Cubi 8 Plus Alpha - Frederic Boucher - Pelikan Puzzles

CUBI 8 PLUS ALPHA

• Designer: Frederic Boucher
• Dimensions: 3.54" x 3.54" x 3.27" (90 mm x 90 mm x 83 mm)
• Material: Wenge, Purpleheart, Pink Oak, Acrylic
• Goal: Assemble the 8 cubes with sticks of two different lengths into a 2x2 cube, then pack it into the box so that no holes are visible from the outside, using the single cubie-sized opening.
• Challenge: The pieces interact like a train on tracks during the solve, creating a complex and extremely difficult sequence.

Kevin Sadler wrote about it:

“This startlingly gorgeous creation by Frederic Boucher is one of the picks of the bunch this release. Not only is it stunning, it is also a very, very challenging fun design. Frederic has an amazing and rather warped mind. He has collaborated with several of the very best craftsmen in the world to get his designs to the masses as well as makes some limited runs of his puzzles himself. I am delighted that he was able to find someone willing to make such a complex puzzle available. This beautiful creation has been produced by Pelikan from Wenge, Pink Oak, Purpleheart, and acrylic.

There are 8 cubes with sticks of 2 different lengths which, when assembled together, form a 2×2 cube. I have to admit that just making the cube (albeit with some holes) is a massive undertaking and really quite fun – it’s a sort of 3D jigsaw that has to slide together sequentially in order. However, the real challenge is to pack that cube inside the box so that no holes are visible from outside (unique solution) through a 1 cubie-sized hole in the box. Frederic wrote that the pieces interact together like a train on its tracks during solving. This puzzle is amazing and very very difficult! I might have needed some help with this one! 😱“