My Tiny Yellow Puzzle

I used to collect puzzles and brain teasers -- from jigsaws to Rubiks to wood puzzles (from geometric shapes to animal shapes and such). When I moved to another continent, I left them all behind. Except one... a small yellow plastic geometric puzzle that I dismantled several years ago, and virtually forgot about. Until yesterday, when I accidentally found it in one of my treasure boxes.

I don't know what possessed me to put it back together, but it was like it was the first time I worked on it! I spent close to 7 hours fidgeting with it. I stayed up late last night solving it and gave up when my eyes started to sting.

This afternoon, I spent another few hours of sheer concentration... hell bent on getting those blasted pieces to come together. Until finally!





Whew! Now I remember why I was digging into my treasure box... I was looking for something to take pictures of. And I imagined this puzzle would be a nice subject. Well, now that I've solved it, I don't really care if the photos are good or not. Haha!

Da Vinci Cryptex

I had mentioned the Da Vinci Code Quest on Google in a previous post. Yes, I had so much fun solving the daily puzzles. I even set an alarm to remind me to solve the last puzzle as soon as it came out. Took me about 5 minutes, so I was confident I made the first 10,000 who completed the puzzle.

Got my confirmation in the mail today... the Da Vinci Code Cryptex! It's brass and quite heavy. Very nice souvenir for the fun I had with the puzzles. A big Thank You to everyone who made this happen.













Now, will I try to solve the final puzzle to win the Grand Prize of untold riches? Who knows?!

Postscript [05/27/06]: Yes, I tried solving the final puzzle, but no, I didn't solve it. Unlike some who cheated by picking up solutions posted online, I worked on the puzzle on my own... ergo, I didn't even get to finish the first set! I'd blame it on the eternal conflict between my ADD and my OCD.

But I did get to see the movie. My take: I'd have enjoyed the movie more if I hadn't read the book. The film has its merits, surely. Still worth seeing if only to learn something new... or at least come out wondering "what if?"

Fondness for puzzles

I am so ready to watch movie. I just finished reading the book, and I must say The Da Vinci Code is a page-turner. Whatever controversy surrounds it, on whether it's fiction or not, it doesn't matter. The story is well told, and the author really takes you there. The action and intrigue holds a candle to plots weaved in TV series like 24 and Alias.

If you want to learn something new, or at the very least read about some radical thought (remember, the book is touted as fiction), pick up the Da Vinci Code. Even for just the story. I loved it for the riddles, puzzles, and codes (actually figured out a few).

Info and links pertinent to the movie, the author, the book's references, etc. are compiled on Wikipedia (heed warning on spoilers).

If you're like me, who grew up collecting puzzles (talk about solved jigsaw puzzles piled under the bed because there's no more space to hang them on the walls), you'll try the Da Vinci Code Quest on Google. I'm on the Day 7 puzzle (and kinda stuck! Haha!).

Did you know that the Mona Lisa is both male and female?