Is this possible?

[Donna Thomas]

Hey folks!

My first Stave puzzle just arived (yeah!)! It is the Lion Show, and it is a 2 lightning bolt Trick puzzle. My question is that, at least at first glance, I appear to have completed the puzzle in under 15 minutes. Is that possible? I have all four lions inside the cage, no extra pieces.

I was just expecting to be working on it longer than that, and feel a bit disappointed, if I truly have already solved it.

I don't want to send my "completed" photo in yet, in case it is wrong. Has anyone here done this puzzle or own it?

Thanks!
Donna

[Steve Richardson]

Chief Tormentor here.... Lion Show is really a Trick puzzle sampler, a 'LITE' Trick puzzle. I admit it is a relatively easy puzzle. When I designed the Circus Train set I wanted to demonstrate a range of difficulty, Lion Show on the easy end. But I have thought of discontinuing it because it's so simple. Regardless, you expected more bang for the buck so we'll give you full credit toward another puzzle (or full money back). I recommend Amazing Seal from that set for something more challenging. It's much like Champ. Pick a 4 bolter for a real challenge. I will alert Tammy, my assistant, and please work out something with her. I would love to see you properly challenged, frustrated and begging for help!!

[Donna Thomas]

Wow! The Chief himself! I am almost shocked by your generosity, expect that it is clear from the word go that Stave is a classy joint, and that I should really expect no less than stellar customer service.

Yes, I admit disappointment, but I bear responsibly in that I let my eagerness get the best of me and I didn't educate myself enough before making my choice of first puzzle!

That said, I'm not crazy, and I will humbly and gratefully accept your offer!

Thank you, thank you!
Donna

[Bryan]

Hey Donna! If you like a challenge I would recommend Spinning A Tail. It took me four months to complete and I worked on it every night (about 15 minutes to an hour depending on my level of patience that day). Let us know which puzzle you ultimately decide to order as you will find we Puzzle Nuts love to commiserate together!

[Bryan]

Hi Donna and welcome to Stave Puzzle Nuts! Our Chief Tormentor wants you to be challenged and has recommended a great puzzle for you to order as your next puzzle challenge (you will definitely be challenged by Amazing Seal). I don't work for Stave but I am a passionate collector of Stave puzzles and have quite a collection at this point. I am presently writing a review of the entire Circus Train of Tricks series in my Blog and would recommend you going ahead and keeping your Lion Show puzzle and ordering the rest of the train cars (there are only 4 more I would recommend you order). The first three puzzles in the series are the easiest and you already own one of them so I would suspect based on your having completed Lion Show in 15 minutes you would easily complete the easiest two (Dancing Dolphins and Elephant Show) in about 15 minutes as well.

I too purchased Lion Show as my first Trick puzzle and I will admit I completed the first three puzzles in the Circus Train series quite quickly myself but I enjoy the artwork and really like seeing the entire train all completed and set up on my dining room table. Roo Romp and Amazing Seal are the two hardest puzzles so I would expect them to take you many, many nights to solve so consider ordering both of them along with Champ. Champ is probably the most famous of all of the Trick puzzles and I suspect the most ordered! It should provide you weeks (yes weeks) of challenging fun!

[KHamer]

I also came across the same issue with the Circus Train puzzles being too easy. I finished Dancing Dolphins in 10 minutes. We also have Lion Show and Elephant Show has just arrived today.

Tammy actually had a brilliant suggestion; take all of the circus train puzzles and mix them up in one box. At first I thought this was a bit loopy but after thinking about it we are going to do just that. This should be a fun challenge for the family.

Personally, I really am hoping that Roo Romp and Amazing Seal live up to their bolts. So far we have yet to pull any hair out over the puzzles in our collection (including Heart of the Matter).

[Erik]

Heart of the Matter is a teaser, not a trick puzzle, so it shouldn't cause too much hair pulling.

Anyhow, thanks for sharing the time to complete the puzzles, if you want hair pulling pick up Bonnie & Clyde (http://www.stavepuzzles.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=3231), that one drove me mad.

[KHamer]

Heart Of the Matter is a beautiful puzzle though. My husband bought this for me for Valentine's Day and I absolutely love it.

I think our next puzzle (besides another Circus Train car) is going to be Champ or Spinning a Tale. I made the "mistake" though of going to Bob Armstrong's site and saw his photo of the solution. I have to wait a while until the image is out of my head before I order.
The ultimate splurge someday is going to be Florence, hopefully in 500 pieces or more.

Bonnie and Clyde looks interesting. Thanks for that tip. What do you think of the Central Park puzzle?

[Erik]

I haven't done the central park/city puzzle series.

Shooting from the hip, I would expect them to be mildly easier on the assumption that the frame does not have any tricks so that the "search"/"comprehension" of the trick task is easier. I find often the hardest part for me with a trick puzzle is understanding what the challenge really is and then defining what that can mean in terms of what pieces can move.

In doing Bonnie/Clyde, I spent a lot of time pondering who were bonnie/clyde since they do not come pre-identified etc. Ditto when I did Palace of Pranks in terms of prince/princess/windows/etc.

[Bryan]

Central Park is a great puzzle! Highly recommended. Will give you a bit of a challenge and is probably a wee bit easier to solve than Bonnie and Clyde. The most difficult of the "Tile Puzzles" is Fred and Ginger which I am currently working on finding a solution. Enjoy!

[Bryan]

Roo Romp will definitely live up to its Bolt rating and is worthy of all 4 Bolts. If you like it I will also recommend Crab Shack. Amazing Seal is about as challenging as Champ and is a similar trick. The only reason Champ is a fraction more difficult than Amazing Seal is due to Champ being all the same color pattern which adds a unique level of difficulty which you definitely haven't encountered so far.

[KHamer]

I just sat down with Elephant Show today and finished it in 15 minutes flat.

I think this will be a great puzzle for my kids when they're ready for it but entirely too easy for adults.

Now I'm REALLY looking forward to the challenge of Roo Romp & Amazing Seal.

[Sebastian]

If you want a tough and time consuming trick puzzle, I strongly recommend either Bonnie and Clyde or English Garden.

Out of the teasers, Seeing Stars is challenging for a small puzzle - without getting into the realms of impossible. The problem is finding the first pieces that fit together - as every piece is a uniquely shaped starfish.