Looks like a standard sliding puzzle but it is not. The puzzle is ideal for sliding beginners (40 moves) but also very interesting for experienced sliding puzzlers
I kept picking them up and attempting them but have to say that I
really struggled! These puzzles are really tough and require some
considerable concentration and a definite Aha! moment!
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| Moon and Star |
The first one I tried, - the Moon and Star. The aim is to rearrange the pieces
by sliding in the frame to make different configurations. You might
wonder why this is tough - after all the 15 puzzle is pretty
straightforward and has more pieces. This puzzle is made tougher by the
fact that movement of one of the pieces is severely limited:
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| The top part of the moon protrudes from it's tile and cannot slide right |
I received an emailed pdf with the challenges on it and began to play. I
was seriously stuck for quite a while as I could get all the pieces in
place but ended up needing 2 to be swapped over.....hmmmm! The aha!
moment came because of my knowledge of twisty puzzles (also a sequential
movement puzzle) and the fact that swapping 2 pieces is not possible.
There had to be something more to it. Having worked out what the true
requirement was I then had a plan of what to do. Even knowing what was
required did not make it particularly easy and it still took me several
hours before I was able to complete the full set of puzzles. Starting at
position 1 above the aim is to go from this to other positions in
sequence:
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| 40 moves to Position 2 |
|
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| 27 moves to Position 3 |
|
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| 12 moves to Position 4 |
|
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| 25 moves to Position 5 |
|
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| 38 moves to Position 6 |
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As an introduction to this group of puzzles, I really could not have
asked for a better puzzle! This was a thoroughly enjoyable experience
and even now if I try to repeat it then I have to think hard what to do
and how to achieve it.
