Saturday 26 March 2011

Sydney Harburr Bridge

Sydney Harburr Bridge was Paul McDermott’s IPP exchange gift at the 2007 IPP. The puzzle was made by Paul and Brian Young (aka Mr Puzzle) and I think it’s inspired as an exchange puzzle for the Gold Coast IPP – the overall shape is absolutely representative of the iconic Sydney bridge, and the detailing on the puzzle is unmistakeably Brian’s.

As a puzzle, it’s a combination of a pair of burrs sharing two bars in common – the ones that form the span of the bridge. As Brian’s burrs go, they’re reasonably straight-forward. (Heaven alone knows how this thing would have turned out if he’d tried to put a Mega-Six on each end … I’m not sure that would work given the interference necessary … but if it did, I suspect that very few of them would ever be reassembled!) The only real complication is the need to build a couple of mirrored burrs concurrently so that they both end up locking together at the same time.

I really like the look of it – it’s unusual and ‘not just a burr’ - the silky oak it’s made from is also quite striking – it’s not likely to keep you awake at night trying to solve it, but think it’s a nice addition to any puzzle collection.

Brian still has them for sale over at Mr Puzzle if you’re interested.

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