often vain) to unlock
the secret of a new ptzzle right
away, discussions of ideas for new
puzzles, and excursions into the
thousand-year history of puzzles.
The toy that was declared the
best of those that were brought to
the party was inventedby one of the
three contemporary giants-Edward
Hordern. It's a brass six-sided prism
pierced by a round rod. You have to
draw the rod out of the prism. The
surfaces of the prism and rod are
absolutely smooth, without any projections
or moving parts. All in all,
the puzzle looks completely inaccessible
and unsolvable-and no
wonder. Only a month after the
party each participant received a 1etter
that revealed the secret: to disassemble
the thing, you have to . . .
kiss it! It turns out there's a little
hole in the surface of the prism-so
small you hardly notice it. You place
your lips over this hole and draw the
air in. The rod slips out of the prism
all by itself.
Second place was won by another
luminary of the p:uzzle world, |erry
Slocum. His puzzle was astonishing
and paradoxical. It consisted only of
four identical pieces resembling familiar
jig-saw-puzzie shapes. A11
four pieces are linked to one another,
and the task is to unhook
them. It seemed as if witchcraft
were involved: you could easily disconnect
any two pieces, but to disassemble
all four was absolutely
impossible!
By way of illustration, I'd like to
present a few ptzzLe gifts from the
lSthPuzzLeParty that canbe solved
in your head, or are flairly easy to
make"
If there's the slightest chance that
you can make your way to Seattle
this August, take advantage of it and
come to the 14th International
Przzle Pafiy. You won't re$et it!
For detaiis, contact Gary Foshee,
15006 255thAve. S.8., Issaquah WA
98027, phone 206 392-2907. O
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