Programmer's Nightmare (1B-9) (IPP10) by Bill Cutler / Jerry McFarland (1989)

Programmer's Nightmare (1B-9) (IPP10) by Bill Cutler / Jerry McFarland (1989)

A must have for die hard McFarland and IPP puzzle collectors!  Beautifully crafted by Jerry in maple, a classic six piece design from Bill Cutler. Bill made these comments on the design:

"In my booklet "Holey 6-Piece Burr!", I asked the readers if it was possible to create a 6-piece burr which required a 'fully legal' twist move. When the Computer's Choice 5-Hole design was discovered, I realized a way to make this happen. On January 16, 1989, running some special programs, the computer found a design which has 102 different assemblies, none of which comes apart with linear moves, but one of which comes apart with a fully legal twist move. Most twist moves in a burr puzzle can only be made because there is some space ('slop') between the pieces, and/or the pieces have rounded edges or are made with a material that has some 'give'. 'Fully legal' means that the puzzle will physically function even if the pieces are made with some hard material and there is no space between pieces. Two weeks after my discovery, I received a very similar, non-unique design from Peter Rosler. This was Edward Hordern's souvenir puzzle at the 10th International Puzzle Party."

A piece of history in metagrobology for sure.

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