Petit Sucrier - Dr. Volker Latussek - Pelikan Puzzles

Petit Sucrier

Designer: Dr. Volker Latussek

Produced by: Pelikan Puzzles

Difficulty Level: 7/10

Dimensions: 2.75" x 2.75" x 1.97"

Material: Wenge, Am. Cherry

Product Description:

Petit Sucrier is an intricately designed packing puzzle by Dr. Volker Latussek, expertly crafted by Pelikan Puzzles. Measuring 2.75" x 2.75" x 1.97", this puzzle is made from luxurious Wenge and American Cherry wood, offering both a challenging and visually appealing experience. Inspired by the work of Frederic Boucher, this puzzle presents a captivating challenge that will engage and delight puzzle enthusiasts.

Dr. Volker Latussek wrote about it:

"A great challenge for any puzzle designer is to investigate the originality of his own ideas. It hurts when that research shows significant similarities to an existing puzzle. In my research, I have often stumbled across the name Frederic Boucher. I have also stumbled because I found I had to discard some ideas from the outset. When I discovered his perforated boxes, I was initially disappointed because I thought that whenever Frederic needed an opening in his packaging puzzles, he simply allowed it. But the euphoric reviews of these puzzles made me curious and I treated myself to his BONBON from Eric Fuller’s workshop. This is very unusual for me because I very rarely play with others’ designs. While playing with BONBON, I understood the enthusiasm for this type of packaging puzzle and set out to try and imitate Frederic myself. I had two ideas: I wanted to develop KAMELLE, a packing puzzle that would play with the BONBON box and the same pieces and, at first glance, look like another edition of this very educational puzzle, this time from Pelikan’s art workshop. I asked Frederic to select the types of wood. A second idea, PETIT SUCRIER, follows my work on FRITZ-FLOP. A completely filled 3x3x2 box should have as many openings as possible in the style of BONBON. The result is a somewhat dubious KAMELLE, but PETIT SUCRIER has become an inconspicuous little puzzle that fascinates me very much. I have solved it many times and have always been pleased that Frederic has given me this puzzle. Thank you very much for that!”

Kevin Sadler wrote about it:

"This is an absolutely cracking design from the twisted mind of Volker Latussek! I just don’t know how he consistently comes up with such incredible puzzles. It has been beautifully made by Pelikan from Wenge and Beech. As with all of Volker’s puzzles it is shipped in a specific conformation to both hide the intended solution and to give an idea from the beginning that the puzzler is in for a rather huge challenge. The first thing I noticed here is that one of the holes was in an odd position – it was not in line with the 3x3x2 grid that the puzzle pieces would be aligned in. This explains the similar look to the boxes in the next two puzzles and also explains why they are simply joyous puzzles to play with and solve with absolutely delightful Aha! moments. I have a bunch of Frederic’s puzzles and there is just something special about the designs – he certainly never just produces shapes from Burrtools (just like Volker) and they require a good amount of thinking both inside and outside of the box(es). My first hint that this was going to be fun came when I tried to remove the pieces from the transport positions first. A 3 of the pieces come out after a little manipulation to create space in the right positions. I then had two pieces left inside in portions that required rotations to get them out and I realised quite quickly that I had a bit of a wooden disentanglement puzzle on my hands! It took me over an hour to work out how to rotate the pieces into an appropriate position. OMG! If this is what it took to remove the pieces, I have no idea how hard it will be to pack them all inside! Having taken my photo, I tried to put them back into the box to carry them to work with me. I quickly realised that was not going to happen! I had no recollection of the start position and also couldn’t repeat those rotations. As with a lot of this type of puzzle, the critical thing is to start outside the box and work out possible assemblies that will allow free placement of the last 1 or 2 pieces inside with only minimal linear movement. There are 9 possible assemblies of these pieces into a 3x3x2 grid and only one of these will be possible. I found quite a few quite quickly and was able to dismiss almost all because there was no way to get any of them out of a box with the openings provided. After about a day I found one that looked quite promising as it allowed easy removal of 2 pieces with simple linear moves and then a third could come out after a little sliding sequence. This left me to try and find a way to get those remaining 2 pieces inside and oriented properly. Oh boy! What a challenge. I was able to get one in and oriented but then the other would not go. Trying them in a different order taught me how critical the positioning of this holes were (including the one that was in the wrong place on the grid). At one point I had 2 pieces in the box in an odd conformation (not the right one) and couldn’t remove either of them from the box! Aargh! slight panic ensues for a while until I managed to take them out. I spent a good 3 or 4 hours trying to get them in the correct place and did finally manage it but then could not for the life of me insert the third piece. What was I doing wrong? The rotations that you can do inside the box require very perfect positioning and are all only possible in one direction – this is ingenious. It took another hour before I realised that this could be solved with the layers in either order and I had spent the best part of two days focusing on the wrong one! Silly me – another example of being not terribly bright! Time to do it again – Aha! OMG! That was difficult…but huge fun! This puzzle is nothing short of brilliant – it’s the work of a mastermind! Buy it!”

• Unique Design: Combines elements of packing and rotational puzzles
• Material: Crafted from Wenge and American Cherry wood
• Challenge: Fit the pieces into the box through openings while considering rotational moves
• Dimensions: 2.75" x 2.75" x 1.97"
• Objective: Assemble the pieces to fill the box completely with minimal linear movement

Petit Sucrier is a masterful puzzle that combines the best of packing and rotational challenges, making it a must-have for any serious puzzle enthusiast. Its unique design and high-quality craftsmanship make it a standout addition to any collection.