Frabjous Puzzle Sculpture from the Museum of Mathematics

MOMath, the Museum of Mathematics, sent me their new puzzle Frabjous – a design by George W. Hart.

I had to wait for Daughter to be in bed before digging in – the box states, “Recommended for ages 16+.”

I was pretty sure that a precocious 10 year old could handle it but I was unwilling to risk a 2 year old eating my cool puzzle.

My “solution” to the puzzle…

Oh, my… all the pieces are exactly the same!

No biggie, though – I’m pretty smart. “I can do this!” I thought.

I thought.

After a while, I felt like maybe I was doing it right, and maybe not. Here’s the view from the top when I had 12 of the 30 pieces left to go:

Guess what – the instructions clearly state “check that no parts are touching in the interior.”

Everything in mine is touching!

I’m (maybe) throwing in the towel!

I keep looking at the mostly-built thing. It’s pretty, even in its unfinished state. I’m not one to quit, but I will pause temporarily.

So for now, I have the wad of blue looking at me everyday. Staring. Saying, “Are you smart enough to finish me?”

Sometimes I tell it to hush.

Sometimes I google it.

Windell Oskay, an Evil Mad Scientist, has some great images on his writeup of making your own Frabjous. I’ll likely use these when I get the courage tackle this thing again.

I could just watch the video.

I’m against looking in back-of-the-book answer pages. So I’m certainly not about to let a video tell me how to work a puzzle.

But my cantankerous attitude doesn’t mean that you get deprived. Here’s the video:

You can buy the Frabjous online for $29 plus about $7 shipping within the U.S. Technically, you can save the $36 bucks and build your own. But that might be a real pain. Plus, if you buy it from the Museum of Mathematics, you support them!

What do you think? Do you want one? Have you built one? Share your thoughts and links to pictures in the comments or post them on twitter…

The Museum of Mathematics (MOMath) will open in New York City in 2012.

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2 Responses to Frabjous Puzzle Sculpture from the Museum of Mathematics

Karl says:

May 31, 2013 at 11:36 am

can i order two of the thirty pieces of the frabjous mine broke and i don’t want to have to buy a new one.

- Bon says:
  
  June 22, 2013 at 6:37 am
  
  Great question, Karl. Are you on twitter? You can certainly ask @momath1 if that’s a possibility.
  
  Let me know what you discover.