I had been toying with the idea of venturing into the third dimension for some time, and Some Assembly Required was the outcome.
It’s a puzzle in three stages. Players receive large paper cubes with truncated corners, six puzzle worksheets with detachable octagonal disks, and eight triangular corner pieces.
In the first stage, players match images on the worksheets to create new words: for example, PIN and CUSHION are a match (PINCUSHION). Key words are written on the octagonal disk in the center of the worksheet.
In the second stage, players detach the octagonal disks, and then attach them to the cube so that each key word points to one of the cube’s truncated corners. When properly aligned, the three key words will suggest a linking word: for example, MAN, HORSE, FILINGS suggest IRON (IRON MAN, IRON HORSE, IRON FILINGS).
Finally, players write the linking words on the triangular corner pieces and attach them to the cube. Like the disks, all of the corner pieces have a linking word that unites them. That word is the solution to the puzzle.
Introduced at the SoCal puzzle party, November 20, 2010. Played in teams of 5-6, with only minor papercuts.
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Warning: this puzzle requires extensive preparation!
